Brew Bucket by SS Brewing Technologies

[SpeedYellow]

A quick point about the temp probe placement. IME, internal probes don't offer much over a probe tapped to the outside of the fermenter (and insulated on the outside with a rag or foam pad). I only saw one degree difference on some testing I did on temp controller sour mashes that lasted 24-48 hours. One less thing to clean too. This is only true for the small volumes were talking about here.

Indeed, it's generally accepted that probe placement (thermowell vs. taped outside) is just personal preference. I hate trying to affix a probe outside, especially since I already wrap my Brew Bucket with heater pads. So a thermowell is great. Again, personal preference.

 

[Lazer Wolf Brewing]

Indeed, it's generally accepted that probe placement (thermowell vs. taped outside) is just personal preference. I hate trying to affix a probe outside, especially since I already wrap my Brew Bucket with heater pads. So a thermowell is great. Again, personal preference.

Have to agree with this. After a long brew day and dragging my brew bucket downstairs to the ferm chamber, I love just being able to grab my temp probe and shove it in the thermowell. Takes less than one second. No messing with tape, bubble wrap, etc. Again though, personal preference.

 

[radwizard]

I love some input on what I should do with my chill water source.
I'm building a keezer right now. Dual Tap, but 7 cu freezer which gives me room to store kegs, cold crash etc.
I was thinking of putting a chill water source in my keezer. The thought is that I wouldn't have to change out frozen bottles as much, and it may be possible to cold crash with some extra attention.
My cooler now is 7 gallons which is super easy to achieve ale temps during fermentation on two brew buckets. If I put a chill source in my keezer it would be five gallons (probably a keg) --- Im not sure what the loss of volume would mean for my two buckets.

I'm wondering if anyone here has their chill source in their keezer, and what benifits they get from it. My space usually sits pretty steady around 70 degrees, and I'm not lagering, so the differential is pretty low.

 

[dsniegocki]

I love some input on what I should do with my chill water source.
I'm building a keezer right now. Dual Tap, but 7 cu freezer which gives me room to store kegs, cold crash etc.
I was thinking of putting a chill water source in my keezer. The thought is that I wouldn't have to change out frozen bottles as much, and it may be possible to cold crash with some extra attention.
My cooler now is 7 gallons which is super easy to achieve ale temps during fermentation on two brew buckets. If I put a chill source in my keezer it would be five gallons (probably a keg) --- Im not sure what the loss of volume would mean for my two buckets.

I'm wondering if anyone here has their chill source in their keezer, and what benifits they get from it. My space usually sits pretty steady around 70 degrees, and I'm not lagering, so the differential is pretty low.

I tried the same setup, it didn't really work for me. During active fermentation, the keezer could never quite keep up with chilling the water. I think the only good option besides water bottles is something with better thermo properties, such as submerging a repurposed AC unit (several good threads on that in here)

I ended up scoring a cheap small fridge and threw a temp controller on that. Right now my FTSS is collecting dust, it was one more thing to sanitize and clean. Did a great job controlling temps but I didn't want to keep up with the frozen water bottles.

 

[Xernex]

I tried the same setup, it didn't really work for me. During active fermentation, the keezer could never quite keep up with chilling the water. I think the only good option besides water bottles is something with better thermo properties, such as submerging a repurposed AC unit (several good threads on that in here)

I ended up scoring a cheap small fridge and threw a temp controller on that. Right now my FTSS is collecting dust, it was one more thing to sanitize and clean. Did a great job controlling temps but I didn't want to keep up with the frozen water bottles.

Well you know - if said FTSS is collecting dust I may know a certain brewer that would be in the market.

 

[optimal_pizza]

Thinking of picking up either 3.5 gallon Brewbucket Mini or the regular 7 gallon Brewbucket. Right now I only brew small batches, ~3 gallons. Would it be a problem fermenting a 3 gallon batch in the 7 gallon Brewbucket?
The Mini seems like the obvious choice, but I don't know if .5 gallon of head space is sufficient. The 7 gallon Brewbucket would let me expand in the future if needed.

 

[joebob296]

Thinking of picking up either 3.5 gallon Brewbucket Mini or the regular 7 gallon Brewbucket. Right now I only brew small batches, ~3 gallons. Would it be a problem fermenting a 3 gallon batch in the 7 gallon Brewbucket?
The Mini seems like the obvious choice, but I don't know if .5 gallon of head space is sufficient. The 7 gallon Brewbucket would let me expand in the future if needed.

Get the 7 gallon brew bucket

 

[Vandulus]

Get the 7 gallon brew bucket

I've downsized to 3 gallon batches, but am sticking with my 7 gallon Brew Master Buckets for these reasons:
- The legs make it much easier to move and use versus the rubber base on the 3.5 gallon
- Plenty of headroom for adding dry hops, fruit, dealing with over-active krausen, etc.
- Flexibility to brew bigger batches without buying yet another fermenter
- Thermowell option pre-installed for another $30

 

[Kealia]

+ 1 vote for the 7G. In time you may want to upgrade and you'll already have it if you buy it now.

Others have already called out the other reasons - legs, headspace, etc.

 

[optimal_pizza]

Great feedback, thanks all!

 

[Schumed]

Been 3 years since creating this post...been crazy how big they have gotten

View attachment 1482427316150.jpg

 

[skraeling]

Got one for christmas from parents who are a fan of my beers which is good.

Overall impressions is. Really impressive. Having this makes me regret not dumping my glass carboy sooner. It was a giant scary pain in the ass carrying those down the stairs.

Overall finish of it is excellent. The lid and gasket are shockingly thick and seal amazingly well. Welds all look solid. This thing is deceptive. It looks really small, yet has way more volume capacity than my glass carboys.

