[sdbrewer82]

Hi Everyone. I just received my Vessi last week and got started with a Pliny clone kit from Northern Brewer. This is my 5th brew. In the past I've had a very basic setup. No wort cooler. Nothing fancy. Just a pot, some carboys, auto siphon, 22oz bottles, and 3 piece airlock. I have never kegged so C02 is a bit tricky for me.

So with this first batch I'm trying to ferment under pressure, but I am not sure I am doing everything correctly. I set the knob to pressurize vessel. I set the pressure to around 5 psi and then turned the 3 way knob to off. After I set the pressure relief value to just where some pressure was leaking. I then placed the airlock in place, but don't see any activity. I let it sit overnight and see that the pressure dropped to 0. I'm having a real hard time seeing if there is any fermentation activity since I don't see any bubbles in the airlock. So far its been about 20 hours.

Also in regards to the C02 tank...do I leave the tank turned on with valves open? I left it on, but it seems like the tank is now about half full. Will c02 leak if I leave the valves open? Sorry for my naivety. This is a totally new process for me.

Thanks,
Justin

[aaronweiser]

Finally got a Email about my Vessi delivery process. The SRS should come in two days from now! I have a question about the initial cleaning and sanitizing of the SRS. According to the manual it should it be fully taken apart, remove the grease off the o-ring, re greased and reassembled. Is this really necessary? Can you just do a sanitized soaking without taking it apart for the first initial brew?

I have brewed two batches now on Vessi and would recommend taking apart the valve and cleaning it well each time. I initially thought I wouldn't need to, but I found yeast in many nooks and crannies during cleanup. Once you get a rhythm I think you'll find it's not that bad. I take every O-Ring off, etc and soak, scrub and sanitize.

Aaron


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[sdbrewer82]

Hi Everyone. I just received my Vessi last week and got started with a Pliny clone kit from Northern Brewer. This is my 5th brew. In the past I've had a very basic setup. No wort cooler. Nothing fancy. Just a pot, some carboys, auto siphon, 22oz bottles, and 3 piece airlock. I have never kegged so C02 is a bit tricky for me.

So with this first batch I'm trying to ferment under pressure, but I am not sure I am doing everything correctly. I set the knob to pressurize vessel. I set the pressure to around 5 psi and then turned the 3 way knob to off. After I set the pressure relief value to just where some pressure was leaking. I then placed the airlock in place, but don't see any activity. I let it sit overnight and see that the pressure dropped to 0. I'm having a real hard time seeing if there is any fermentation activity since I don't see any bubbles in the airlock. So far its been about 20 hours.

Also in regards to the C02 tank...do I leave the tank turned on with valves open? I left it on, but it seems like the tank is now about half full. Will c02 leak if I leave the valves open? Sorry for my naivety. This is a totally new process for me.

Thanks,
Justin

Actually I was just fiddling with the pressure relief valve and airlock. Perhaps it just doesn't have a good seal? Anyone else have issues with their airlock system? If I push it to one side I can get some bubbles to come out and can smell the beer a little bit. Honestly, not a huge fan of the s style airlock...I might switch to the old school 3 piece airlock.

[Patrick]

Finally got a Email about my Vessi delivery process. The SRS should come in two days from now! I have a question about the initial cleaning and sanitizing of the SRS. According to the manual it should it be fully taken apart, remove the grease off the o-ring, re greased and reassembled. Is this really necessary? Can you just do a sanitized soaking without taking it apart for the first initial brew?

I don't remember where I read it but I thought I read that it only needed to be sanitized for the first use. However I fully disassembled and cleaned mine prior to its first use. Primary for two reasons one I wanted to see how involved it is and to get familiar with it and secondly I wanted to be sure its clean.


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[blenderbender]

Finally got a Email about my Vessi delivery process. The SRS should come in two days from now! I have a question about the initial cleaning and sanitizing of the SRS. According to the manual it should it be fully taken apart, remove the grease off the o-ring, re greased and reassembled. Is this really necessary? Can you just do a sanitized soaking without taking it apart for the first initial brew?

I disassembled mine completely and sanitized, however I didn't attempt to remove the grease. It is very viscous and tenacious and likely would require a solvent as hot, soapy water didn't do a very good job getting it off. I just sanitized everything, added a bit of grease and put it all back together. It wasn't a big effort in that regard. But I don't really see why just tossing the whole thing in a bucket of sanitizer and opening and closing it several times wouldn't be enough, at least for the first use.

