FastRack FastFerment - I'm getting one

Haven't watched the video, but how does temperature control work with these? And if there isn't temperature control, then these would not work for me, and I suspect they wouldn't work for a lot of homebrewers.

[Edited to add: I guess the concept is that the fermenter can be mounted on a stand inside your chest freezer etc. I guess that is not so different from a carboy, although the dimensions might be tricky for some people. I would be curious to hear what other people think.]

 

I believe there were designed for wine. The only way IMO for this to be useful is to have it mounted in a temp controlled room. Such as a walk in cooler. I suppose a cool basement or garage could work also. Good luck. Let us know how it goes!

Cheers!

 

Yeah, just looking at the dimensions, it appears to be 39 inches tall. That's pretty tall! A Better Bottle carboy is 19 1/3 inches tall (maybe 23 inches with airlock). You should think about whether this will fit in your fermentation chamber.

 

39" (plus whatever the stand takes up?) would be a no-go for most peoples' fermentation chambers/chest freezers.

If I ever buy a conical, it will be one of the heating/cooling jacketed S.S. models. It would also be breaking my rule about not investing in new equipment unless it will clearly improve the beer and/or make some tedious task much less tedious. But I still kind of drool whenever I see one.

 

It's a cool idea, but doesn't the whole idea of limiting exposure to oxygen kind of get sunk when you re-attach the ball after removing to harvest the yeast? Reattaching an empty ball is going to introduce oxygen to the beer unless you evacuate the ball, or replace the air with C02. It seems like it would make more sense to just take the ball off with the yeast and not reattach it for the secondary.

I will say though that if I were in the habit of doing multi-step dry hopping, or other adjunct additions that more or less require a secondary, this would make the whole thing a lot easier. I'm guessing you could simply add your secondary dry hops to the ball and then reattach, and voila - multi-stage dry hopping without racking. You'd still need to mitigate the air-in-the-ball issue, but I do see the advantages of this in that situation.

 

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/fast-rack-conical-fermenter.188851/

So you can monitor the temp, great, but where are you going to hang this so you can actually control it? You're going to have to invest in some sort of upright freezer for that (if on a rack) or build a temp controlled closet to mount it inside of... which doesn't sound like a bad idea if you have an extra closet to just turn into a walk in fridge.

 

I just ordered one. I do not do a lot of lagers and I can use a carboy when I do. This will probably be my main fermenter.

 

the stand should be mandatory, not optional? Most people are going to fill it when its not hanging on the wall?

 

Always suspicious of new users who sign up, and make their very first post about a product that is for sale.

 

Suspicion is ok. It is not material evidence.
I have not received the item yet and so have not used it. I cannot endorse it until that time. It does, however, look like something I can use. I will probably make a floor mount for it since the manufacturer is not yet offering one.

 

On this forum, most First Posts that talk about a product are indeed shills. I'm sure you are the exception.

 

I've ordered one as well. Just waiting on it to arrive. I'll probably make apfelwein in it to start. If I like it for that, perhaps I'll get a second for beer. Also my first post, so in the interest of full disclosure, I have no pecuniary interest in this product, nor any other brewing related items.

 

Not at all like this other user.

 

This product is not knew but I believe they have changed out some of the parts in an effort to make it more sanitary. They have sold essentially the same product at a local shop for years. I know a few people who have them and it seems most people mount them in unused closets so there's no temperature control. I dunno it has always seemed like a product without much of a market.

 

I say get the drill & saw out and craft your own fermentation vessel:
http://blog.kegoutlet.com/free-e-book-how-to-build-a-custom-fermenter-fridge/
after years of talking about it...I finally bought an ohm brew temp controller and plan to get after it soon.

 

I don't do a lot of lagers either. In fact, I've been brewing on and off since the early 90's and have to date done exactly 1 lager. Someone posted a nice wooden stand that they had made for their fastfermenter and I should think that I could easily enough slide that in to the fridge in my basement. The lager I did, I did in a glass carboy and was able to slide that in the small dorm fridge that I use to chill my kegs for serving.