Liquid Gold Posted September 3, 2022 Report Share Posted September 3, 2022 Ok. So brew #5. So far so good. My biggest complaint…I wish the droid was 20lts 😂🤣 I’m new to brewing and read about closed circuit (CC) brewing and transferring but I don’t believe the droid is 100% CC. You have to open the lid/keg to dry/liquid hops so it kinda defeats the purpose of the effort right? Anyway, I’ve been transferring via hop filter tube into my 10lt keg via the liquid out spear connect with an average time, with regular “burping “ of the kegs relief valve of 55mins but I’m consistently left with nearly a pint in the droid that should have come out the exit hole. What a waste! Question 1 Should I just remove the spear, transfer via the tubing direct into the keg. Get it all out of the droid. Burp the keg a few times with co2 to remove O2? Or is this “froth” with danger? Question 2 When my keg is “empty” foam starts to come out the Pluto gun but when I release the pressure, pour out the beer, there’s another 3/4 pints “wort” left in the keg, although a totally different colour so I’m guessing this is sediment and supposed to be waste? Is this normal? I know it’s not much, but since I purchased the Droid and waited 6mths on back order, the Prints have increased in price a lot. I’ve got a mate making amazing 50lt grain brews, albeit more work, for $50-60 of ingredients so I want to make sure I’m getting the most out of this machine. Thanks for your thoughts! Pic 1. Brew Pic 2. Dregs in keg of same brew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted September 3, 2022 Report Share Posted September 3, 2022 18 hours ago, Liquid Gold said: You have to open the lid/keg to dry/liquid hops so it kinda defeats the purpose of the effort right? No not right. The keg (after being purged with Co2 and pressure released to remove most of the O2) is sealed from the atmosphere and the beer from the droid tap is also O2 protected as the atmosphere is only on/above the surface. It’s a good way to fill your keg. 18 hours ago, Liquid Gold said: with regular “burping “ of the kegs relief valve of 55mins but I’m consistently left with nearly a pint in the droid that should have come out the exit hole. What a waste! You shouldn’t have to keep burping, most release valves can be made to stay open by lifting and turning 180 degrees. If yo don’t have this type put a gas disconnect on the gas post to continually release the pressure. (this should certainly reduce the time to fill, 55 mins isn’t the norm). I get the last bit out of the droid by putting a piece of polystyrene foam or folded up cardboard under the rear of the droid to tilt it forward. Question 1 Don’t remove the spear, do as stated. Yes you must purge the full keg with Co2 to remove most of the O2 in the keg head space. Question 2 The length of the spear is designed not to suck up all the sediment so you do have a bit left in the keg. The BrewArt ingredients even with the price rise are imo of great value. With the rise you are still getting top quality brewing out comes of all sorts of styles for an average of $24 for the equivalent 24 x 375ml carton. In addition it is very a simple and quick process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liquid Gold Posted September 4, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2022 You bloody genius. The 180degree hack didn’t work but I had a spare gas connect. 55mins no more. Only took 15mins. Thank you. Now, do I have a new problem? I lifted the droid a tad but had to stop transfer as when liquid started to come out the gas connect. I still burped the keg, gently, but a little beer came out. I don’t think is is any headspace left. Will that affect the carbonation process? About 3/4 pint left in droid but no room left in the keg but this was below the extraction hole and the droid had to be tilted to get it to flow out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted September 4, 2022 Report Share Posted September 4, 2022 3 minutes ago, Liquid Gold said: You bloody genius. The 180degree hack didn’t work but I had a spare gas connect. 55mins no more. Only took 15mins. Thank you. Now, do I have a new problem? I lifted the droid a tad but had to stop transfer as when liquid started to come out the gas connect. I still burped the keg, gently, but a little beer came out. I don’t think is is any headspace left. Will that affect the carbonation process? About 3/4 pint left in droid but no room left in the keg but this was below the extraction hole and the droid had to be tilted to get it to flow out. Agree your keg is probably full. This can be for 2 reasons. 1) you had over 10l in the droid. 2) Some older 2.5gal kegs are 9l not 9.5l. I have 2 of these so I finish with a PET bottle to sample early. With the ss kegs being over full is not a big deal however before you want to carbonate and connect to gas in the fridge release all the pressure. The reason is if you don’t have the non return valve gas disconnect should the pressure in the keg be greater to your set gas pressure, beer will go up your gas line (with an over full keg). An over full keg will also take a bit longer to carbonate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liquid Gold Posted September 4, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2022 Thanks for the advise. No. Definitely 10lts went in. I’m a bit pedantic so I have pots with levels indicators I use to transfer our kitchen filtered water to the droid brewing location and the level indicator on the droid also shows 10lts. I’ll do a quantity test on the kegs but they are brand new. Ok. I’m off to clean up and put on the next brew. Thanks 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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