New Blichmann conical...desperate for advice.

[Thirsty Boy]

Thanks, guys!

So in the past I have been used to the process of wort chilling and yeast pitching as quickly as possible. With the conical should I now wait for the cold break to settle and then do a dump before pitching the yeast? If this is the standard practice, then how long is this waiting period--and is it worth waiting, or is it better to just get the yeast in there ASAP?

Nah, you don't need to wait to pitch. Get your yeast in there and you can dump the cold break anytime before it starts to actively ferment, so you have 12-24 hours or whatever to wait for the crap to settle out and get rid of it before everything starts to get stirred around by the co2 from fermentation. You can probably do it any old time actually... Unless you overused your kettle finings, your cold break is probably dense enough so that the bulk of it will be on the bottom any time except maybe at the peak of fermentation.

[Weenie Boy]

Weenie Boy,

What is the purpose of this step: "run co2 through the still detached regulator, hose and tri-clamp fitting. Not much about 4-5 psi for about 30-45 seconds."

Please clarify.

Last night I kegged my first "Blichmann conical beer" with about 3 psi head pressure through the blow-off port and out of the racking arm assembly. I dumped the 8 ozs of dry hop material first and then proceeded to fill almost 2 full kegs without any problems. The kegs are happily carbonating (IPA with a FG of 1.008 and killer hop aroma).

Inside of the conical lid was a tragic sight of crusted on yeast and trub--but nothing some PBW and a scrubby couldn't handle.

+1 on the pbw and scrubby pad. This seems to be the norm with my fermentations as well.

The reason that I run the co2 through the detached parts is to dry the parts a bit, and purge any o2 out of the parts. I am just a bit anal about small details. Will it kill you beer or your process if you don't? I don't think so but this is the way I have always done it. It seems to work well.

Cheers to your new conical and your IPA!

Weenie Boy

Overall I'm very happy with the new conical!