kick-a$$ fermenter

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hayabusa

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no reason why it needs to be a round carboy.

This is recycle-code 2; easy to clean, no major areas to harbor bugs and super easy to sanitze. The cap has a spigot hole that fits a airlock perfectly and the spigot fits a hose when it comes time to transfer; just attach and begin to tip the whole unit.

EdWort's recipie is breaking the cherry on mine. 7-gal capacity and BPA free

7gal.jpg
 
Someone else posted something like this recently but I don't remember where it is located now. The 'easy to clean' part was part of that discussion. To me, it doesn't look particularly easy to clean. The shape of that top surface might actually make it difficult to get in there with a brush and clean. I'll be curious to see how it goes... please update when possible :)
 
Yeah. Put a BIG RIS in that thing, wait for the Kreusen to find every nook and then tell us how easy it was to get the crud outta the handle.
 
its 7-gal capacity and it's a square - the krausen will not likely reach the handle and even if it does some warm water and oxy-clean or starsan, capping it up and shaking it works wonders. I turned 1-gallon of starsan into 7 gallons of foam; draining it was easy too - just leave the vent cap tight, tip upside down and give it a squeeze, shake and repeat - almost all the foam evac'd the unit.
 
GilaMinumBeer said:
Yeah. Put a BIG RIS in that thing, wait for the Kreusen to find every nook and then tell us how easy it was to get the crud outta the handle.
Click to expand...

probably not for a big ris - that doesn't discount its greatness for other beers and wines.
 
I'd be a little paranoid using that as a primary. The handle narrows and krausen could get lodged in any nooks and crannies hidden in there and become a potental breeder of nasties. I also dont like that you wont be able to see the tip of your auto siphon so you increase the chances that you'll suck spent hops and krausen into your secondary.If your comfortable with it and confident you can keep it sanitized properly go for it! I wouldn't use it.
 
Papinquack said:
I'd be a little paranoid using that as a primary. The handle narrows and krausen could get lodged in any nooks and crannies hidden in there and become a potental breeder of nasties. I also dont like that you wont be able to see the tip of your auto siphon so you increase the chances that you'll suck spent hops and krausen into your secondary.If your comfortable with it and confident you can keep it sanitized properly go for it! I wouldn't use it.
Click to expand...

no need to siphon - has a built in spigot that you can attach hose and roll forward.
 
I know there's a couple people on here who ferment in the smaller (narrower) ones and if you look in the latest byo in the JOHN PALMER article you will see the Aussies use one similar to the narrow ones..

This 7 gallon is intriguing, but I will add some caution about the ability to clear all the krauzen from the gaps. I often use a 3 gallon Better bottle, which is square as well, but it is clear...

krausen5.jpg


Krauzen does get caught in the squarish shoulders of it, and unfortunately my jet carboy/washer cleaner even has a difficult time hitting it...BUT oxyclean, water and vigourous shaking and rinsing does free the junk...

But I can see it....

I'm not gonna dissuade you from using it...I love innovation, and you are not the first on here to ferment in them, and now you got me wondering about larger sizes....

What I would do though is get an illuminated dental mirror...

oralcare.jpg


AND a flexible LED light

images%2Fproducts%2Fdetail%2Flight_wand.jpg


and use them both after you clean in out to make SURE you get every piece of biomatter out of it.....Even sticking the flex light into that back drain and use the mirror in the bigger mouth.

If you are a sloppy/lazy brewer I wouldn't recommend using one of those aqutainers.....but if you have a bit of anality about it and use a flex light and mirror, and methodically look, and rinse and look again, you should be fine...

You may even wanna make a bendy cleaning tool, like cut up a sponge (not a rough scrubby but a natural sponge) and mount it on something that you can stick in to use to clean out any corners...

Have fun and keep us posted at cleanup....

:mug:
 
Revvy said:
I know there's a couple people on here who ferment in the smaller (narrower) ones and if you look in the latest byo in the JOHN PALMER article you will see the Aussies use one similar to the narrow ones..

This 7 gallon is intriguing, but I will add some caution about the ability to clear all the krauzen from the gaps. I often use a 3 gallon Better bottle, which is square as well, but it is clear...

krausen5.jpg


Krauzen does get caught in the squarish shoulders of it, and unfortunately my jet carboy/washer cleaner even has a difficult time hitting it...BUT oxyclean, water and vigourous shaking and rinsing does free the junk...

But I can see it....

I'm not gonna dissuade you from using it...I love innovation, and you are not the first on here to ferment in them, and now you got me wondering about larger sizes....

What I would do though is get an illuminated dental mirror...

oralcare.jpg


AND a flexible LED light

images%2Fproducts%2Fdetail%2Flight_wand.jpg


and use them both after you clean in out to make SURE you get every piece of biomatter out of it.....Even sticking the flex light into that back drain and use the mirror in the bigger mouth.

If you are a sloppy/lazy brewer I wouldn't recommend using one of those aqutainers.....but if you have a bit of anality about it and use a flex light and mirror, and methodically look, and rinse and look again, you should be fine...

You may even wanna make a bendy cleaning tool, like cut up a sponge (not a rough scrubby but a natural sponge) and mount it on something that you can stick in to use to clean out any corners...

Have fun and keep us posted at cleanup....

:mug:
Click to expand...

Got ya covered on the mirror and flex light...........check this out:
eBay Motors: Visual Optics Video Inspection Borescope View Scope (item 370155641212 end time Mar-08-09 09:42:27 PDT)
 
If the plastic is HDPE like I think, you will have a problem with oxygen permeating through the walls. I would get the beer out of there as soon as primary is over so you don't get any oxidation. Active fermentation will probably scrub out any oxygen that gets through, but once it's over, you risk staling of your new beer,
 
NO WAY! The hollow opaque "handle" would fill with impossible to clean crud.
 
I have 2 of those and am toying with using one or both as gravity kegs for "real ale."
It's an idea anyway.
 
Never used anything but a glass carboy for primary and after too many batches, would never use anything but a 6.5g glass. Cost diff for glass vs. this square is not worth it to me. Course the first time I get stitches (and I've popped a couple), I'm converting to the 6.5 Better Bottle. Good luck, guys. :p
 
ferm0011.jpg
Rounded corners, over 8" hole for easy access, anti-trub spigot hole. Dried Krausen easy to get off with a wet paper towel soaked in hot water and high quality poly-whatever plastic. I was SO impressed I bought a 2nd kit JUST for the fermenter. YMMV! ;)
30L capacity (~7.925 Gal.)
 
TexasStu said:
ferm0011.jpg
Rounded corners, over 8" hole for easy access, anti-trub spigot hole. Dried Krausen easy to get off with a wet paper towel soaked in hot water and high quality poly-whatever plastic. I was SO impressed I bought a 2nd kit JUST for the fermenter. YMMV! ;)
30L capacity (~7.925 Gal.)
Click to expand...

Now thats the ticket. I really like the handles and the wide mouth. Where can I get one of these?
 
Well, *I* could only find them as the "Coopers Beer Kit" for like $99.
Includes Fermenter, long plastic spoon, hydrometer, fermometer, lid, 3-piece airlock, (30) 24oz./750ml. PET bottles, Coopers Lager, Brewing Sugar, Carb. Tabs, springless battling wand (fits in spigot).... here... this is where I bought it.. read for yourself :)

clicky! (there's a pic of it there as well)

I figure it ran me about $25 for the 1st one (after figuring what the 'usable' stuff would have cost me and minus the beer kit) and the second fermenter cost me more but I like having a spare hydrometer, spoon, etc.! :D
 
Awesome! $40 is a great price! (Hmm, wonder what the shipping costs are from Australia right now? ;) ).
I don't see a spigot/o-ring/anti-trub inlet? /shrug Unless you are bottling, a spigot is your weak link as far as sanitation, right?

Personally I like the bottling wand. I haven't tried the spring-loaded variety (yet) but I will be making occasional 5.5-6 gallon batches and my plan is to bottle a gallon or so and keg condition around 5 gallons and just rotate those into my keezer and the bottled will travel or to be submitted or sent to friends for 'remote tasting' or for comparative testing purposes at home. :tank:.
YMMV! ;)
 
I use the aqua tainer and I have only made one batch so far, but it seems to clean relatively easily. I only brew 5 gallons and as I watched the foam it only went up about an inch which is atleast 5-6 inches from the handle.

It worked very well and the beer tastes very good now, but I will have to get back to you all once I make a second batch in it.
 
Patton191 said:
I use the aqua tainer and I have only made one batch so far, but it seems to clean relatively easily. I only brew 5 gallons and as I watched the foam it only went up about an inch which is atleast 5-6 inches from the handle.

It worked very well and the beer tastes very good now, but I will have to get back to you all once I make a second batch in it.
Click to expand...

I got my Oatmeal Stout in one and Ed's devils-brew is the other.... for my stainless Primary's I just leave them in Primary until they are done... with the Aqua-Tainer I will likely move to a corny-secondary after 7-10 days.
 
hayabusa said:
I got my Oatmeal Stout in one and Ed's devils-brew is the other.... for my stainless Primary's I just leave them in Primary until they are done... with the Aqua-Tainer I will likely move to a corny-secondary after 7-10 days.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming ( I'm normally wrong) that you are doing this because you have the fear of oxidation? I am by now means experienced in brewing, but it seems that the whole oxygen permeability idea with plastic isn't very plausible.

Now this is just me thinking out loud here, but it seems that if you have liquid in a container and there is oxygen in the room it still won't be able to get in. It seems to me that the air would be equalized and unless somehow the aquatainer started sucking in air I don't think oxygen would necessarily flow through the brew.

Basically what I am saying is in my mind the oxygen permeability fear is hogwash. It is like when a car gets submersed in water, the pressure inside the car is less than outside in the water, so water will attempt to rush in in order to equalize it.

For the record I left my Red ale in the aqua tainer for 3 weeks and around 4 days and I tasted one after a week in conditioning and I couldn't notice any hints of cardboard or off flavor, but if you wanted to secondary after 10 days that would be fine too.
 
Patton191 said:
I'm assuming ( I'm normally wrong) that you are doing this because you have the fear of oxidation? I am by now means experienced in brewing, but it seems that the whole oxygen permeability idea with plastic isn't very plausible.

Now this is just me thinking out loud here, but it seems that if you have liquid in a container and there is oxygen in the room it still won't be able to get in. It seems to me that the air would be equalized and unless somehow the aquatainer started sucking in air I don't think oxygen would necessarily flow through the brew.

Basically what I am saying is in my mind the oxygen permeability fear is hogwash. It is like when a car gets submersed in water, the pressure inside the car is less than outside in the water, so water will attempt to rush in in order to equalize it.
Click to expand...

You'd think, but that's not how it works. If you have a permeable container that's pressurized with CO2, oxygen will continue to enter until the concentration of O2 inside matches that outside (even though the total pressure inside is much higher than outside).

It's called "Dalton's law" or "the law of partial pressures" if you want to google for more info. 1st semester college physics covers it.

That said, I think the oxygenation concerns are overblown simply because the level of permeability is tiny (and probably dwarfed by the exchange even at a well-sealed neck).
 
,But since you aerated the wort wouldn't the amount of oxygen in the brew be similar to the amount outside the container?
 
Hey, I am using this aquatainer thing as a secondary, well because I didn't have anything else and I just got it from wallyville and my 5g glass carboy was a mess after three days. So my question is since I put 5 gallons in there, does the 2 gallons of air space present a problem? Should I send it all back to my carboy? Seems like that ought to be worse. Any thoughts appreciated.
 
rmchair said:
Hey, I am using this aquatainer thing as a secondary, well because I didn't have anything else and I just got it from wallyville and my 5g glass carboy was a mess after three days. So my question is since I put 5 gallons in there, does the 2 gallons of air space present a problem? Should I send it all back to my carboy? Seems like that ought to be worse. Any thoughts appreciated.
Click to expand...


your fine - a blanket of c02 will cover your beer; I only plan on moving to cornies to seconday because I have a bunch of them and I may just cut 1/4" off the dip tubes and serve from them vs. gas transfering to another one.... the less steps the better.

Headspace isn't a real issue at all since the co2 blanket is created pretty quickly; even if it's "done" fermenting you will have small amount dissolved Co2 escape after you transfer.. I also use 5 gallons in a 15.5 capacity fermenter... depends on what's free at the moment.
 
Anyone still using these? Got one for a camping trip and instantly thought fermenter. They might not be 100% clear, but I still think it wouldn't be much of an issue to get them clean.
 
I used one for a no-chill vessel. The only problem there is the spigot isn't very air-tight. I wish it just had a normal cap. Maybe I can plug the spigot hole with a pipe plug? Hmm....

-Joe
 
AiredAle said:
If the plastic is HDPE like I think, you will have a problem with oxygen permeating through the walls. I would get the beer out of there as soon as primary is over so you don't get any oxidation. Active fermentation will probably scrub out any oxygen that gets through, but once it's over, you risk staling of your new beer,
Click to expand...

Patton191 said:
hayabusa said:
I got my Oatmeal Stout in one and Ed's devils-brew is the other.... for my stainless Primary's I just leave them in Primary until they are done... with the Aqua-Tainer I will likely move to a corny-secondary after 7-10 days.
Click to expand...
I'm assuming ( I'm normally wrong) that you are doing this because you have the fear of oxidation? I am by now means experienced in brewing, but it seems that the whole oxygen permeability idea with plastic isn't very plausible.

Now this is just me thinking out loud here, but it seems that if you have liquid in a container and there is oxygen in the room it still won't be able to get in. It seems to me that the air would be equalized and unless somehow the aquatainer started sucking in air I don't think oxygen would necessarily flow through the brew.

Basically what I am saying is in my mind the oxygen permeability fear is hogwash. It is like when a car gets submersed in water, the pressure inside the car is less than outside in the water, so water will attempt to rush in in order to equalize it.

For the record I left my Red ale in the aqua tainer for 3 weeks and around 4 days and I tasted one after a week in conditioning and I couldn't notice any hints of cardboard or off flavor, but if you wanted to secondary after 10 days that would be fine too.
Click to expand...

SumnerH said:
You'd think, but that's not how it works. If you have a permeable container that's pressurized with CO2, oxygen will continue to enter until the concentration of O2 inside matches that outside (even though the total pressure inside is much higher than outside).

It's called "Dalton's law" or "the law of partial pressures" if you want to google for more info. 1st semester college physics covers it.

That said, I think the oxygenation concerns are overblown simply because the level of permeability is tiny (and probably dwarfed by the exchange even at a well-sealed neck).
Click to expand...

All of that not withstanding, the rate of o2 exchange through the water in your airlock and through the rubber stopper in a carboy is greater than the o2 exchange through HDPE even with the large difference in relative surface area. There was a good thread in April in the Brew Science forum -- https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/oxygen-uptake-plastic-fermenters-112662/
 
SumnerH said:
You'd think, but that's not how it works. If you have a permeable container that's pressurized with CO2, oxygen will continue to enter until the concentration of O2 inside matches that outside (even though the total pressure inside is much higher than outside).

It's called "Dalton's law" or "the law of partial pressures" if you want to google for more info. 1st semester college physics covers it.

That said, I think the oxygenation concerns are overblown simply because the level of permeability is tiny (and probably dwarfed by the exchange even at a well-sealed neck).
Click to expand...

ok so the power is out at work and i can't get into my lab so i did a little O2 permeability calculations... without going into too much detail about the units, I got a value of .0012 grams*meters (couldn't figure out how to get rid of the last unit of meters)

This value is the accumulated amount of O2 based on 3 weeks in a typical 7-Gal HDPE bucket(highest O2 permeability. Now keep in mind this is also based on pure O2 and we know that air is only 21% O2 so I tend to agree that O2 permeability is basically BS.
 
I got a question,

Could one use the blue 7gal Aqua-Tainer for a 2nd fermenter or perhaps a bottling bucket?

It seems to me that if you use it as a 2nd fermenter or a bottling bucket you wouldn't have to worry about the krausen getting to the top and becoming a problem come cleaning time.
I was thinking of getting one for a bottling bucket since I am sharing a bottling rig with my neighbor and we both are looking to bottle this weekend together but we are both short on time available. Thought I could save time if we didn't have to share a bottling bucket.
Just curious as to what your thoughts are...
 

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