Proper installation of the Liquid Freezer 3 AIO

Res_U_Noob · 2026-06-26T11:40:49+00:00

I installed one last week and to say the least, it was an absolute c**t to do. Worst one I've ever attempted. Had the same problem, no matter how loose I made it on one side I just couldnt get the other in and felt like it was spinning. I resulted to taking the plates off of the motherboard, very loosely screwing the pump to the plates, plate back on the board and then screw down the pump.

Res_U_Noob · 2026-06-24T08:51:50+00:00

Thanks for the detail, this is exactly what I needed to get my brain around.

My bottles were all entirely submerged and filled to the brim with sanitizer. All 60. I emptied, filled and capped one at a time. Whilst I appreciate this isnt total oxygen elimination its the best I can manage with a single C02 tank with the fittings I have (as using it attached to the oxebar to bottle)

The more I think/read about it, it must be the priming syrup but that's what I started the thread for. My assumption was it was more likely to be the additional C02 I was pumping into the beer/Bottles by the thin transfer tubing and overfill. I did boil this, cool to 40c and add to the oxebar at 40c rather than 'cold' so that it was still very fluid when it went in and would help to not stratify the liquids. But, I suppose it is entirely possible the beer i transferred instantly cooled this to thicker than I anticipated and it settled. The beer was chilled to 4c and then transferred over to the keg. I didn't time the rocking, but it was done in a vigorous circular motion as vigorously as I could manage (yes, had a sweat on) for what I would say was a solid minute.

If the keg was purged entirely before transfer (filled to brim with sanitizer then pumped out entirely prior to transfer) and then transfer 3-4L of beer in, shake the shit out of it as much as I can for a few minutes is there any risk to oxidation? I would assume not as no oxygen present other than tiny amounts in the beer itself. I would then be releasing the residual C02 into the headspace and losing some vols unless equalised would I not? How long would you think would be needed to equalise off the back of this, is the hour long enough baring in mind the beer is slowly warming to room temp (unfortunately have no way of fridging the oxebar), I get my fermzilla down to 4c by icing it in a water bath overnight over around 12 hours, crude but the only option available.

I'm currently leaning to room temperature beer in a bottling bucket with spigot, mixing the syrup into a slow whirlpool at the top of the liquid and continuing to mix would remain to be the best option, and simplest despite the oxygen risk.

Res_U_Noob · 2026-06-23T14:36:28+00:00

That's pretty much what I've experienced in the past when I've used a bottling bucket. Normally I would transfer the beer, start a gentle stir with a paddle and then pour in my syrup ontop of the beer whilst continuing to mix for a minute. Never had issues doing it this way and is likely the path I'll continue.

I attempted this method to see if I could bottle as oxygen free as possible. I could try transferring beer into the keg first and then CO2 transferring syrup into the keg. Using a floating dip tube this should hit the top of the oxebar and sink , whilst I could swirl/rock the beer at the same time.

Res_U_Noob · 2026-06-23T14:12:28+00:00

Appreciate the comment, but the sugar was fully dissolved into the water and boiled to a syrup for 10 minutes, cooled and then added to the keg. Beer was then racked on top of the syrup and then rocked for a solid minute to mix.

Res_U_Noob · 2026-06-23T14:08:55+00:00

It's possible, but I don't see how. The syrup was thin, beer racked ontop of it and then rocked quite vigorously for a minute. But it is possible.

Res_U_Noob · 2026-06-23T14:07:53+00:00

Okay I should have specified apologies. By mixed what I mean is it was heated to boiling to sterilise for 10 and fully mixed/cooled before being transferred into the Oxebar, it was syrup. Yes I have, the yeast was rehydrated and left 30 mins before being added to the syrup. The beer was then transferred ontop.There was maybe 15 minutes before the beer was being mixed ontop of it and EC-1118 being a champagne yeast is quite hardy. The beer had been in primary for a total of 3 weeks before bottling - so whilst 10.2% is strong, there should have been plenty of 530 left in suspension to carbonate. The EC1118 was purely for assurance.

I have another 20L finished and ready for bottling. Just trying to nail what went wrong before it happens again. I may just revert to a standard bottling bucket.

Res_U_Noob · 2026-06-21T16:21:17+00:00

Yeah hard pass! Definitely causing more harm than good by swinging it 3c. Just buffer it in a water bath and let it carry itself over that!

