Fermenting/Conditioning Timing & Process

[NigeltheBold]

I'm starting a small nanobrewery with a 2bbl system. We will have single-walled Stout tanks (conicals) for fermenting, and we'll also have single-walled brite tanks in a cold room for serving. We do not plan on filtering our beer, and we'll be brewing all ales at first. Fermenters will obviously be kept at ale temperatures (65-68 degrees F). Carbonation will take place in the brite tanks via carbonation stones.

What would most of you suggest for time in the fermenters? Ten days? Two weeks? More? Less? When should the yeast be dumped?

After transferring from FV's to brite tanks, approximately how long should we wait before carbonating and serving? The cold temps will help the yeast drop out, so we'll obviously need to dump the yeast from the brites a couple of times, but I'm unclear about when we should start carbonating/serving.

Any thoughts on the best process for our situation would be appreciated. Sorry if my questions seem "amateur."

[NigeltheBold]

Any thoughts? Anyone?

[Matt Dog]

Yeast strain will make a huge difference. Need more details.

[NigeltheBold]

Oh, right. We'll mostly be using US-05, but we'll also have a couple of beers that use S-04.

[poltz]

Im assuming you're a homebrewer. You're 2 bbl system will work the same as a plastic bucket or carboy. The beer will tell you when it is done. A lot of factors impact fermentation. You will have to figure it out after your system trains YOU on how it works.... take your gravity readings, take notes, repeat.... Good luck in your adventure.

[NigeltheBold]

Im assuming you're a homebrewer. You're 2 bbl system will work the same as a plastic bucket or carboy. The beer will tell you when it is done. A lot of factors impact fermentation. You will have to figure it out after your system trains YOU on how it works.... take your gravity readings, take notes, repeat.... Good luck in your adventure.

Thanks for the advice. One thing that we don't do as homebrewers is frequent yeast/trub dumping. I suppose racking to a secondary fermenter is similar to dumping yeast/trub, correct?

How often does it need to be done in a brewery? Can you dump from brite tanks, or just conical fermenters?

[poltz]

We harvest yeast right before we transfer to the bright tank. I suppose you'll have to move the fermenter to your cold room to crash it before you drop the yeast. My advice, find a way to spend a day in a brewery. (you may change your mind about your adventure) 90% cleaning, 10% brewing.

[NigeltheBold]

We were thinking about having casters mounted to the legs of the fermenters so we could wheel them around as necessary. That way, we could move them to the cold room to crash, and then dump the yeast and transfer.

If we dumped the yeast and transferred without cold crashing, we would just have to dump the yeast again after the beer has cooled in the brite tank, correct? Is this not advisable? Is it difficult to dump yeast from a brite tank?

Thanks for your help. I actually know a couple of pro brewers in the area and fully plan on spending some time volunteering before taking "the plunge" for myself.

[callmetim]

We ferment in plastic conicals which are on casters so we ferment in a temp controlled room at 65 degrees. When the beer is done usually 5-7 days, it is wheeled into the walk-in to crash for 24-48 hours. I use US-05.