Conical dumping and racking arm

[Bigbud78]

Right so I got a brewbuilder conical with butterfly valves, this is my first brew on it and have two questions:

On his site he state's you dont need a racking arm so I didnt get one, I found that I couldn't get a decent sample out the racking port for gravity readings. Now a little worried about racking off tonight, I hope that I can get clear beer from the racking port after dumping the last of the hop matter. Anyone else do without one ?

Main problem I've had is gushing Dropping the trub was fine as it was loose so I could turn the tap slowly, the yeast went thick at 12 degrees but did come out if I worked the butterfly valve. Problem is the gush of beer afterwords, I've found that dropping the dry hop is even worse. should I use a barb to slow it down or maybe a sight glass ?

[ciderhead]

Why aren't you getting decent samples? I have standard lever valves, I fully open for a second to bring out any trub on the side and then a slow fill for sampling etc. Using mine for lagers it works fine.
My dump valve is a wide bore with a 90 elbow but I know what you mean about the "wait". Even silty lager yeasts come out eventually and I find with ale yeasts I do a drop say after fermentation and 2 weeks after that to prevent too much compaction.

[orlando]

Pictures might help. I have a barb on the racking port and have no problems taking samples at any time. The dump valve is so useful for harvesting yeast for the next brew I always bag any dry hops to avoid "contamination". When fermentation is over I dump the yeast into sterilised, not sanitised, Kilner jars which fit perfectly under the valve, sanitised before opening and after. I then crash chill, after a few days I will dump the rest of the yeast on top of the first lot to ensure I have the "lazy" finishers as well as the tearaways. That dump can be a little thick but should still be easier to get out as the majority of yeast has already gone. You should now have enough for two brews of the same length. You just have to be quick to close the valve once the beer starts to rush out. I can now rack relatively clear beer from the racking valve with the barb on it. Just push on the tube you will use to transfer the beer. I can pressurise mine so am able to transfer to a cornie, without exposing to the atmosphere, even though the cornie is higher than the beer level in the FV.