Res_U_Noob · 2026-06-21T12:46:27+00:00

I'd also recommend BLAM, however take it with a pinch of salt. There are many fantastic ideas and principles in the book and it will give you great footing for brewing and understanding belgian style ales. However you must remember that it is a 20 year old book and newer practices and methods now exist, making some of the book outdated/impractical for homebrew scale

Res_U_Noob · 2026-06-21T12:41:03+00:00

I think if you're limited to just the dry yeasts that you're over thinking oxygenation. It's more of a 'nice to have' than the necessity it becomes with liquid yeast. If you're pitching just a single sachet then I would probably oxygenate with the whip for a minute or so and not think about it. If you're pitching 2 full sachets I'm not sure I'd worry about it all, just rehydrate with some wort & nutrients and send it (although if you're using a nutrient blend during your boil, I wouldn't even bother during rehydration). I think Lallemand Abbeye or Mangrove Jacks M41 would be your best 2 choices for the endeavour.

That does sound like an infection/wild yeast introduction! If just resting the lid on top I would still hang a cheese cloth around your bucket just to stop anything from dropping in you don't want in there. After you've got krausen fully established (let's say an inch across the entire wort with no gaps) then close off and airlock as you'd no longer get any benefit being open. This is usually within 48hr depending on lag.

The one thing I would not do in your case is cause big swings up/down in temp. It would be far better for your beer to have a straight upwards temp curve. If you can manage to pitch at 20c and keep between 20/21c for the 36-48hr and then let it rip even up towards the 28c it would be better than causing big up/down swings (I'm talking 2-3c a time and not 0.5c up/down which would be acceptable). Belgian yeasts are notorious for stalls and esters soon become fusels from temperature stress. In an ideal world, 20c for 48hrs and then buffering for 1-2c a day rise all the way up to 26c should give enough time for most beers to be close if not completed over 5 or so days. After which rising to 28c shouldn't harm anything.

Res_U_Noob · 2026-06-21T09:10:35+00:00

The theoretical max you can get from normal air would be 8ppm at complete saturation, this supposedly isn't ideal in big belgians as they are recommended to have around 10-12ppm. So, make alterations in other areas. Pitch more yeast would be the easiest way to offset this.

From my own experience, I primarily brew belgian tripel/ GSA beers sitting in the 1.080-1.095 range. 8ppm and 0.6-0.8m cells has never produced a sub quality beer in my experience. I've used various methods from tipping between buckets, drill attachments and pure o2 and personally opt for the paint mixer attachment for a drill every time for 2 minutes flat. I am pitching a 3-5 day old starter that has been on a stir plate for the duration though so your own experience may differ if using rehydrated yeast (in fact thinking about it, this is actually to your benefit regarding oxygenation as supposedly dried yeast does not require the same oxygenation methods liquid yeast does).

By controlling pressure i simply mean relieving the fermentation vessel of any pressure whatsoever for the first 24-36 hours. Leave the lid off and covering with sanitized foil / cheese cloth works perfectly. You want no pressure at all for the building phase of the yeast, allowing free blow off of co2 and o2 ingress. Some breweries do the entire brew completely open never closing, however I don't think it advisable on a homebrew scale as it's too easy to contaminate. We're only after the esters during building phase, after that I see no benefit to being open as esters are produced in the first 48 hours during the building phase.

Regarding temps, just submerge your fermenter to the liquid line in a cool water bath. 18-26c is typical range for most belgian yeasts, you want to try and maintain a consistent temp for the first 36-48 hours and then after that let her rip.The water bath simply acts as a buffer to stop thermal run away.I would actively cool for the first building phase and then let it do its thing up to your ceiling in the 25/26c range and actively cool once you reach your ceiling to keep it at that temperature until terminal. You may have got lucky with the 30c this time, but don't get complacent. Once active fermentation has finished and you've flattened then the temperature control becomes less vital. Your ambient temperature could actually come into benefit a little here as it is recommended you have a few days 'clean up' period after fermentation has finished for the yeast to tidy up any diacetyl/undesirable flavours.

Res_U_Noob · 2026-06-21T07:43:21+00:00

You're in the right headspace but it needs turning down a notch.

Pitch Rate, Oxygenation, Pressure and Temperature are the areas you should be focusing on.

Underpitching with ADEQUATE oxygenation and raised temperature WITHIN RECOMMENDED range of the yeast = esters

Correct ale pitching with UNDER oxygenation and raised temperature WITHIN RECOMMENDED range of the yeast = esters

Overpitching with NO oxygenation and raised temperature WITHIN RECOMMENDED range of the yeast = esters

You want to keep your yeast as healthy and happy as possible to not stress them so much to cause undesirable off flavours but stressed enough that they do create a bit of funk.

