FastFerment conical fermenter??????

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tdf700

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On the home page there is an advertisment for this product, says $90 for first 1000 free shipping. When I go to click on the ad it takes me to an odd page that doesnt seem to work fully. When I look them up in the sponsors list there is no web page listed.
Any ideas about what is up with this product and or ad?
thank you so much
 
I was actually thinking about a stainless steel conical and this is much less expensive, however the wall rack thing wouldn't work for me because I need to keep my fermenters in my Cool Brewing Fermentation Cooler and I'm not sure how I'd do that without some legs, or whether this conical would even fit, plus I've heard if you have a lot of hops and trub it could clog. I am interested though because I'd love to dump my yeast and hop dust before bottling so I could get clear beer, and I think a conical would do a better job than racking.
 
I previously did some research on the V-vessel. Do a search on youtube for the v-vessel and there are a couple of nice videos.
It sounds like they made some improvments to the orginal design.
 
I might get one but I'd need to see it in action first. Their youtube video of a dude talking in front of an empty conical will not cut it. At least fill it with water so we know it can hold the weight for four minutes.

What I'm thinking of doing is rigging up a rolling scaffold in the fermentation fridge so the conical can slide out like a drawer. Not sure how stable that'll be with 6 gallons of beer in it.

But how exactly are you supposed to fill this thing and then lift it up to align it onto the bracket when it's such an awkward shape?
 
I have about 10 vessels that I can ferment in. All are plastic and I bought a few on a 2 for one plan. So I have about $15 on average per.. If I went with these nice v-vessel fermenters it would be near $1000 not to mention finding a way to control the temperatures.

I like the looks but they are not in my budget/plans.
 
As others have said, its nice but the wall mount is unrealistic for almost every real life situation.

We need temperature control, what am i supposed to mount this to the backside of my fermentation fridge?

Building a structure to support it and wheel it around is another 50+ bucks in metal at least, plus construction time...
 
As others have said, its nice but the wall mount is unrealistic for almost every real life situation.

We need temperature control, what am i supposed to mount this to the backside of my fermentation fridge?

Building a structure to support it and wheel it around is another 50+ bucks in metal at least, plus construction time...

I have fermented in my old basement because it maintains a constant 63ish degrees year round so when I was still living there it would have been perfect because the room itself is temperature controlled...that's not an option right now but for people that may just ferment in a basement it would be perfect
 
What about the air in the ball when it's reattached? Seems like a lot of oxidation would occur. Thoughts?
 
The guy in the vid suggests keeping the ball open during the 1st. Wouldnt you want it closed so active yeast doesnt get "trapped" down in the removable vessel?

I could see building a basic 2x4 stand with wheels for $15 if you wanted to move it around, put it in a ferm chamber, or position it for racking.

At $90 I'm really tempted.
 
i still dont see how your suppose to fill it with wort. Carry the brew kettle down to the basement or whatever room the fermentor is on the wall. If you dont have a pump, do what? Scoop a pitcher in, once pitcher is full, go up on step stool, dump in, repeat until full?
 
i still dont see how your suppose to fill it with wort. Carry the brew kettle down to the basement or whatever room the fermentor is on the wall. If you dont have a pump, do what? Scoop a pitcher in, once pitcher is full, go up on step stool, dump in, repeat until full?


I don't understand how your "dilemma" would be different with any conical.
 
From the FastRack website:

"FastFerment Accessory Kit- Coming Soon!
There will also be an accessory kit available in the next 2-4 months. It will consist of 2 stands and straps/handles for easy transportation. One small stand where the bottom ball will just be off the ground, making it as compact as possible for putting the FastFerment in a Fermenting Chamber/Fridge/Freezer. The second stand will be taller and will provide enough height for bottling and kegging directly out of the FastFerment."

They indicated over in the vendor forum that they aim to put the rack at $25 - $35.



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i still dont see how your suppose to fill it with wort. Carry the brew kettle down to the basement or whatever room the fermentor is on the wall. If you dont have a pump, do what? Scoop a pitcher in, once pitcher is full, go up on step stool, dump in, repeat until full?

If I were to splurge on a conical instead of just getting more PET carboys then I'd probably already have a pump/chiller setup way before that.

You could probably dump the kettle into a keg, seal it and transfer the wort up through CO2 pressure. That also gives you the advantage of an oxygen-free headspace before fermentation gets underway.

Other option you've mentioned is bringing it down to the basement. Just run a line or hose from the kettle at your back porch or kitchen down to the conical in the basement and transfer through that. You can run a plate/counterflow chiller off gravity with no pump too. It'll probably lose a good amount of heat just passing through the line though.
 
I've used the minibrew 6.5 gallon conical for several years now. One issue that all conicals share is that unless you have a pump next to them with your boil kettle next to it, you will definitely be moving it to wherever you are going to leave it to ferment. Keep in mind also that if you don't have a pump, you'll be placing your kettle much higher up to fill the conical than you would a bucket or carboy. Moving a full conical is much more difficult that moving a bucket or carboy. You are holding it far higher up and the center of gravity is much higher. After a few times moving mine around after filling it, I decided to go back to buckets. I now have a pump and a fermentation fridge in the garage that the conical is placed in so pumping to it is far easier than having to fill it and then move it. Buckets are so much easier for that.

