For the most part, I do my brewing on the cheap, with most fermentations in plastic buckets. I'm pretty happy, but harbor some stainless steel envy. This thing (http://www.ssbrewtech.com/products/brewbucket ) intrigued me when I saw it advertised in Zymurgy. Is it a reasonable compromise between buckets and a conical fermenter? What do you see as the shortcomings and does the lower price (compared to most conicals, although the Chronical looks less expensive than other models too) make it worth consideration? I'll probably stay with my plastic, but am curious what others think.
That thing looks awesome!! I hope I find one of these beside my Christmas tree in two months!! I also use buckets and I always worry about any scratches my buckets may or may not have.
That does look awesome and although it is cheaper than a conical, I can't see myself ever paying that much for any type of fermenter.
Hmm I would think about getting it if they had a 12gal or ~17gal version, could be great for things like hard cider
I agree, it looks awesome. My concerns are that the opening on top is huge, and it's a little low on volume. Also, you can't see a thing. I have a speidel plastic fermenter, and though it isn't fully transparent, you can see well enough what's going on (or not going on). It also has a huge volume (mine is 9 gallons), and a great bubbler. With 5.5-6 gallon batches, I've never needed a blowoff tube. It has a nice screw-on top with about a 6" diameter that is big enogh to make cleaning and any sort of additions easy, without being so huge that you let a lot of air in when you open it up. It's cheaper, too. Still, if I didn't own the Speidel, I'd be all over that damn bucket.
I don't think it would fit in my chest freezer without modification, and it's a bit spendy. Otherwise, I think it's pretty neat.
The main thing I don't like about this is the fact that there isn't a valve at the bottom of the cone which would make removing the yeast/trub easy. I suppose I could try and install one myself but I would probably screw something up.
As to the OP, if you are going to spend that much for a fermentation container, I think you may as well hold out for a higher capacity conical. I have years-old plastic buckets that have remained infection free, despite vigorous agitation with a metal spoon to aerate wort each time. I did have one plastic lid split on me, but the homebrew shop sells those separately from the bucket, so I can't say I have ever had a real problem. I am not afraid to spend a bit if there's something that will benefit me, and in this case if it had the capacity + head space for 10+ gallon batches, and had the convenience of the dump valve of a true conical, then I would start to get interested.
