OnederBrew.....anyone try this?

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If I were going to try one I would just get the semi clear cone and use my own bucket, not to keen on the black myself. Plus if you just get the cone you don't get the fittings, and I would probably replace those anyway.

My biggest problem (other than the possibly fixed fit and finish) is I'm not sure there is a lot of advantage over using a bucket. If you use metal fittings you are going to want to disassemble it each time to clean, so a lot more work and what is the benefit? I mean there is a certain coolness look factor, but I could brew in a bottling bucket and get a no syphon fermentor I have to take apart to clean.

SS with sanitary fittings has a lot of appeal (other than cost) so that is really just a cost issue.

Damn I think I just talked my self into a lot of $$$ ;~)
 
I wonder if you could use a standard plastic fermenting bucket with his semi-clear cone? I still have two 6gal fermentation buckets that I use for secondaries. They have the little valves inserted and a hose running from there to a bucket would be a blowoff. Drill your own holes and use your own ports/valves. Maybe he is missing the boat on a product he could sell a ton of. The only 6.5-7.0gal plastic conicals are all like $150 and up and for $250, I could buy one of those Chinese stainless conicals on ebay.

Edit:
so I added all the parts needed to make just a conical and it was $124. That is the cone, the legs the gaskets and the clamps. That is still a little expensive. You could take a piece of scrap plywood cut a hole in it and screw some legs onto it to hold the assembly and eliminate the $20 legs.
 
The cone gasket and clamp come together for $59 (black) $69 (semi clear).

The leg holes fit 1/2" PVC, it's actually what they used to use for legs.

The fittings are the only thing that would start to creep up on you. Personally I would not drill out any but the bottom drain and tap ones. And stick a fermentation lock in a hole in the bottom. The "tricky" part would be corking the hole while you fill the bucket before you flip it over. Should be looking at under $100 even if you need to buy a bucket.

And yes they fit the standard buckets. At least according to the description.
 
We now offer white, black 6 and 7 gallon buckets that are pressure tested. Everything part that is in contact with the beer or wort are FDA approved materials and guaranteed not to leach. We now have a large diameter yeast port and please keep giving us suggestions because we will continue to work on them.
 
Is there still a raised ring inside the code where the 2 parts are molded together? To me this is the only show stopper on your product.
 
There is nothing that can hold bacteria on the inside of the cone anymore. 2 parts are not molded together.
 
Awesome. Glad to hear it. The semi clear bottoms look pretty nice. I like the idea of being able to tell where the yeast/trub level is at.
 
Still waiting to get mine here in Egypt--darn APO mail can be SO slow sometimes! Hoping my yeast and other ingredients actually show up first, then I don't have to sit n stare at the fermenter and not be able to start a batch...
 
It is interesting. Not very sexy (no stainless steel).

Do you think there would be any off flavors or smells from the plastic buckets?

Chris

There are no off flavors for the plastic parts, all parts are FDA food grade material similar to Tupperware and guaranteed not to leach.
 
whats the point of having a 5 gallon conical??? Kind of pointless other than to claim you have a conical

The advantage of a 5 gallon (6 gallon total volume) is that it easily fits into almost any refrigerator or chest freezer for temperature control for fermentation, crash chilling and even dispensing. Fits great into a Kegerator.
The size is rhe same as corny kegs, so if you go that route you ferment in the OneDerBrew use it as a unitank, reuse the yeast and use the corny as a holding tank like a brewery does.
You can also use a 6 or 7 gal. bucket to get a total of 7 or 8 gallons.
 
They were demonstrating these at NHC in Seattle/Bellevue. Seeing that bucket inflated like a balloon and bulging out at the seams while under pressure did not fill me with confidence. Now, I have no direct experience with the product, perhaps it works a treat. However, it just looked like a disaster waiting to happen.

We have never had a bucket explode, we did have some gasket leaks on some of the first units, but now we test every unit shipped.
We have inflated 10 units to 35 psi over 1000 times each with no failures.
The safety bung consistently blows out at below 25 psi
The buckets are rated to 15 psi from the manufacturer but that is for a wide temperature range.
The polyethylene does lose some strength at the lip at temps above 80 F.
But that is above fermentation temperatures.
 