[Patrick]

Hi Everyone. I just received my Vessi last week and got started with a Pliny clone kit from Northern Brewer. This is my 5th brew. In the past I've had a very basic setup. No wort cooler. Nothing fancy. Just a pot, some carboys, auto siphon, 22oz bottles, and 3 piece airlock. I have never kegged so C02 is a bit tricky for me.

So with this first batch I'm trying to ferment under pressure, but I am not sure I am doing everything correctly. I set the knob to pressurize vessel. I set the pressure to around 5 psi and then turned the 3 way knob to off. After I set the pressure relief value to just where some pressure was leaking. I then placed the airlock in place, but don't see any activity. I let it sit overnight and see that the pressure dropped to 0. I'm having a real hard time seeing if there is any fermentation activity since I don't see any bubbles in the airlock. So far its been about 20 hours.

Also in regards to the C02 tank...do I leave the tank turned on with valves open? I left it on, but it seems like the tank is now about half full. Will c02 leak if I leave the valves open? Sorry for my naivety. This is a totally new process for me.

Thanks,
Justin

Actually I was just fiddling with the pressure relief valve and airlock. Perhaps it just doesn't have a good seal? Anyone else have issues with their airlock system? If I push it to one side I can get some bubbles to come out and can smell the beer a little bit. Honestly, not a huge fan of the s style airlock...I might switch to the old school 3 piece airlock.

My airlock seems to be the same way. Try depressurizing the unit, fully unscrewing the airlock, and putting it back in. Then re-pressurize it like the instructions say. I had set my pressure for about 10 and when I was loosening the airlock I listened very closely for the air to escape.   


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[blenderbender]

Hi Everyone. I just received my Vessi last week and got started with a Pliny clone kit from Northern Brewer. This is my 5th brew. In the past I've had a very basic setup. No wort cooler. Nothing fancy. Just a pot, some carboys, auto siphon, 22oz bottles, and 3 piece airlock. I have never kegged so C02 is a bit tricky for me.

So with this first batch I'm trying to ferment under pressure, but I am not sure I am doing everything correctly. I set the knob to pressurize vessel. I set the pressure to around 5 psi and then turned the 3 way knob to off. After I set the pressure relief value to just where some pressure was leaking. I then placed the airlock in place, but don't see any activity. I let it sit overnight and see that the pressure dropped to 0. I'm having a real hard time seeing if there is any fermentation activity since I don't see any bubbles in the airlock. So far its been about 20 hours.

Also in regards to the C02 tank...do I leave the tank turned on with valves open? I left it on, but it seems like the tank is now about half full. Will c02 leak if I leave the valves open? Sorry for my naivety. This is a totally new process for me.

Thanks,
Justin

If you left the tank valve open for 20 hours, and now it is just half full, you must have a leak somewhere. So until you resolve that you're going to run out of CO2 before long. My guess is it's likely fermenting but the gas produced by the fermentation is escaping the same way your tank gas is and thus the reason you're not seeing anything bubble through the airlock. Did you pressurize the system before tossing your wort in to see if the system held pressure? The obvious place for a leak (cause it happened to me) is you don't have a good seal on the tri-clamp, gasket & lid. In my case I was able to faintly hear the gas hissing from there. All it took was re-fitting everything and re-tightening tri-clamp. Pop the lid, look inside for signs of fermentation, redo lid, pressurize and see if it holds pressure.

[blenderbender]

Hi Everyone. I just received my Vessi last week and got started with a Pliny clone kit from Northern Brewer. This is my 5th brew. In the past I've had a very basic setup. No wort cooler. Nothing fancy. Just a pot, some carboys, auto siphon, 22oz bottles, and 3 piece airlock. I have never kegged so C02 is a bit tricky for me.

So with this first batch I'm trying to ferment under pressure, but I am not sure I am doing everything correctly. I set the knob to pressurize vessel. I set the pressure to around 5 psi and then turned the 3 way knob to off. After I set the pressure relief value to just where some pressure was leaking. I then placed the airlock in place, but don't see any activity. I let it sit overnight and see that the pressure dropped to 0. I'm having a real hard time seeing if there is any fermentation activity since I don't see any bubbles in the airlock. So far its been about 20 hours.

Also in regards to the C02 tank...do I leave the tank turned on with valves open? I left it on, but it seems like the tank is now about half full. Will c02 leak if I leave the valves open? Sorry for my naivety. This is a totally new process for me.

