Stainless fermenters, taps and sanitization

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Dave_S, Feb 25, 2020.

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  1. Dave_S

    Dave_S Crusader (429) May 18, 2017 England

    Hi folks!

    I'm looking at replacing my old plastic bucket with something a bit fancier. I've found quite a nice looking small stainless fermenter - the only catch (from my point of view) is that it comes pre-drilled with a hole for a tap.

    I don't have a tap on my current FV and haven't felt the need for one - since I'm happy siphoning the beer out, as far as I can tell it's just an extra set of spaces for grime and bugs to hide. But because the FV is pre-drilled, my only options are to get the tap, get a blank stopper that screws into the place of the tap, or go elsewhere.

    So my questions are:
    How much extra faff / uncertainty does a tap add to the cleaning and sanitization process for a stainless FV?
    Would a blank stopper be any better?
    Conversely, if I fitted it with a tap, would I suddenly realise what I've been missing all these years?

    Cheers!
     
    #1 Dave_S, Feb 25, 2020
  2. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    By tap, do you mean a sample/racking valve? If so, if it's designed well, it should not be hard to clean and sanitize. What fermenter are you considering?

    If you keg, and if you can also fit the fermenter with a CO2 fitting for closed transfers, I suspect you'll realize what you've been missing. But if it's just a way to move beer to a bottling bucket, I wouldn't be all that excited about the upgrade over a siphon.
     
    #2 VikeMan, Feb 25, 2020
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  3. Dave_S

    Dave_S Crusader (429) May 18, 2017 England

    Thanks! The fermenter is this one:
    https://brewbuilder.co.uk/mini-fv.html

    Yeah, it would just be for moving to a bottling bucket at the moment. Thanks again!
     
    #3 Dave_S, Feb 25, 2020
  4. billandsuz

    billandsuz Pooh-Bah (2,097) Sep 1, 2004 New York
    Pooh-Bah

    I'm thinking you are looking at a pro vessel. If so the fitting is not an issue at all. You can purchase s/s fitting of all sorts for these things. The whole thing is designed to be easy to clean and use. Remember, our struggles with sanitation are nothing compared to what the pro-brewers are facing.

    Attach a pic if you can.
    Cheers
     
    #4 billandsuz, Feb 25, 2020
  5. billandsuz

    billandsuz Pooh-Bah (2,097) Sep 1, 2004 New York
    Pooh-Bah

    Wow... that was fast...

    My only concern would be that this vessel uses metric threads.
    Edit.

    Well, also not a problem.


    Other than that you can clean a ball valve fairly easily. Just don't let it get ahead of you and it is not a major headache.

    Also, gravity. It works really well.
    Cheers
     
    #5 billandsuz, Feb 25, 2020
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  6. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    I hadn't seen that one before. If it can hold a few pounds of pressure, it looks like there's plenty of room on the lid for a CO2 fitting. People who move from open to closed transfers are pretty much like people who move from bottling to kegging. They (mostly) never look back.
     
    #6 VikeMan, Feb 25, 2020
  7. epk

    epk Pundit (849) Jun 10, 2008 New Jersey

    I'd make sure you clean the valve thoroughly after every use. As you mentioned, it is certainly a vector for infection.
     
    #7 epk, Feb 25, 2020
  8. deadwolfbones

    deadwolfbones Pundit (795) Jun 21, 2014 Oregon

    It's very easy to clean. I use a SS BrewTech bucket. You just unscrew, disassemble, soak in PBW for a bit, rinse, sanitize, re-assemble. Takes minutes. I find the valve ultra-handy to have for gravity samples (with a refractometer). I also bottle directly off of the fermenter (with sugar cubes or measured-out doses of table sugar in each bottle. No bottling bucket necessary.
     
    #8 deadwolfbones, Feb 25, 2020
  9. Dave_S

    Dave_S Crusader (429) May 18, 2017 England

    Thanks all - I think I'll go with it, including the tap. I've got no immediate plans to start kegging, let alone doing closed transfers, but it sounds like cleaning it shouldn't be too much hassle anyway.
     
    #9 Dave_S, Feb 26, 2020
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  10. Granitebeard

    Granitebeard Zealot (549) Aug 24, 2016 Maine

    I bought one of these: https://www.anvilbrewing.com/-p/anv-fv-7.5gal.htm Less expensive then what you posted, but what would shipping cost?

    Honestly it is easy enough to clean, and you can pull it apart to clean it better if you want. I have done a few in it thus far and am happy with it.
     
    #10 Granitebeard, Feb 26, 2020
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