Some pictures or a new video of the "impoved" product would be very helpful.

Maybe you could find out who does the injection work for the Cooper's "burp" fermenter and get a few tips. Their product (just a regular old fermenter ) comes out of the box as smooth as glass (inside and out) with no places for nasties to hide. Not one little piece of left over injection sprue anywhere. It's also designed for very easy cleanup and sanitation. With that in mind you might be better off doing away with the threading for the valves/fittings and simply go with reinforced walls and use quality washers/gaskets for traditional bulkhead fittings.

I did a little wedding photography in the past and learned:

"Never include a crappy picture in with the proofs.":mug:

IMHO

bosco
 
Also another question for the maker or anyone else that saw the answer. On the onederbrew websites it says the system is " expandable to 20 gallons in low cost increments." I did not see a product on the website that makes it a full 15 gallons larger and I'm also curious what the expansion would be. A 20 gal bucket?
 
I found a 10 gallon plastic bucket(read as 12) its hd food grade plastic with the same dia lid opening as my 5 gallon buckets from a plastics company localy in South East Va. I think this thing has great potential. If I can see internal pics of the new product I will buy one! I am in the process of going to 10 gallon batches, I also would never carbonate in the fermentor as designed not because I think its a poor idea I bottle and keg all my brews for easy transport to parties and gatherings.

For most of the coments I think its funny a new product comes out and people hop(pun intended)on the bandwagon of gripes and complaints with no experience with said product. Execpt for 1 person. Perhaps I will order one and try it out anyway.
 
I've mentioned this before. Perhaps I'm on the aforementioned griping and complaining bandwagon, but this quote (verbatim from the catalog):
We do not recommend pressurizing and do not guarantee your bucket
does not inspire confidence. In fact, it reeks of a company not willing to accept any responsibility or liability for their product. No thanks, Onederbrew. Your product is suspect, and your business practices are deplorable.
 
I have brewed a beligan pale ale and put it in the onederbrew now. It's still in there actually. It didn't explode...but I was pretty paranoid about it. The dial for regulating pressure is just a screw in knob with rubber gaskets. You tighten it to the point it stops leaking co2 and can maintain pressure. This worked pretty good. Problem was... after the first couple days with it open and regular fermentation... I went to try and do 15psi... It was trial and error to get it 'set' to 15psi. I did finally get it...but if you tightened it too much it could be a mess for you if you didn't check it frequently. I think I will most likely keg it this weekend...This could be interesting in and of itself :D

Overall... so far so good. If the molding inside the cone has been fixed (mine has the molding issue, but nothing I can do about that) It's not too bad. The supplied bucket is pretty small, I have not tried sealing it with a larger bucket such as the 6.5 gallon ones most use for brewing. This is what I will attempt after I empty the current beer out of it.
 
I've mentioned this before. Perhaps I'm on the aforementioned griping and complaining bandwagon, but this quote (verbatim from the catalog):

does not inspire confidence. In fact, it reeks of a company not willing to accept any responsibility or liability for their product. No thanks, Onederbrew. Your product is suspect, and your business practices are deplorable.

They do not recommend you use a seperately purchased bucket and pressurize as it does NOT have the safety bung feature like their buckets do.....read a bit closer!
 
We have never had a bucket explode, we did have some gasket leaks on some of the first units, but now we test every unit shipped.
We have inflated 10 units to 35 psi over 1000 times each with no failures.
The safety bung consistently blows out at below 25 psi
The buckets are rated to 15 psi from the manufacturer but that is for a wide temperature range.
The polyethylene does lose some strength at the lip at temps above 80 F.
But that is above fermentation temperatures.

I would be interested to see how the product holds up over time. It seems like you've done some testing on your end.
 
I just ordered mine (Christmas present from SWMBO). Really looking forward to trying it.

When I get mine, I will look for the ridge in the cone to see if the issue has been fixed. I was also very curious about the expansion to 20 gallons.

To the folks who have been asking what the point of a 5 gallon conical is- the point is the same as it is for those of you brewing 15-20 gallons. Having a unitank that doesn't require you to spend 30-60 minutes two weeks after brewing to rack to secondary, and a much easier process for harvesting yeast. Just because some of us can't afford to upgrade to a bigger system doesn't mean that we wouldn't like to streamline our process.

I am very hopeful for this product. It is possible that I will be horribly disappointed by an exploding fermenter or contaminated beer. But I am going to try the product before passing judgement.
 
Well I kegged my beer from the onederbrew. I used 3/8 silicone tubing with a kwik clamp onto the picnic tap thing. The beer foamed quite a bit but was overall pretty good. Maybe I won't do it under pressure next time...
 
mors can you toss up some pix or video next time? Interested in seeing this work. Ditto for you Razor...

Was the reason for the original being black to eliminate light? That seems reasonable to me. I kinda agree with daksin and was leaning that way myself on a DIY conical using a spray tank. Saw this product in Zymurgy and came on here to see if anyone had experience with it. Thanks for posting! In the end I may just spring for a SS conical from Stout as I have been pleased with their products, but it doesn't hurt to slow go it and do as much research as possible. Who knows, they may improve this product and reduce costs by building volume and it could be a hit down the road...

Cheers!
 
Oh yeah sorry I did record a few short videos about 72 hours after fermentation started. The first one is me closing off the system to let it build up some pressure so I can adjust the pressure nut. The second one is after I have had it adjusted to 15psi and it's maintaining. I had no leaks during the entire process...beer came out good too...though dump alot more out the dump port than you would think... I had yeast bomb beer had to dump a few glasses out of the keg...

Video 1
[ame]http://youtu.be/BenfFxz2vX0[/ame]

Video 2
http://youtu.be/dn-ZgcrEa8c
 
Ok, so here is my preliminary review after my first brew with the OneDerBrew has been in the fermenter for about three weeks.


I am probably doing something wrong, but that is a byproduct of woefully inadequate instructions included with the fermenter.

Upon initial inspection, I saw the ridge that many posters have complained of, still there despite the manufacturer's claims to the contrary. I is midway down the cone in the inside, so right where the yeast will e sitting and breeding. Not particularly happy about that.

I sanitized with StarSan, assembled, and filled with chilled wort and pitched my yeast. Then I put the cone on top, pumped out the air, and sealed it up as instructed. Apparently I did not properly have the air out valve opened up like I was supposed to, as the next morning I found the bucket bulging and some minor leakage (cannot determine from where, but not the blowout grommet on top). I opened the valve and released that pressure, then leftist open for about five days before closing it back up. Since then, the pressure gauge has not moved one bit nor has the bucket bulged back out.

What is most frustrating is that when I attempt to dump the yeast trub from the bottom valve, nothing comes out, or only a drop or two. S rather than moving the yeast trub after one week, I have had to leave it in there for the full 21 days of my expected fermentation.

The next frustration is that after 21 days, my gravity is still at 1.034, no where near my target. This is a session stout and should be done by now.

Another issue with yeast dumping is that even if I were able to get a flow of yeast, where is it to go? The valve is on the very bottom, which rests about one millimeter off the floor. If you want to dump the yeast, you really need to Storie your fermenter off the floor so you can attach a tube to run the yeast into a receiving container.

I am going to have to transfer to a traditional bucket or better bucket to finish fermentation. At least the sampling spigot works.

So far I am very underwhelmed. I will keep y'all appraised when I watch some more instructional videos and try again on my next batch.
 
Ok, so here is my preliminary review after my first brew with the OneDerBrew has been in the fermenter for about three weeks.


I am probably doing something wrong, but that is a byproduct of woefully inadequate instructions included with the fermenter.

Upon initial inspection, I saw the ridge that many posters have complained of, still there despite the manufacturer's claims to the contrary. I is midway down the cone in the inside, so right where the yeast will e sitting and breeding. Not particularly happy about that.

I sanitized with StarSan, assembled, and filled with chilled wort and pitched my yeast. Then I put the cone on top, pumped out the air, and sealed it up as instructed. Apparently I did not properly have the air out valve opened up like I was supposed to, as the next morning I found the bucket bulging and some minor leakage (cannot determine from where, but not the blowout grommet on top). I opened the valve and released that pressure, then leftist open for about five days before closing it back up. Since then, the pressure gauge has not moved one bit nor has the bucket bulged back out.

What is most frustrating is that when I attempt to dump the yeast trub from the bottom valve, nothing comes out, or only a drop or two. S rather than moving the yeast trub after one week, I have had to leave it in there for the full 21 days of my expected fermentation.

The next frustration is that after 21 days, my gravity is still at 1.034, no where near my target. This is a session stout and should be done by now.

Another issue with yeast dumping is that even if I were able to get a flow of yeast, where is it to go? The valve is on the very bottom, which rests about one millimeter off the floor. If you want to dump the yeast, you really need to Storie your fermenter off the floor so you can attach a tube to run the yeast into a receiving container.

I am going to have to transfer to a traditional bucket or better bucket to finish fermentation. At least the sampling spigot works.

So far I am very underwhelmed. I will keep y'all appraised when I watch some more instructional videos and try again on my next batch.

Well having used it a few times now I can tell you why some of these thing happened. The leaking (if not from not tightening the band enough) is most likely from the pressure relief valve. If the krausen gets high it pumps out that small red tube and down onto the floor/table. I set it in my laundry sink for the first couple days. Never really get that much coming out.

Most my ale fermentations are over by day 5. You should leave the pressure valve all the way open for the first 2 days then seal it up and maintain roughly 15psi for the remainder of the fermentation. It also seems like you got a stuck fermentation.. this can be many factors but doubtful any of the factors were caused by the fermentor.

The bottom valve not having any yeast coming out is common with conical fermenters. It's a thick slurry down there...open the valve and have patience. Even my 1.5" inner diameter port on my stainless conical takes considerable time sometimes. I do agree the port being close to the bottom feet makes harvesting alittle bit of a pain. I usually set the fermenter on a table and let the front 2 feel dangle off...while holding the fermenter in place. This puts most the weight on the back legs and you don't really have to hold it...you may still want to open the dump valve and wait for a few in the sink though. Until the dirty trub and early flocc yeast starts coming out.

if you flip the fermenter back so the bucket is right side up you can remove the cone and try and get the fermentation unstuck...no need for a separate fermentor.
 
I like it but there are a few things I need to figure out yet.
first batch is still in it as I don't have my kegs or bottle capper with me yet.
But here's the rundown so far.
used the Ferocious IPA recipe kit from Midwest supplies with the Headwaters Ale yeast by wyeast activator pack.
I don't think I like this yeast-very cloudy final product, although I could have goofed somewhere else to create that effect I suppose...

started O/A 22 dec, and felt the ferm got stuck about day 3 there was very little activity - nice thing is you can seal the onderbrew and give it a massive shaking to get things back into suspension and this seemed to get it all working again...

although i thought it had finished off after 12 days, it continued to build pressure after I tried to dump the yeast - it wouldn't drain.

So after another week or so I pumped some air into it( i know--bad bad bad) but it worked I got a good dump of trub, hops and yeast.
shook the hell out of it again and it picked back up and built to about 4 psi where i let it sit for almost a month while I had to travel for work.

when i got back I test bottled 3each, 1/2 liter bottles with 1/4 tsp of white table sugar and let them sit for about 10 days...very little carbonation - want to try 1/2 tsp corn sugar per bottle and try it again.

I added an extension tube that came with the onderbrew to get the dump port out to the front feet - it makes it easier to get my big mitts on the valve and control the flow - once it starts to flow that is...the port is so small at about 1/4 inch ID - I worry I might have major issues if I ever use leaf hops instead of pellets. but as long as you have a good 10-15 psi built up - it ought to break loose and dump without too much trouble.

the other major concern for me is priming if I've bled off all the co2 - which I did out of concern for over pressurizing while i travelled...there's no way to get the sugar into the unit easily...I'm thinking of using a sanitized solution in a mason jar, and the airpump with tubing rigged to force the solution to backflow from the jar through the red blowoff tube to the top of the fermenter...we'll see...

I think I'll just prime bottles for this batch and see how it goes - just hate measuring every single bottle - I prefer to evenly distribute the sugar by stirring into the entire batch.

but overall - it makes good beer, it's a relatively small footprint.
easy to clean
relatively easy to recover yeast
I will eventually serve from it once I get the hang of co2 control and then a cooler to hold it for serving...
 
Hmm yeah I never thought about bottling out of the unit. 2 things would come to mind for me. 1) Use carb tabs so you don't have to measure out sugar for each bottle. 2) If you ferment under pressure the beer should already be carbonated... just put it in the bottles. When I go to keg from the Onederbrew the beer is carbonated. Just use an online calculator to see what level of pressure you need to get the level of carbonation desired at whatever temp you're keeping the Onederbrew.
 
Had to harvest yeast from the Onederbrew today...while I was waiting for the yeast to "poop" out I figured I would make a quick video with my phone to show you what I mean.

 
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yeah and when you're doing it you need to literally sit there and watch it...because all of a sudden it's like spraying liquid...kind of like the next morning if you drink too much yeast...
 
One thing I will note about the Onederbrew vs my Stout 14.5 stainless conical is that the yeast seems to stick to the sides of the cone alot more in the Onederbrew. Like I did that yeast dump I recorded...until it ran clean. Then I did another yeast dump on my lunch break and there was a **** ton of yeast that still came out. So I recommend sliding it around on it's legs so it vibrates between yeast dumps... so the 'center' of the code fills back up with yeast and you knock it off the walls.

In my stainless conical I do do a second yeast dump...but usually I get next to nothing.
 
Saw the add in BYO a few times....checked it out online finally.

I kinda lost it when he started pouring orange juice into his beer lol.

That and seeing a 5 gallon bucket looking like a balloon ready to bust...... yea not sure about this one.
 
I went to the onederbrew web site says out of stock have not seen any updated posts from the manufacturer of the device. For those who have used it, is the cone set up worth the purchase? Have they fixed the "line" in the middle of the cone? Are you happy with the way this thing works? Any failures due to device defects, or has it been more user error.

Peace Out.
 
I have a Brew Demon and a Onederbrew. They really cannot be compared with one another. The Brew Demon 'conical' is really nothing more than a Mr. Beer barrel lol. No dump etc... fine as a primary fermenter of a small batch of beer...but if you plan on aging for an extended period of time... it will not do. There is also 0 yeast harvesting in the Brew Demon.
 
Mors (or anyone who has used this thing) I just bought a onederbrew. Seemed like a good idea at the time, after perhaps a few too many home made Belgian trippels. I still want to bottle after brewing a batch, should I do it with or without priming sugar? Supposedly it is already carbonated but what if I left it at really low pressure? I am guessing I could keep the pressure down and there would still be yeast in the beer to convert the sugar to carbonation? I would just measure the priming sucrose right into the bottle, say 3/4 tsp per bottle. Thanks for any help.

By way of introduction:
I am a newbie to the forum, which I found after buying a onederbrew. I grew up on Mr. Beer, but have been buying my own DME, hops, steeping grains and yeast for a while, and capping 12 oz bottles. I usually brew 4.5 gallon batches into two Mr. Beer containers, yielding about 44 bottles. Essentially 5 gallon recipes but maybe just a little "stronger". I am ready and understand how to do partial mashing. I am also OK with the tedious process of putting priming sugar into each bottle. Appreciate any advice or tips any of you care to share.

Mike


Mike
 
In theory if you could get onederbrew fermenter down to 57F and 20psi you would have about 2.4 vols of co2. I wouldn't recommend this. I think 20psi is roughly when that plug in the top is suppose to blow so I would still be bottling conditioning. As for how to do it... I would release most the pressure from the onederbrew and then fill up a bottling bucket with your priming sugar melted and in the bottom of it. Then bottle from there. You can calculate how many vols of co2 you have in the onederbrew but you will lose co2 during the transfer and bottling... so I think there might be some trial and error in figuring out how much priming sugar to use to get appropriate carbonation levels. I've only ever kegged from the Onederbrew.
 
after reading this i still dont see where the up to 20 gal fermenter question has been answered. i think i may go with the spraysmarter conical diy thing. i guess you can get a 10-15 gallon bucket but theres no relief valve, and will the legs support the 15 gallon of wort.
 
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