Possible to soup-up a Brewdemon fermenter?

I’m not familiar with the Brewdemon except for what I found online after reading your post.

Looks like there are four 2-gallon Brewdemon ‘kits’, each of which has different, but slight upgrades. All include a recipe kit, which is basically hopped LME (liquid malt extract) and dry yeast.

What’s included with the specific kit you’re looking at?
Does the kit come with an instrument to measure specific gravity (hydrometer or refractometer)?
Are bottles/caps included?
Recipe ingredients (if included) might be old. Look for expiration dates, especially the yeast. Just like cooking, fresh is best when sourcing ingredients.
Look closely inside the fermentor for scratches.

If this is your first foray onto homebrewing you ought not be too concerned yet about the bells and whistles it doesn’t have. Start with the minimum needed and see if you enjoy the learning process.

As mentioned, fresh ingredients are best.
Getting malted barley grain (instead of malt extract) and going through a mashing process, purchasing hops and fresh yeast, will produce a fine beer if basic, good practices are followed.

There are folks here who can/will help through the processes, or in developing a recipe for a style you like.

Edited to add: If you haven't already, it'd be worthwhile to read How to Brew (< < links to the abbreviated, free online version). If you like the hobby, get the most recent print version.

 

@riptorn covers it all, but I'll emphasize to read (or purchase) the How To Brew.

There are two ways to brew beer: (1.) using liquid or dry extracts (or a combo of both) which gives you the grain flavoring for your beer; or (2.) using what is called the all-grain method. This process generates your grain flavoring from the actual grain and will require having a couple extra pieces of equipment to supplement what you're looking at now and a longer time period on a brewing day.

But reading that book will explain it further for you to consider.

P.S. Welcome to the Homebrewing forum and to this great hobby.

 

One more 'vote' for reading How to Brew.

I would not discourage you from brewing with this free stuff (Brewdemon 2 gal fermenter kit) but I just want to plant the seed that it takes the same amount of time/effort to brew a 2 gallon batch vs. a larger (e.g., a typical 5 gallon) batch. If you have the 'ability' to consume two cases of beer it would behoove you to brew a larger, 5 gallon batch. A more efficient expenditure of your time.

And kudos for already knowing the basics. I have had a few beginning homebrewers over to my house to participate in brewing a batch of beer. I would always print out on a sheet a paper the three 'top' rules of homebrewing:

1. Sanitation, sanitation, sanitation
2. Pitch plenty of healthy yeast
3. Maintain a proper fermentation temperature for the given yeast strain

Welcome to homebrewing!

Cheers!

 

Filling up without the bottling wand via splashing will indeed aerate (oxygenate) the beer which will result in early oxidation of the bottle beers. The beers will have a crappy flavor from oxidative reactions. You really need to get a bottling wand!

And it provides a 'one way valve' to let CO2 to escape and keep out unwanted things like fruit flies (covered in bacteria) and mitigates air ingress (there goes that oxidation topic again).

Yes, regular ol' table sugar will work.

All of these answers and more in the How to Brew book.

Cheers!

 

A hydrometer (or refractometer) should be used with every setup. Without it, you can't compute your ABV and you can't know for sure when fermentation has finished.

 

Your question was answered in post #8 but once again: this is addressed in the book How to Brew.

Buy that book (and read it cover to cover) or read the older edition that is on line.

 

@RobertP

http://howtobrew.com/book/equipment-descriptions

The book says that a hydrometer usually isn't necessary if you're brewing with malt extract because of the predictability of the outcome with those ingredients, but when brewing with extract you can have problems during fermentation, and having a hydrometer will help identify the status of your beer and then help you decide how to proceed to the end. A hydrometer is typically only $10-$12 and well worth having.

Question: it was mentioned above that you should decide whether you want a 2-gallon fermentor or if you want to make larger batches, and your ability to drink 20 bottles vs. 50 bottles can make that decision for you. My point is that you want to size your equipment to your desired consumption as best as you can.

That decision will also help you determine what size of a boiling pot you'll need. If you're going to brew a 2-gallon batch you should have a boil kettle that is at least 3-gallons, and a bit larger than that is even better. (You'll start with 2-1/2 gallons of liquid because some water will evaporate during a 60-minute boiling session, and extra room for a rolling boil is very helpful.)

And to take a look at equipment size from a different perspective, how will you heat/boil 2-1/2 gallons of liquid in that 3-gallon kettle? If you're on a budget or in an apartment and can't have an LPG gas burner to use outdoors thus you want to use your kitchen stove, is it gas or electric? It is difficult to heat that amount of liquid on an electric range (but it can be done with effort and extra time), so that's a factor.

So even though you have the opportunity to get a free fermentor, you need to look at other factors to help you decide if it fits your goals for brewing beer.

P.S. You mentioned that bottles are not very expensive from that website, but they're free if you just save your empties from your beer purchases. Give them a real good rinsing and save them for your beers. (Don't save any that had a screw-on cap.)

 

Short answer: No and no.
With proper attention to the details you have already identified ... the BrewDemon fermentor will make good beer.

Might be worth you time to visit the BeerBorg forum where many if not most of its Members actually have experience with the BrewDemon ...