Thanks,
Justin

Actually I was just fiddling with the pressure relief valve and airlock. Perhaps it just doesn't have a good seal? Anyone else have issues with their airlock system? If I push it to one side I can get some bubbles to come out and can smell the beer a little bit. Honestly, not a huge fan of the s style airlock...I might switch to the old school 3 piece airlock.

That black plastic adapter that you plug the airlock into has nearly the same inside diameter as the outside diameter of the ring that you pull to remove pressure. There's not a lot of wiggle room. When your vessel is pressurized to just barely below the setpoint of that regulator it's in a very fine balance point and the slightest movement, like you tweaking it back and forth, will cause it to release pressure. It wouldn't matter what type of airlock you were using.

[cjdock]

Hi Everyone. I just received my Vessi last week and got started with a Pliny clone kit from Northern Brewer. This is my 5th brew. In the past I've had a very basic setup. No wort cooler. Nothing fancy. Just a pot, some carboys, auto siphon, 22oz bottles, and 3 piece airlock. I have never kegged so C02 is a bit tricky for me.

So with this first batch I'm trying to ferment under pressure, but I am not sure I am doing everything correctly. I set the knob to pressurize vessel. I set the pressure to around 5 psi and then turned the 3 way knob to off. After I set the pressure relief value to just where some pressure was leaking. I then placed the airlock in place, but don't see any activity. I let it sit overnight and see that the pressure dropped to 0. I'm having a real hard time seeing if there is any fermentation activity since I don't see any bubbles in the airlock. So far its been about 20 hours.

Also in regards to the C02 tank...do I leave the tank turned on with valves open? I left it on, but it seems like the tank is now about half full. Will c02 leak if I leave the valves open? Sorry for my naivety. This is a totally new process for me.

Thanks,
Justin

Actually I was just fiddling with the pressure relief valve and airlock. Perhaps it just doesn't have a good seal? Anyone else have issues with their airlock system? If I push it to one side I can get some bubbles to come out and can smell the beer a little bit. Honestly, not a huge fan of the s style airlock...I might switch to the old school 3 piece airlock.

Same with my relief valve, if you release the pressure in the tank, or just wiggle it, you will get beer smell and bubbles out of it.
I'm not in love with its design. As we see, its just a thick O ring on a stem so any movement, or if its not really seated can cause leaks. I better design would have been a flat washer and seat, in my opinion.
If you have your 3 way dial in the off position, then no Co2 from the co2 tank will come out the relief valve, just the pressure in the tank will go to zero if the relief valve is leaking. To fix that, I just push down and twist gently on the relief valve to re-seat the o-ring, then test with a spray of star san.
With all that said, I'd say your relief valve isn't why you are losing co2. If it was, you would see bubbles from your air lock. I'd spray the edges of the top cover where you pour your wort in, and the clamp holding the SRS, with star san and if those are good, then spray the fitting in back where you connected the co2 tank, the plastic fillings and the tank fittings. Stan san works great because it bubbles like soap but if you don't have any, dish soap works too.

[√ brewing]

Hi Everyone. I just received my Vessi last week and got started with a Pliny clone kit from Northern Brewer. This is my 5th brew. In the past I've had a very basic setup. No wort cooler. Nothing fancy. Just a pot, some carboys, auto siphon, 22oz bottles, and 3 piece airlock. I have never kegged so C02 is a bit tricky for me.

So with this first batch I'm trying to ferment under pressure, but I am not sure I am doing everything correctly. I set the knob to pressurize vessel. I set the pressure to around 5 psi and then turned the 3 way knob to off. After I set the pressure relief value to just where some pressure was leaking. I then placed the airlock in place, but don't see any activity. I let it sit overnight and see that the pressure dropped to 0. I'm having a real hard time seeing if there is any fermentation activity since I don't see any bubbles in the airlock. So far its been about 20 hours.

Also in regards to the C02 tank...do I leave the tank turned on with valves open? I left it on, but it seems like the tank is now about half full. Will c02 leak if I leave the valves open? Sorry for my naivety. This is a totally new process for me.

Thanks,
Justin

Actually I was just fiddling with the pressure relief valve and airlock. Perhaps it just doesn't have a good seal? Anyone else have issues with their airlock system? If I push it to one side I can get some bubbles to come out and can smell the beer a little bit. Honestly, not a huge fan of the s style airlock...I might switch to the old school 3 piece airlock.

