FastFerment conical Plastic fermenter

You have to mount these on a wall or buy the stand because they aren't free standing...so that creates a size delima for a fermentation chamber. Including the stand, they seem to be a tight squeeze for an average fridge (usually a little under 30" tall), maybe not side by side, though. I thought about getting one before, but I've only heard negative things about these fermenters and most folks that I've heard of that have bought them, stop using them before too long...so I backed away from the purchase and haven't seen much info about them shared.

 

What was the reason(s) for why people stopped using them?

Cheers!

 

Folks I've corresponded with have had issue with it not sealing well and oxidation leading to off flavors and some with contamination. They also comment on how odd it is to handle overall and that the yeast bulb at the bottom didn't work as easily as described or even at all. I didn't investigate any further after hearing multiple people mention these points, but again, I don't have any personal experience to back any of this up.

 

FWIW I have read posts with similar thoughts expressed.

Cheers!

 

I saw this at the homebrew convention, looked like a fastferment but better (and fits in chest freezers)

http://catalyst.craftabrew.com/

 

Interesting! Did you see how much they were planning on retailing for? I'm curious if it truly performs better than the FastFerment. I have been thinking of investing in a stainless steel conical, but after collecting so many buckets, glass carboys and better bottles, and never having issues with any of them really, its hard for me to justify sinking the money into it...but the idea of using a conical and the ease of harvesting yeast from something like this does have its appeal.

 

IIRC they said ~$200 retail, but if you sign up for the mailing list you'll get a chance to buy one for $170 or so. I asked them about pressurized transfers, and they said you can do them up to 3 psi. They're also looking at having a weldless sample valve kit you can add on. There's a few accessories they had at the booth that they don't show on the site, like a bottling hose adapter that you can screw on to where the ball jar goes for easy transfers.

I'd definitely love to own a few SS Brewtech Conicals eventually, but @ $800 a pop with cooling accessories, these might be my compromise for a few years

 

I've enjoyed my Brew Bucket. It fits inside my little chest freezer chamber, either with a blowoff tube or a 3-piece airlock (I just found out the other day that an S-style airlock is too tall). Plenty of headspace for a 5.5 to 6 gallon primary fill. I use a blowoff tube every time, but I don't think it's ever been needed in a year and a half of use, even for my big RIS.

I like the ball valve and rotating racking arm. That makes sampling and transferring to kegs a breeze. I remove the racking arm and valve from the bucket between every batch to keep them clean, so that's really the biggest downside (other than cost) to using the brew bucket: more parts to clean and sanitize. I would definitely get extra O-rings right away for the valve and racking arm. It doesn't take long for them to get deformed, but I probably tighten down on the valve nut more than I should. I smear some keg lube on all O-rings every time, and that helps them to last longer.

Definitely pay attention to their instructions on cleaning and passivating the inside before the first use. I didn't take any chances, and followed them to the letter before I filled it with the first batch.

 

No, I don't prime in the primary fermenter. I force carbonate in kegs, or transfer to a bottling bucket for priming when I bottle.

 

The Brew Bucket isn't designed to hold pressure. So I'm guessing carbonating in one might not work out very well. Just an educated guess.

I considered buying one a while back, but decided on a more pressure-ready (for pressurized transfers) conical instead.