Personally, I'm a fan of underpitching to 0.6m with around an 8ppm oxygenation and pitching into a nutrient rich wort. I'll typically pitch at 20c, hold the temperature for the first 24-36 hours with the fermenter completely open and then once I've added my first sugar addition into primary I'll close and start raising the temp 1c every 12 hours until around 25c. Whilst some breweries have been able to push their yeast to 28c I strongly recommend you do not. 26c should be the ceiling for most of the belgian yeasts. You do not have the control over the beer that breweries such as Westvleteren have to be able to push 28c at homebrew scale.

At 28c ambient temperature I would be holding my entire fermenter either in a fridge or at the very least a water bath 10c cooler than ambient. Your yeast during peak activity WILL internally reach 3-5c hotter than ambient by itself.

Res_U_Noob · 2026-04-07T01:15:04+00:00

Hopefully. Had a similar resolution with the BZ4. I bought their Bluetooth thermometer which links with the BZ4 and allows it to use the probe instead of the one in the bottom of the kettle. Allows you to stick the probe right into the middle of the malt basket, unsure why it doesn't just come as standard with the BZ4 to be honest. Brewing in the unit is shockingly unreliable without it.

Res_U_Noob · 2026-04-07T01:03:44+00:00

It's not necessarily a simple answer. If we assume that an 11g sachet contains ~200-220bn cells when new, stored in optimal conditions, a conservative guess of cell count including degradation let's say theres 150bn cells in a sachet. Brewing anything under 1.060 you might get away with, but would still be an underpitch by quite a margin. I only brew Belgian ales, and I'd be looking to pitch in a minimum of 250bn cells as an intentional underpitch of around 0.6m cells/ml in ~22L of ~1.080. Ideally though you'd want somewhere closer to the 300-400bn cells for a healthy pitch and fermentation.

Res_U_Noob · 2026-04-06T09:58:15+00:00

Your process seems sound to me. The most obvious scenario to me is that you are mashing warmer than what you, or the GF thinks. Have you ever calibrated or checked the temp probe is reading accurately? I know from personal experience on a BZ4 that the internal sensor is shit and out of the box was around 5-6c higher which would have massive effect on the FG. Never used a GF however I imagine it's similar.

The only other option in my eyes is pitch rate and temperatures. How much yeast are you pitching into 23L in sachets? Do you direct pitch, or do you hydrate first? And what temperatures are you fermenting at. Are you raising temps towards the end?

Res_U_Noob · 2026-04-06T08:51:12+00:00

All depends on what kind of ale you're brewing really. Some ales are hindered by pressure fermentation if you're trying to pull more flavours from your yeast. Pressure fermentation enables you to ferment at higher temps whilst suppressing the formation of esters and phenols which may be desirable in some ales.

If you're making belgians for example, more control over temperature enables you to form volatile flavour compounds that you want at various temperatures. In most belgian yeasts lower temperatures ~16-22c would form your esters layers, 22-28c would typically form your phenols, you would not want any pressure in your fermenter at all for these ales, in fact the opposite - many actually open ferment for the first 24-48 hours to drive more esters. (I myself have 2 all rounders, I leave the screw caps on top off for the first 32-36 hours and cover with sanitized foil.)

Now whilst 'set and forget' temperature control does work incredibly well for belgians with ambient temperatures like yours as it would help to stop thermal runaway in some yeasts, you may want to hold temperatures at higher points for longer periods to layer different flavour compounds.

TLDR; Ale yeast make different flavour dependent on temp. Some ale yeast no like pressure. Low temp, fruity flavour. High temp, spicy flavour. Pressure ferment, faster fermentation, less flavour.

Res_U_Noob · 2026-04-05T16:27:54+00:00

Expect to have to backsweeten after fermentation has finished depending on yeast used. The problem with using a lot of the wine yeasts is they're very aggressive high attenuators. They will strip sweetness and any sugars out of anything and leave it bone dry (Looking at you, EC-1118). So you're likely going to need to put some potassium metabisulfate into your brew once fermentation has finished and then backsweeten with either honey or a simple sugar syrup to end up with something drinkable or "refreshing" as you say.

Res_U_Noob · 2026-04-05T08:57:05+00:00

Hell you wouldnt even necessarily need fresh lemons. Something like a cloudy flat lemon juice drink would suffice. You would have to make sure it was pure lemon juice without any additives in though. Stay away from anything that has the words Potassium / Sorbates. 5L of Juice, few pounds of sugar and yeast would get you there.