That black plastic adapter that you plug the airlock into has nearly the same inside diameter as the outside diameter of the ring that you pull to remove pressure. There's not a lot of wiggle room. When your vessel is pressurized to just barely below the setpoint of that regulator it's in a very fine balance point and the slightest movement, like you tweaking it back and forth, will cause it to release pressure. It wouldn't matter what type of airlock you were using.

I'm going to try this method to check for CO2 leaks. Before adding the wort seal up the Vessi lid, SRS, air lock etc... and pressurize Vessi with the external CO2 tank. Check for leaks by using a spray bottle of Starsan on all connections. Any bubbles will indicate where the leak is. If no leaks are present, depressurize, open lid, pour in wort. Now the only spot to recheck for leaks if occurs will be the lid. Any thoughts?

[√ brewing]

Hi Everyone. I just received my Vessi last week and got started with a Pliny clone kit from Northern Brewer. This is my 5th brew. In the past I've had a very basic setup. No wort cooler. Nothing fancy. Just a pot, some carboys, auto siphon, 22oz bottles, and 3 piece airlock. I have never kegged so C02 is a bit tricky for me.

So with this first batch I'm trying to ferment under pressure, but I am not sure I am doing everything correctly. I set the knob to pressurize vessel. I set the pressure to around 5 psi and then turned the 3 way knob to off. After I set the pressure relief value to just where some pressure was leaking. I then placed the airlock in place, but don't see any activity. I let it sit overnight and see that the pressure dropped to 0. I'm having a real hard time seeing if there is any fermentation activity since I don't see any bubbles in the airlock. So far its been about 20 hours.

Also in regards to the C02 tank...do I leave the tank turned on with valves open? I left it on, but it seems like the tank is now about half full. Will c02 leak if I leave the valves open? Sorry for my naivety. This is a totally new process for me.

Thanks,
Justin

Actually I was just fiddling with the pressure relief valve and airlock. Perhaps it just doesn't have a good seal? Anyone else have issues with their airlock system? If I push it to one side I can get some bubbles to come out and can smell the beer a little bit. Honestly, not a huge fan of the s style airlock...I might switch to the old school 3 piece airlock.

Same with my relief valve, if you release the pressure in the tank, or just wiggle it, you will get beer smell and bubbles out of it.
I'm not in love with its design. As we see, its just a thick O ring on a stem so any movement, or if its not really seated can cause leaks. I better design would have been a flat washer and seat, in my opinion.
If you have your 3 way dial in the off position, then no Co2 from the co2 tank will come out the relief valve, just the pressure in the tank will go to zero if the relief valve is leaking. To fix that, I just push down and twist gently on the relief valve to re-seat the o-ring, then test with a spray of star san.
With all that said, I'd say your relief valve isn't why you are losing co2. If it was, you would see bubbles from your air lock. I'd spray the edges of the top cover where you pour your wort in, and the clamp holding the SRS, with star san and if those are good, then spray the fitting in back where you connected the co2 tank, the plastic fillings and the tank fittings. Stan san works great because it bubbles like soap but if you don't have any, dish soap works too.

Would you think by putting a layer of Keg Lube or some other food grade lubicant on the relief valve O- Ring help with keeping it air tight?

[cjdock]

Hi Everyone. I just received my Vessi last week and got started with a Pliny clone kit from Northern Brewer. This is my 5th brew. In the past I've had a very basic setup. No wort cooler. Nothing fancy. Just a pot, some carboys, auto siphon, 22oz bottles, and 3 piece airlock. I have never kegged so C02 is a bit tricky for me.

So with this first batch I'm trying to ferment under pressure, but I am not sure I am doing everything correctly. I set the knob to pressurize vessel. I set the pressure to around 5 psi and then turned the 3 way knob to off. After I set the pressure relief value to just where some pressure was leaking. I then placed the airlock in place, but don't see any activity. I let it sit overnight and see that the pressure dropped to 0. I'm having a real hard time seeing if there is any fermentation activity since I don't see any bubbles in the airlock. So far its been about 20 hours.

Also in regards to the C02 tank...do I leave the tank turned on with valves open? I left it on, but it seems like the tank is now about half full. Will c02 leak if I leave the valves open? Sorry for my naivety. This is a totally new process for me.

Thanks,
Justin

Actually I was just fiddling with the pressure relief valve and airlock. Perhaps it just doesn't have a good seal? Anyone else have issues with their airlock system? If I push it to one side I can get some bubbles to come out and can smell the beer a little bit. Honestly, not a huge fan of the s style airlock...I might switch to the old school 3 piece airlock.

