Happy New Year’s Eve!
Does anybody have any experience fermenting in brew kettles? Seems like with a well fitting lid, it would make a great vessel for fermentation. Is this a bad idea?
[quote=“apf87c”]Happy New Year’s Eve!
Does anybody have any experience fermenting in brew kettles? Seems like with a well fitting lid, it would make a great vessel for fermentation. Is this a bad idea?[/quote]
You would need a way to vent CO2.
One downfall I can see is tying up your brew kettle for 3+ wks.
There is a brewing TV episode where Dawson ferments a small amount of beer in a kettle. He skims the krausen but I’m not sure how often. If I knew what episode it was I would link it for you.
Should work if the lid is well-fitting enough to keep fruit flies and similar pests out, but your kettle will be tied up that way. Sort-of half-way between an open and closed fermentation…
Just don’t do it if you have an AL kettle. Otherwise fine.
I tried it once - a small lager with extract and minimal hopping, just to harvest the yeast in a step up fashion. It worked and the beer was fine (a light Helles), but the SS kettle was unavailable for an extended period and it took up a lot of space in the fermentation chamber (footprint-wise), so I now opt for a 3 gallon Better Bottle for stepping up small batches to harvest yeast - it fits easily between the two 10 gallon fermenters I have in my fermentation chest nearly constantly (I leave my lager beers in the primary typically for a month).
I also have heard that aging in aluminum is not good for the beer, but I don’t know the science on that one (some kind of acidic leaching, perhaps?)
YMMV, of course, and I would think for a light ale with about a 2 week turn, the kettle may be the way to go for you. Try it and see!
:cheers:
