FastFerment conical

Hi I was wondering who has seen these and if they seem like a good buy.
http://www.thefastrack.ca/main/fastferment
90$ for a conical seems awesome. Any negatives with a plastic conical?

I saw that ad too and was thinking about it. I think they used to be called the "V-vessel", and you can search the forum for threads about that. There aren't a lot, and they don't tend to be overwhelmingly positive. But I do agree that it's an interesting looking product.

Maybe this version they fixed a few things on it. I'm sure they saw the negatives on the last one. I wonder if I could email them and ask them what the deal is with the new one.


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Hi There,

We found this thread and wanted to post an update...

The story goes like this..

John the inventor of VVessel contacted us about 6-8 months ago regarding the product and possibly working out some sort of partnership. We did our research on the unit and within a few days had compiled 100s of postings found all over the internet. (Many of them on HomeBrewTalk.com)

Overall, we thought the system had really good potential so yes we
formed a partnership with John (he's actually a fellow Canadian and
lives about 45 minutes away from us in Toronto, Eh!). We then starting
marking as many improvements as possible, one of them we decided on a
trip to major a partner, Brouwland in Belgium which is the new
ThermoWell.

The flat bottom on the collection ball came from someone at the NHC
that visited our booth in Michigan. All the improvements we've made
are from the communities suggestions and input. Basically, we wanted
to make it as awesome as possible at the most affordable price. We
think we are on the right track but if anyone has ideas, suggestions,
or feedback we are all ears.

The current one has been around for 10+ years and the plastic aspect is all good for brewing. The inventor runs a on premise wine making shop and has literally done 1000's of batches in the plastic and they always turn out good.

Hope all is help and thanks for the pre sale launch support!

Cheers!

Casey
(Red Dragon)

i'd love one, but i ferment in a chest freezer, be more of a pain then it's worth.

If you're in Canada, why are they more expensive for Canadians?

ok for $90 - i will give it a whirl....
i don't think i can mount it in my fermentation chamber - but we will see.

how do you fill it if you dont have a stand?

Apparently it comes with a way to mount it in the wall and the option of purchasing a stand for fermentation chambers

looks nice but why doesn't it have a racking port?

It is all done thru the same port and the tru band yeast cake goes into the ball

OK next dumb question. How do I know I got all the yeast in the y-ball so I can start bottling?

That - for me will be the test of it as well...
But for $90 compared to $500 to start doing some batches in a conical...

We will see- just got a email yesterday units are shipping in August.

I pre-ordered one. Looking forward to giving it a shot. I don't think I'll mount it on the wall. I'll make my own stand for it.

bump

anyone using these?

Still waiting for them to come. August


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What about the air in the ball when it's reattached? Seems like a lot of oxidation would occur. Thoughts?

PinkFrog said:

What about the air in the ball when it's reattached? Seems like a lot of oxidation would occur. Thoughts?

Click to expand...

If you keg- maybe you could purge it with co2


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never even thought of that... but makes me wonder if that small amount of oxy exposure isn't terrible if you did ti when fermentation is slow but not done.

I pre ordered one of these and like others, was emailed it will ship the end of August. I had the same concerns about temp control, but figured I could build a large upright version of SOF. It will sit next to the chest freezer I use to store my harvested yeast and hops. If the frozen gallon jugs do not get me to the 65 to 67 range, I can pull some cold air off the chest freezer to augment the cooling. I am sure you can get to an ale fermentation temperature with a larger upright SOF and some creativity. (For lager, I will continue to use my keezer which doubles as a fermenter.)

The other idea I had is to augment the frozen jugs with thermoelectric. Alone, themoelectric is iffy but might be able to work with the ice in the SOF design. Cooling the air with thermoelectric may help the ice last longer and avoid excessive swapping of jugs in the larger chamber required to house the large size of the Fastfermenter.

I like the idea of a conical and wanted a dedicated fermentation chamber. I can have two batches fermenting with temp control, or a single batch of ale fermenting while the keezer can continue to be used to dispense kegs. The benefits of the conical remain to be seen, but the price allows for a chance to experiment and isn't that what makes homebrewing fun? I have some prelim sketches done, but will not get serious until I have this thing in hand. I will be glad to share my experience/frustration once it arrives.

Cheers,
Ben

Does anyone know if they plan to make one bigger than 7gal?? I am currently looking for a cost effective plastic fermenter for 10 gallon batches.... Any recommendations? I wish I could afford a SS conical but that won't be for a while.

I like this thing but who has a fermenter with a space for a wall mount? I guess if you dont use fermentations w/ temp control it is awesome.

I just received an email that these will not ship until mid Sept. Will update when I actually receive this thing, or they change the ship date again. To their credit, they will now include a second collection ball, free. I can use that to help harvest yeast and was glad they made the gesture.

In the email they also noted the accessories should be for sale prior to shipment of the conical. They are hoping to ship unit with accessories all at once. Not a bad marketing ploy, but not sure I want to sink a ton of additional money into this experiment yet.

For those who keep saying this is only wall mounted, a key accessory is the stand that allows this to sit on the floor just like a carboy. It can also be set in a "tall" stand they sell so you can bottle/keg right from the fermenter. The problem I see is it is taller than a carboy and even taller in the stands. Most fermentation chambers (like SOF or converted chest freezers) are built to house a standard carboy. I will most likely just build my own stand as part of the fermentation chamber I plan on custom building to house this thing.

Cheers,
Ben

Ahh. Man I was looking forward to getting mine here soon. Oh well like u said at least they are sending another collection ball.