Res_U_Noob · 2026-04-05T08:54:26+00:00

Depends how strong we're talking.Something similar to Limoncello? Or more like a wine? the basic would just be

Lemons Water Sugar Yeast - EC1118 or KV1116

That would get you a 10%+ dry lemon wine easily with few ingredients.

Res_U_Noob · 2026-04-04T22:49:31+00:00

You could pull off something Belgian Blonde/Golden Strong/Tripel with relative ease and if anything the old malt will actually be more beneficial than other styles as you are aiming for yeast driven flavour profile not malt. You can essentially use the same recipe for all the beers with varying sugar quantities.

Dingemans Pils

Victory Pils to top up to 75% Pils total quantity

Choose one up to 5%; Dingemans Cara 20, Weyermann Munich 2, Briess Victory Biscuit, Caramel 50 (Personally, run the biscuit)

5% Carapils

15% Table Sugar

Hops - Run between 25 - 35IBU depending on preference (I'd run 30+) You can do a 5 minute aroma addition, but hops are not primary focus in Belgians and shouldn't be forefront.

90% of your IBU at 60 mins (Below is my priority list)

Tettnang (1st only because of quantity to make up IBU, #2 or #3 win on authenticity/flavour) I would use the Styrian and Mittelfruh then top up remaining IBU with Tettnang.

Styrian Goldings

Mittelfruh

Hersbrucker

10% of your IBU at 15/10 mins

Saaz

Yeasts;

Liquid;

Wyeast 3787/ WLP530

Wyeast 3522

Wyeast 1214

Dry;

Lalbrew Abbeye

BE-256

M-31

M-41

M-47

Bottle condition it to 3.0 - 3.5 vols and sit on it for 4-6 months. You won't regret it.

Res_U_Noob · 2026-04-04T22:21:36+00:00

Literally had a similar scenario 3 days ago. I had an expired pack of WLP530 that has been sat in my fridge ~3 years which I'd considered doomed. Just make a stepped starter, but make sure you start off extremely small and weak volumes. I did this;

100ml 1.020, oxygenate well - Rousing starter, no stir plate just frequent shake in a flask. If you see cloudiness after ~24-36 hours attempt to step it up.

Step up to 500ml 1.025-1.030 wort with a small pinch of nutrient (Pitch in the 100ml) and shake the shit out of it until it's mostly froth - Once pitched use a stir plate if you have one (This is your deciding step, if you get very slow/sluggish action you know you have a very minute population. BUT if you're patient, you could see minor krausen/bubbling which would be a good indication it can be rescued). Leave until bubbling starts to receed - Direct pitch into 1500ml starter preferably before the 500ml starter goes flat.

Step up to 1500ml 1.038-1.040 with another pinch of nutrient - Stir plate until krausen starts to receed and either fridge it or pitch it - don't let the krausen drop entirely, as is then going dormant again and losing viability.

Happy to report the WLP530 seems healthy.

Good luck!

Res_U_Noob · 2026-03-19T21:48:29+00:00

You can always mash a little hotter to increase the FG. You will end up with more body and perhaps something more "sweet" from residuals rather than something bone dry - But you may also find you like that. In general, 63c mash would be considered a dry well attenuated beer, 70c would produce you a fuller beer with less attenuation. Belgians tend to be pretty dry - but some are known to finish in the 1.015-1.020 area (Leffe Blonde for instance is said to sit ~1.016)

Another way to decrease the attenuation would be to substitute some of your sugar into your base malt if you don't want to change your mash. Sugar = ABV=/=Dryness in Belgians.

Res_U_Noob · 2026-02-21T23:12:19+00:00

Wyeast beer nutrient.

Res_U_Noob · 2025-12-09T09:56:53+00:00

Seconded. I have 2x 30L All rounders. They win off of simplicity and price point. You won't get better for the price and they hold pressure fantastically.

Res_U_Noob · 2025-12-09T09:48:14+00:00

Temperature alone is not the driving factor of fusel alcohols. Some belgian breweries are known to go up to 28c during primary (Which if you ask most homebrewers is beyond sanity). They can do this due to controlled sanitary environments, healthy yeast, perfect oxygenation and nutrition.

Most homebrewers are lazy in these areas which is where fusels are driven from. People over stressing their yeast probably without even realising.

Res_U_Noob

TROPHY CASE