Fermenting in the boiler - Tested

[phatboytall]

I'd heard Jamil talk about this on the Jamil Show brewing podcast, that he met someguy at a homebrew event who makes a great pale ale which he ferments in the boiler. Power off, chill, yeast in!

With my brewing suffering a bit due to a new baby etc I couldnt resist having a go, it seemed like the ultimate lazy brew approach. Mindful that shortcuts rarely work out.

Having done this 3 times I can now confirm it works just fine!

My approach
Brew as normal, I have a 70lt stock pot and friends with just kegs so we meet up once a month to brew in bulk, 60lts, enough to fill 3 kegs.
Once the boil has settled down I wipe the top of the boiler with starsan just to clear any debris away. Cool as normal with imersion chiller. We usually then top up the last 10lts of liquid with cold tap water to make our magic 3 kegs mark and to help the final cool.
Pitch yeast, and lid on!

Return 10days later to syphon out into kegs. We usually have to use a sieve to remove some of the hops and left over krausen from the top (Ringwood brewery yeast is a poor floculator). The trub settles rock solid so you really dont get any issues picking up debris from the bottle.

The beer tastes great and is pretty clear. No issues with infection.

Downsides
- Ties up your boiler and ability to brew for 10days
- No fermentation control, my garage is cool but it usually seems to ferment at 24c in the height of summer, should be much better in winter.

Dont get me wrong, this is not the best way to brew! When I have time I do it properly, but if you are pushed for time or equipment my experiance says this works just fine when needs must.

As they say "making good beer is easy, making great beer is hard"


Anyone have any thoughts? Issues? Concerns?

[Rick_UK]

I fermented in my boiler once and also had no ill effects. As you say not ideal, but in theory it should be fine as everything will be sterile and it's one less transfer for bugs to get in. I used my aquarium heater in the wort and covered it with cling film (as well as the lid).

The trub in the bottom is apparently beneficial to yeast growth as it provides a greater surface area - so I read on here somewhere!

Rick

[charliemartin]

Do you aerate the wort in any way prior to pitching the yeast?

Cheers,
Charliemartin

[phatboytall]

Do you aerate the wort in any way prior to pitching the yeast?

Yes, but only with a good stir with my paddle. I pitch a shiteload of yeast though as I get bags of the stuff from the local brewery.