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I'm strongly considering ordering one but my main concerns are:

How will I easily fill it up after brewing? (currently use a blichmann burner with leg extensions)

In the future I will want temperature control, what would this easily fit inside? or would it? a mini fridge would be ideal but this is probably too tall.

whattheschmidt said:

I'm strongly considering ordering one but my main concerns are:

How will I easily fill it up after brewing? (currently use a blichmann burner with leg extensions)

In the future I will want temperature control, what would this easily fit inside? or would it? a mini fridge would be ideal but this is probably too tall.

Click to expand...

It seems that the optional stand is being ignored by lots of people. This stand allows the ferementer to sit on the floor just like a carboy. They are also going to sell a strap type carrier, like a brew hauler, which will mean filling and moving to fermenter is going to be very similar to a standard carboy, if you buy their stand or build one.

The big problem is the height of this thing. I plan on building a fermenter that will accommodate it, but standard chest freezers or mini fridges, or even SOF chambers, will not house it. If you want to temp control your ferment, and we all do, then you need to get little creative to use this conical.

Cheers,
Ben

You could shave 3" off the top by using a blowoff tube instead of an airlock. Wonder if it might fit in some mini fridges then?


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"Mini-fridges"?

Doubtful, and I ain't even laid eyes on one yet!

Well it was about time and I did receive an email that units are getting ready to ship. They expect they will start shipping units Sept. 22 and accessories are now for sale. I am planning on building a stand for this thing, but if I wasn't, I might go for the small stand they are selling to help fill it on brew day (see pic that they sent of new unit in small stand they sent with recent email).

Good luck to all who are going to try this thing out (and I guess that includes me) and I will update once I have a chance to use this thing, which is hopefully soon!

Cheers,
Ben

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all the positive feedback - We are excited as you to get the product out. We are heading down to Michigan this weekend to begin shipping out units who did not order accessories. If you ordered any accessories your order with the accessories will ship out Oct. 1

The link to the accessories is here:
https://www.thefastrack.ca/main/ff_accessories

If you have any specific questions send me at email directly at [email protected]

Cheers!

Why could you not cut a hole in a sheet of plywood like guys do for the induction tanks? That seems like an easy way to make a stand out of plywood to me. Could easily make a stand for less than what they are asking for it and even set it up to hold more than one unit.

One thickness of plywood, with a liquid loaded conical, would put a lot of stress in one location on that plastic body, me thinks!

Stealthcruiser said:

One thickness of plywood, with a liquid loaded conical, would put a lot of stress in one location on that plastic body, me thinks!

Click to expand...

less than the little metal ring they use to support it.

When your cutting the plywood adjust your jig saw to the same angle as the fermenter to soften the load on the plastic.

Minbari said:

less than the little metal ring they use to support it.

Click to expand...

Got it!

I was thinking, ( dangerous, I know!), that it had more than one ring that it sat in!

I am planning on making a simple stand using wood that would look similar to the stand they sell. Obviously the wood would be thicker than the steel but the design would be the same, a ring supported by a set of legs. You could make curved "rails" that join to make a ring or just cut a hole in a piece of plywood. Angling the cut to match the angle on the side of the fermenter is probably a good idea, but I am sure that thin ring on the manufacturers stand puts significant pressure on the vessel. I want to have this thing in hand to see how sturdy it is before finalizing any stand design, but I suspect the vessel will be sturdy enough and a basic stand will do. Another possibility is to use the wall mounting rack mounted to a frame that acts as a stand. Will see once this thing finally arrives.

As for moving the fermenter, I had a tough time justifying the cost for the hauler. I have multiple brewhaulers here and will see if I can adapt them to use to move the filled fermenter from where I brew to the room I ferment in. I do not see why it would not work as there are two studs on the side of the vessel designed to support it on the wall. These studs should be perfect to grab with the brewhauler straps to move.

Only a few more days till these should ship, hope they will be on time!

Cheers,
Ben

Shipping was supposed to start on Sept. 22 (Oct 1 if you ordered accessories). It is Sept 23 and I have not received a shipping confirmation. Anybody else get their unit shipped yet?

Just use a round over bit in a router and you'll have the same thing in plywood that you'd have with their stand.

Minehasn't shipped yet either but I did get an email yesterday stating that they were having fit issues with the lid so I would imagine that's what's holding up shipment.

I just got mine from UPS 15 minutes ago! I have to say, I'm quite impressed with it after unboxing. I love how they really do give you everything you need for its basic operation (they even include a tiny roll of teflon thread tape!), and don't force you to buy 10 more things just to use it.

Everything feels pretty sturdy, and the dump valve on the bottom is pretty dang big. Obviously the real test will come later, but I doubt that an opening that big will get clogged and stuck with yeast.

Opening on top is plenty big to stick my whole arm in for cleaning. The lid is grommetted for a basic plastic airlock (included!), but that's the only opening. If you want to use a blowoff tube or some other arrangement you'll need to do some tinkering.

I'm really glad that that the final version just has a 1/2" NPT hole in the side and a separate brass thermowell, rather than some kind of semi-permanent or goofy attachment setup. I'm going to pass on the included part, and just thread in my own stainless 1/2" RTD temp probe.

The wall mounting hardware is super solid, which is one of the things I was concerned about till I got it. Big steel brackets with multiple stud attachment points.

I can't wait to get some wort into this thing and see if it can truly deliver on its promise of cheap (relatively), convenient single vessel fermentation/bottling.

Jealous!