Proper fermenter filling procedures

[lthendricks8]

All - did a cursory search but couldn't find anything precisely on point, so I thought I'd start a new thread and appeal to the experts. We just got two brand new 3bbl conicals for our nano. I'm in the process of cutting hose and installing some hard plumbing and realized I wasn't quite sure which port on the conicals I should use to fill them. Assuming no pump or hose length limitations, is it best to fill through the dump valve, racking arm valve, through the CIP arm (seems unlikely, but thought I'd include it anyway), or simply--bloop--right through the manway with a lose bit of hose? I can't think of too many pros/cons associated with any of them, except the increased splashing that might occur from using either of the latter two (which might affect the amount of O2 in solution or perhaps lead to an increased infection risk?) or decreased flow rates due to the static head pressure of pumping up in to a few hundred liters of wort. Thanks in advance for the input!

[mmussen]

Every brewery I've ever seen fills FV's up form the bottom port. That way you can sanitize your transfer hose with the fermenter and just a single connection is broken and made. I've never seen a problem with there being so much top pressure that a pump can't keep moving the wort in.
Do make sure you add oxygen in line on the way to the FV though. otherwise you're beer won't ferment well.

[gbMusDvc]

Yes, bottom.

You also want the wort to displace whatever is inside the FV (just because there's no liquid in it doesn't mean it's empty). CIP is usually open during transfer for this purpose.

[SeattleBrewer]

Set up your blowoff hose and then you can fill from the bottom or the racking arm. If filling from the bottom, use a tee to divert the sani or sterile water in the line to the drain, then when it runs clear wort, close drain divert valve and open up the conical bottom valve. The other way that works just fine (given proper racking arm cleaning procedures) is running the sani or water that's in the line and heat ex through the racking arm, and leaving the bottom of the conical open to drain. When the wort appears and runs clear, stop the inflow, let the fermenter drain, close the bottom port, then restart the inflow and fill that way. Through the bottom creates less foam which could be more beneficial to head formation and retention in the final product in theory.


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[lthendricks8]

Awesome, thanks all, makes sense - right now I have a sinter stone welded in to a tee-joint on the back end of my heat exchanger that's hooked up to an oxygen tank, so I'll cut my hoses to go whirlpool/kettle outlet--pump--HEX--fermenter dump port and attach my disconnects accordingly. Cheers!