Brew time for Brew Demon Vienna Lager?

[UGB33]

Hello. I'm a noob here getting ready to brew my 7th batch in my Pinter. I'm using the 2 gallon Brew Demon Vienna Lager kit and have two questions. What is the suggested fermentation and conditioning time? The kit only came with one packet of yeast and I'm guessing that's normal? Thanks.

[FrozenInTime]

I've never used the pinter, but for times in the carboy fermenting/clean-up period I always go 3 weeks. If I go longer, I transfer to a clean carboy and let it sit awhile. Most fermentations are done after a week as shown by the bubbler going quiet. Letting it sit for another 2 weeks gives the yeasties time to clean up any off flavors that show up during active fermentation. When transfered to bottles or kegs, I generally let them sit between 50-60 degrees for a couple months, depending on the recipe/style. Before I serve, I let them sit in the chill box for at-least a week, I get very clean pours. I do all grain so if using malt extracts, times can be shorter.

Again, I've not used a pinter so times may vary. Someone will be along with pinter info, I see it's getting to be a popular system.

[UGB33]

Thank you for the reply. The Pinter is an all-in-one system with a removable brew dock once fermentation is complete. So the wort mixture stays in the Pinter cask from fermentation all through pouring the final pint. I guess the major drawback is there is no means to observe fermentation and know when it's done. That's why knowing time lines is so critical to it's process. Pinter, in order to make it look easy, always uses MINIMUM time lines. I think that was one reason I always had acetaldehyde with their kits.

[FrozenInTime]

Does it have a bubbler of some kind? How does it vent gasses?

[bpgreen]

I've got a pinter, but haven't used it a lot. I mostly got it because I'm limited in how much i can lift.

I may be too late to the party with this advice, but even though the pinter is designed for smaller batches, i would not split a mr beer or brew demon batch. I just brew it as is and it wil be stronger than intended (but still tasty).

I think I've been giving my batches 2 or 3 weeks to ferment and carbonate before chilling. Since my memory is shot, i might plan on 2 and go 3. That reminds me. I think I've got a batch that's been fermenting for almost 3 weeks.


To answer FIT, there's no airlock. There's a vent that gets set to the pressure you want for serving (i think the default is 15 psi).

I've had fairly good results so far. I think you'll be happy with it. I've used it with pinter refills and Mr beer refills. Maybe I'll get a brew demon refill next time. Once i recover enough that i trust myself to remember I've got something on the stove, I'll try an extract with hop boil. Maybe I'll get back to all grain some day, but it won't be right away.


Welcome to the obsession.

[FrozenInTime]

So let me get this straight. It's a closed system, no gas venting, keeps the gas internal to self carbonate? Then it sits on the trub all the way through serving? Wow, I can imagine the beer it creates tasting like the south end of a mule! I wondered about this system when it first appeared but now, no way in haidies.

If I need a small system, I'd get a brew demon or look for some of the mr beer small carboys for ease of use. Not their mixes.... I much prefer all grain. Once you do all grain you'll never go back, unless your taste buds quit.

I have 18 gallons sitting in carboys on my counter at the moment, probably keg this weekend. My son is stopping by to help, I have enough 2 gallon kegs to make it easy for me to handle. I may even bottle some of each as I have a lot of pop-top bottles I haven't used in years.

Note: I'm not intentionally degrading anyone's brewing choices, just isn't my thing to brew/drink some company's idea of great beer. If it's your thing, enjoy and press on with pride!

[bpgreen]

Yes. It's a brew, carbonate, serve in one system. But it's only 1.5 gallons, so there's not a lot of trub and (at least for me) it doesn't last long enough for the trub to make it taste bad.

As far as never going back once you've gone all grain, never say never. If you get hit by a truck, lifting becomes more difficult, so small batches are a lot easier. And memory and cognition issues make mashing and figuring out and remembering a hop schedule more difficult than opening a can and pouring out the contents. I'll probably return to all grain, but i think it's at least a year off. I'm happy that i can manage a prehopped kit. Extract with a hop boil is probably still a few months away.

Don't get hit by a truck. It's not as much fun as it sounds. Everybody else seems to know that without being told. I had to learn the hard way.

[UGB33]

The Pinter only sits on the trub during fermentation. Then you remove the brew dock, where the trub is, and then condition and serve from the cask. There's really only about 3 parts to a Pinter system: the cask, the tap, and the brew dock.

[FrozenInTime]

Kewl, thanks for explaining it.

I kegged 4 kegs and 2 cases of 1 liter flip top bottles Saturday. Had my son move them into the storage room downstairs for me. That was alot of work but so worth it. I just can't imagine 1.5 gallon batches, when I did mr beer, 2 gallons at a time did not last very long.