It is my personal opinion that the two most important factors affecting your beer will be water ph and fermentation temperature control. Everything else is secondary. You don't need a conical to make good beer. Since I only have one conical, if I've got more than one beer going at a time, the other is in a bucket. I don't even own carboys anymore. Sometimes simple is best.
 
Any of you guys who per order received yours yet. I thought these were shipping in August?
 
Hows that? Why the need for a walk in?

Folks....with the shape of this thing, round and tapered on the bottom, a simple stand could be made. Thinking a square piece of plywood, with a circle cutout in the middle where the fermenter sits. The piece of plywood could sit on any type of wood frame you could need/want/imagine. If needed, put the frame on some decent wheels from lowes or home depot, to make it moveable.

I would buy this in a heartbeat if I could find a fault with my vittles vault turned fermenter. :D
 
I just ordered one of these too. I agree with the comment earlier about the air in the ball when you reattach it after primary. I was thinking that I would probably just leave the hose on it after taking the ball off and anything else that needed to be taken out could be run off with that.

The biggest problem I'm going to have is putting it in my fermentation chamber. I was thinking about a tall box made from rigid insulation with an old college fridge with the door off mounted in the bottom of it. Maybe a fan to circulate the air around inside the thing while it is fermenting. I'm having a hard time thinking of how to put a heating pad on it too. Anyone else have some temperature control strategies in mind for this thing?
 
Anyone see any updates recently? I just emailed them asking for an update on the accessories in which we can add it to our orders or even if they are still in line for a mid-september deadline.

I'll let you know if I hear anything back. Figured it is due since its been almost a month since their august email about the shipment date being pushed back.
 
Have to say, they are on top of customer service right now. They stated they will be shipping out in 2 weeks. Which means end of September although they said mid september in the email from August. The accessories will be available in the next few days to add to the orders.
 
Hope so... I am in dire need to free up some vessels as my gear is turned over to the vino producto line lol! Mid August was the initial send out so I cannot afford another month as I'm getting ready to lager...


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SO, I just checked there website today and it says that they will start to ship on Sept 22nd. Hopefully that means we will have them by the end of the month. Not sure where they are shipping from. They had a piece they were getting that was from outside the US (what a shock).
 
It would be helpful to know if the delay is from a) Production delays, assumidly from a country on another continent, or b) the company waiting to get more orders so they can meet a minimum requirement for manufacturing. Multiple delays doesn't make people want to put an order in.

I guess there's a reason for the low introductory price, lol.
 
Well, I spoke with the main dude and he's from my neck if the woods here in Canada. Manufacturing is taking place in the US... So.... I feel confident on those counts. I assume that it's the numbers thing going on. They do have other successful products out, and have backing from a major capitalist here in Canada to who they pitched another product to on a national TV show called Dragons Den. If it was some place other than the US or Canada, I'd start to worry about being ripped. Right now I'm worried about my winter pipeline being interrupted :-(


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They should be shipping from the US. Here is what they said in the email I received today about accessories and why they are delayed

FastFerment Shipping Date
The last thing we are waiting on is the custom 6" Screw Top Lids. They are scheduled to arrived early next week. Pending there arrival, we plan to start shipping on September 22!
 
Yea, I got that email as well. I have to say I am a bit disappointed in the stand. Was hoping it would be something I could move around a little easier.... say on wheels. The really disappointing part to me is that only the small stand has been offered which is worthless to me. I do not lager so I do not need a small stand to fit in to a fridge or chest freezer. I need something that is tall and sturdy so I can transfer from fermenter directly to the keg. I do not plan on using the wall mounts. I would prefer to not have to use an auto siphon, which is the reason I purchased this product. Sent them an email inquiring about the larger stand that was discussed a while back. Since I don't really have any tools I would prefer to not have to build something.
 
Received an email back about the taller stand. Stated unfortunately there was not enough interest in the taller stand so they did not make it. Advised me to put the smaller stand on a table or chair to get the vertical height needed. Looks like I will be figuring out how to build something instead of buying the small stand. Can build it for much less than $35!
 
Received an email back about the taller stand. Stated unfortunately there was not enough interest in the taller stand so they did not make it. Advised me to put the smaller stand on a table or chair to get the vertical height needed. Looks like I will be figuring out how to build something instead of buying the small stand. Can build it for much less than $35!

Who did they ask?!?! I would think that would be a huge interest item!
 
That is my thought! I would think most people would be buying this item with the intent of not using a controlled temperature Enviornment and using the taller stand to transfer to bottles or kegs. Don't know anyone who will be able to bottle from the short stand.
 
Got my tracking info today. should have it by fridays. im going to work on some plans for making a stand. If anyone else comes up with something please post it on here.
 
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