22 replies to this topic

[pkrone]

I was reading on another forum about this and I'm curious.   Any of ya'll tried it?   

[HVB]

I have planned to for small 3g batches just have not got to it.

[neddles]

What is a unitank?

[positiveContact]

What is a unitank?

 

I'm going to guess it's used for fermentation, conditioning and serving?  let's see if I'm right

[HVB]

I'm going to guess it's used for fermentation, conditioning and serving?  let's see if I'm right

That is my definition.

[SchwanzBrewer]

Yeah, probably not ideal for clear beer. youd prbably need and extra dip tube to remove yeast. Plus you can't move the beer much since the krausen and cold break will get disturbed.

[pkrone]

I think I'm gonna give this a try w/ my next helles.  I was planning on a 10 gallon batch and will put 6 in a carboy and 4 in a keg.   Just going to have to set a reminder in my phone to swirl and purge the keg to get the yeast out.   Shouldn't be much cold break as I whirlpool my beers while chilling.

[Mike Green]

https://www.homebrew...ad.php?t=275638

[Big Nake]

Try to use the keg as a unitank while you're wearing a unitard. Sorry... too much time in the PH.

[pkrone]

So I gave this a go w/ half of a 10 gallon batch of helles I made last Friday.   I thought I'd see how fermenting under a little pressure worked to, so I attached a spunding valve from the very start.        I kegged/spunded the other half today.   Tasted great when I tested the gravity.    We'll see how things turn out in a month or so.    The waiting is the hardest part...

[pkrone]

Just tapped the unitank keg.     Of course,  I forgot to purge the yeast, so it's cloudy as hell.   But, day-um, it's good.   The foam is everlasting as well.    This was my pils/Golden Promise blend too and it's great.      Also totally sold on 2308 now.   

[HVB]

I was just thinking about this thread, thanks for the follow up. Did you cut the diptube?

[pkrone]

No.   I didn't fully commit.       So the beer probably won't clear.     I think I'll call it my first ever Zwickelbier.  

[pkrone]

So I just tapped the spunded keg and directly compared it to the unitank keg.  Second pull and the spunded keg is already significantly clearer than the unitank.  Tastes great too.  I think when I do the unitank again I need to cut the dip tube and be more dilligent about purging the yeast.   

[jayb151]

So I just tapped the spunded keg and directly compared it to the unitank keg.  Second pull and the spunded keg is already significantly clearer than the unitank.  Tastes great too.  I think when I do the unitank again I need to cut the dip tube and be more dilligent about purging the yeast.   

 

Wait, I might be missing something but was one keg just open and the "spunded" keg had a pressure release on it? I could just be stupid but what is the difference if you fermented both in a keg? Thanks!

[pkrone]

I fermented half of the 10 gallons in a carboy and spunded it in a keg.   The other half I fermented and carbonated in a keg.     

[Big Nake]

I'm chasing you guys around because when this thread started my mind was not here. pkrone, I just read about using a unitank so that you don't have to worry about transfers, O2 exposure, etc. I like that idea but then it creates all these other head-scratching issues:

1. What to do with all the yeast in the keg?
2. How much headspace do you need to allow with the active fermentation going on?
3. What to do with the pressure? I have a spunding valve but what would be the best way to adjust it for the entire length of the fermentation?
4. Will the fully-fermented beer be carbed if you use the spunding valve from the beginning? Or is there a schedule of sorts to allow more pressure off early in the process and then adjust it later for carb?
5. What to do about clarity? I assume opening the keg and pouring a gel solution in there would be very ungraceful to the low-O2 crowd.
6. Can you attempt to pull the yeast out of the bottom of the keg (cobra tap? I'm spitballing) so that you could get more yeast out of there and also use it in another batch?

Damn. So many questions. The guys on that board are saying that going through all of this effort and then force-carbing with CO2 will result in a ZERO GAIN. They're saying that the beer MUST be spunded. Whew, I'm lightheaded from thinking about this.

[pkrone]

OK,   here goes my 2 cents...

 

1.  Ideally you don't worry much about leaving some yeast in the keg.  And, ideally, all that's in the keg is yeast:  the cold break gets separated when the wort is whirlpooled.  (That's why I installed my kick-ass whirlpool arm. )     You should cut your dip tube some.  I didn't and I've been getting a lot of yeast.  The beer is just now clearing and I think the keg is getting pretty light.

2.  Good question.   I guess it depends on the beer.  You could attach a blow-off tube to the gas-in line if you were fermenting something extra lively, like a weissbier.   I didn't leave much space on my helles I did and it worked ok.   Just remember my n is a whopping 1.

3 & 4. I set the pressure super low for the first 5 days, then upped it.  The beer was a little over-carbed, but better over than under!

5.  Cutting the dip tube and maybe setting the pressure on the valve higher so I could purge the keg of yeast a few times during fermentation would've been a good idea.   Swirling the keg a little and purging after fermentation would've helped too.  

6. Yes, you can!  I didn't, but folks talked about filling a sanitized mason jar to harvest yeast. 

 

I'm not totally down of force-carbing.   I did it for years.   Bottled CO2 is not pure so that's an issue for shelf life.      I really am sold on spunding because of the amazing foam I get with it and the really nice level of carbonation.    But I'm not gonna say a beer MUST be spunded, because I can't spund every beer.   I miss the window sometimes and end up keg priming which works good too.    

[Big Nake]

I'm not totally down of force-carbing.   I did it for years.   Bottled CO2 is not pure so that's an issue for shelf life.      I really am sold on spunding because of the amazing foam I get with it and the really nice level of carbonation.    But I'm not gonna say a beer MUST be spunded, because I can't spund every beer.   I miss the window sometimes and end up keg priming which works good too.

Some say that spunding is a must and that force-carbing is a low-O2 killer. Others are not quite as rigid and say that they have taken "some" low-O2 steps and have seen improvement. I'm kind of hoping that I might make some changes that are acceptable to me (and may seem insufficient to others) that create an improvement in my beers. That would be ideal. Thanks for the reply.

[positiveContact]

so how did the unitank end up after the yeast cleared?