Use HLT as Fermentor?

[BrewerJ]

He is using a converted keg so if he is only fermenting a 11 gallons or so he shouldn't have to worry. Also all you need to do is put a weight of some kind on the lid and it will stay put.

[Charlie]

He is using a converted keg so if he is only fermenting a 11 gallons or so he shouldn't have to worry. Also all you need to do is put a weight of some kind on the lid and it will stay put.

I most humbly offer my hand for you to slap. Still, I don't think it's an optimal solution.

The Czechs have used open fermenters for centuries, but they skim. If you have enough tank volume to contain the blowoff then you've got all that crud that should have been blown off in your brew. And if you weight the lid the sticky crud escapes through the crack, messes up the top (and maybe the sides) of your fermenter, and could be susceptible to an ascending infection of the brew (it climbs up the exposed crud into your beer).

I grant you it'll work, but I personally wouldn't do it.

Charlie

[DucBrewer]

Progress update.

I actually started my fermentation with this method on Saturday. So far so good. With 11G, I still have about 2 - 3 inches of headspace (my HLT is actually a german keg which is 13.2G i belive). Anyway, using the Wyeast London ESB yeast, I had no problem with the Kreausen getting up into the lid. Everything seems to b going nicely, except for my fridge taking a dump today. Good news the liquid temp never got about 71 today and the bulk of fermentation is already done. Kreausen only lasted about a day and and a half and I am already at terminal gravity.

As for the sanitization side of things, I did fill the HLT with about 3 inches of water after cleaning on my brew day and boiled the hell out of it with the lid on, so I should be good to go.

Hopefully I can get a another fridge in the next few days and get this thing chilled and kegged. I will update on taste and if any problems with flavor occur. Hopefully this will work because this sure had been a heck of a lot easier than using two carboys.

[BrewerJ]

Good to hear everything is working out. Another nice thing is you can top crop super easily and get yourself some super healthy yeast for your next beer.

Charlie as far as blow off, in my personal experiences all the crud sticks to the side of the hlt just like it does in a carboy or bucket. Really the fermentation aspects aren't any different and it works well if you run out of carboys. I have never had an infection using this method of fermentation. Check this link out and watch the video I personally think its worth it as long as you keep everything clean, http://www.sierranevada.com/beers/bigfoot.html

[DucBrewer]

One of the thoughts that started me on this was the fact that Jamil has mentioned a few times recently that airlocks are a bit overated and that all you really need is tin foil on top to keep crap from getting it there. This has been mentioned in reagard to both starters and full fermentations. Pluse with the lid on there and the purging that occurs during fermentaiton with CO2, this technically isn't quite open fermentaion. More like a "not sealed" fermentation like a carboy with and airlock.

[Charlie]

Brewer.

Cool! I hadn't seen that vid.

One of the thoughts that started me on this was the fact that Jamil has mentioned a few times recently that airlocks are a bit overated and that all you really need is tin foil on top to keep crap from getting it there. This has been mentioned in reagard to both starters and full fermentations.

Quite true, but basically an apples and oranges comparison.

You use a foil cap because you want oxygen to get in your starter. In the growth phase yeast uses oxygen to make cell wall materials that allow it to reproduce. Same it true in the initlal phase of fermentation, so you aerate the cooled wort before pitching, but as the yeast attenuate the beer you want them to quit reproducing and flocculate.

There's a whole bunch of ways to make this thing work. As long as you're making beer that you like then more power to 'ya. I am (after some years) still trying to understand this thing, and one of the things that helps me to understand it is to eliminate variables. Each time I may change a small thing and see what happens, but I haven't quite got to the open fermenter thing yet.

Charlie

[BrewerJ]

+1 on the tinfoil over the carboy. I never use an airlock unless there is extended aging involved.