That black plastic adapter that you plug the airlock into has nearly the same inside diameter as the outside diameter of the ring that you pull to remove pressure. There's not a lot of wiggle room. When your vessel is pressurized to just barely below the setpoint of that regulator it's in a very fine balance point and the slightest movement, like you tweaking it back and forth, will cause it to release pressure. It wouldn't matter what type of airlock you were using.

I'm going to try this method to check for CO2 leaks. Before adding the wort seal up the Vessi lid, SRS, air lock etc... and pressurize Vessi with the external CO2 tank. Check for leaks by using a spray bottle of Starsan on all connections. Any bubbles will indicate where the leak is. If no leaks are present, depressurize, open lid, pour in wort. Now the only spot to recheck for leaks if occurs will be the lid. Any thoughts?

That's a good plan. The only other place you may have leaks after that is the relief valve since you will be adjusting it a fair amount during the initial fermentation period. I tried to keep my tank at 10 psi for the first week, and that was without the co2 tank even connected at all.
The issue I had was when fermentation was real low and almost done, I'd close the relief valve all the way but still get bubbles from the airlock. That's how I knew the relief valve was leaking, and the twist and turn part on the pull up stem was enough to re-seat and fix that leak.

[cjdock]

Hi Everyone. I just received my Vessi last week and got started with a Pliny clone kit from Northern Brewer. This is my 5th brew. In the past I've had a very basic setup. No wort cooler. Nothing fancy. Just a pot, some carboys, auto siphon, 22oz bottles, and 3 piece airlock. I have never kegged so C02 is a bit tricky for me.

So with this first batch I'm trying to ferment under pressure, but I am not sure I am doing everything correctly. I set the knob to pressurize vessel. I set the pressure to around 5 psi and then turned the 3 way knob to off. After I set the pressure relief value to just where some pressure was leaking. I then placed the airlock in place, but don't see any activity. I let it sit overnight and see that the pressure dropped to 0. I'm having a real hard time seeing if there is any fermentation activity since I don't see any bubbles in the airlock. So far its been about 20 hours.

Also in regards to the C02 tank...do I leave the tank turned on with valves open? I left it on, but it seems like the tank is now about half full. Will c02 leak if I leave the valves open? Sorry for my naivety. This is a totally new process for me.

Thanks,
Justin

Actually I was just fiddling with the pressure relief valve and airlock. Perhaps it just doesn't have a good seal? Anyone else have issues with their airlock system? If I push it to one side I can get some bubbles to come out and can smell the beer a little bit. Honestly, not a huge fan of the s style airlock...I might switch to the old school 3 piece airlock.

Same with my relief valve, if you release the pressure in the tank, or just wiggle it, you will get beer smell and bubbles out of it.
I'm not in love with its design. As we see, its just a thick O ring on a stem so any movement, or if its not really seated can cause leaks. I better design would have been a flat washer and seat, in my opinion.
If you have your 3 way dial in the off position, then no Co2 from the co2 tank will come out the relief valve, just the pressure in the tank will go to zero if the relief valve is leaking. To fix that, I just push down and twist gently on the relief valve to re-seat the o-ring, then test with a spray of star san.
With all that said, I'd say your relief valve isn't why you are losing co2. If it was, you would see bubbles from your air lock. I'd spray the edges of the top cover where you pour your wort in, and the clamp holding the SRS, with star san and if those are good, then spray the fitting in back where you connected the co2 tank, the plastic fillings and the tank fittings. Stan san works great because it bubbles like soap but if you don't have any, dish soap works too.

Would you think by putting a layer of Keg Lube or some other food grade lubicant on the relief valve O- Ring help with keeping it air tight?

Yup, thats a good idea. I have some fancy lube for my kegs o-rings and will try that.

[hophawk]

Question for folks who have done more than one brew so far. I just finished my first and cleaned Vessi today in preparation for my second (aiming for Friday). However, it appears there is some beer/liquid stuck in the air pocket on the backside of the inner plastic ring of the SRS. Can't seem to get the liquid out no matter what I try.

Has anyone else had this issue?

[Patrick]

Question for folks who have done more than one brew so far. I just finished my first and cleaned Vessi today in preparation for my second (aiming for Friday). However, it appears there is some beer/liquid stuck in the air pocket on the backside of the inner plastic ring of the SRS. Can't seem to get the liquid out no matter what I try.

Has anyone else had this issue?

Have a picture? I'm having trouble picturing the location your talking about. I recall after disassembling and cleaning it after the first brew some staining of sort to the clear plastic of the SRS.


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