The thermowell is cool. Finally no more taping my probe to the fermentor. In and done (thats what she said).

snugged all the weldless fittings finger tight and no leaks first try. not that hard.

Im not sure how I didnt get one of these sooner. Added bonus... Two of these will fit in my ferm fridge... sadly a ful on conical will not. But I dont harvest yeast anyway or anything fancy so meh.

 

[RedlegEd]

In and done (thats what she said).

Mine too! Ed

 

[kal]

Got a couple myself for Xmas too!

Kal

 

[skraeling]

Yep... love this thing. Co-brewer will be buying bucket #2 shortly.

 

[RevKev]

So the 14 gallon got released...

 

[skraeling]

So the 14 gallon got released...

which is great if...

1. you do 10g batches. we dont.
2. you can fit it. I cant.
3. you dont do multiple 5g styles of different beers. we do.

 

[RevKev]

which is great if...

1. you do 10g batches. we dont.
2. you can fit it. I cant.
3. you dont do multiple 5g styles of different beers. we do.

Mmmm, all solid points but for me this would work. If I didn't already have a conical I would've jumped on that.

I still have some regular brew buckets on the ole wish list. Just didn't know if anyone loved the idea of it

 

[jammin]

which is great if...

1. you do 10g batches. we dont.
2. you can fit it. I cant.
3. you dont do multiple 5g styles of different beers. we do.

Hopefully you'll live through this traumatic event

 

[skraeling]

Hopefully you'll live through this traumatic event

ill always have your shoulder to cry on though.

 

[kal]

So I spent some time cleaning my Brew Buckets and assembling them and find it odd that they didn't notch the valve and the inside nut more to partially recess the o-rings so that you can tighten things down all the way with a wrench without the o-ring bulging. (Interestingly enough the included instructions no longer say "only finger tight" but that still has to be done - using a wrench will cause the inner o-ring to buldge).

I may add a couple of stainless washers the same way Blichmann does on all their weldless fittings on their Boilermaker kettle (and the same principle I do on my other kettle fittings). This'll make sure that you can push/pull the valve any way you like to not have it move.

Basically this Blichmann idea here where a washer is used to avoid over-compressing the o-ring:

I then copied the concept when I needed to add extra fittings to my kettles like the HERMS coil, water input, etc:

(washer F avoid o-ring D from being over compressed)

Other than that the build quality is very reasonable for the price (IMHO).

I've already ordered a couple of the 3" TC lids so that I can aerate easily with my wine degasser wand down the middle and to give the beer a little more headroom. I'll be using a TC fitting with a blow-off hose.

Basically one of these lids: http://www.ssbrewtech.com/collections/accessories/products/copy-of-lid-3-tc-7-gal-fermenters
With this 3" TC fitting: http://www.ssbrewtech.com/collectio...17-mm-blow-off-hole-and-pressure-relief-valve
With this attached: http://www.ssbrewtech.com/collections/accessories/products/blow-off-barb-for-ftss-lids

Kal

 

[jammin]

So I spent some time cleaning my Brew Buckets and assembling them and find it odd that they didn't notch the valve and the inside nut more to partially recess the o-rings so that you can tighten things down all the way with a wrench without the o-ring bulging. (Interestingly enough the included instructions no longer say "only finger tight" but that still has to be done - using a wrench will cause the inner o-ring to buldge).

I may add a couple of stainless washers the same way Blichmann does on all their weldless fittings on their Boilermaker kettle (and the same principle I do on my other kettle fittings). This'll make sure that you can push/pull the valve any way you like to not have it move.

Basically this Blichmann idea here where a washer is used to avoid over-compressing the o-ring:

http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/images/Brewmometer.jpg[/img

I then copied the concept when I needed to add extra fittings to my kettles like the HERMS coil, water input, etc:

[img]http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/images/IMG_1711_letters.jpg[/]
[img]http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/images/IMG_1712_letters.jpg[/ig]
(washer F avoid o-ring D from being over compressed)

Other than that the build quality is very reasonable for the price (IMHO).

I've already ordered a couple of the 3" TC lids so that I can aerate easily with my wine degasser wand down the middle and to give the beer a little more headroom. I'll be using a TC fitting with a blow-off hose.

Basically one of these lids: [url]http://www.ssbrewtech.com/collections/accessories/products/copy-of-lid-3-tc-7-gal-fermenters[/url]
With this 3" TC fitting: [url]http://www.ssbrewtech.com/collections/accessories/products/3-tc-cap-with-17-mm-blow-off-hole-and-pressure-relief-valve[/url]
With this attached: [url]http://www.ssbrewtech.com/collections/accessories/products/blow-off-barb-for-ftss-lids[/url]

Kal[/quote]


Sorry if I misread but can you post a parts list for this modification?

Thanks in advance

 

[kal]

Sorry if I misread but can you post a parts list for this modification?

Do you mean using a washer to ensure that the o-ring isn't overly compressed? I don't have the exact sized washer to use... haven't gone through that yet. I was simply indicating that it may be something I'd consider and I was surprised to see that the Brew Bucket didn't already do something similar. Cheers!

Kal

 

[Vandulus]

Kal are you replacing the entire ball valve assembly or simply adding a washer to help with compression? From what I understand you're simply adding a washer, but I'm curious how well that will work considering the curvature of where the valve is mounted. I'm wondering if slightly bending the washer to fit the curvature might give a better seal?

 

[kal]

Kal are you replacing the entire ball valve assembly or simply adding a washer to help with compression?

Thinking of simply adding a washer to help with compression.

From what I understand you're simply adding a washer, but I'm curious how well that will work considering the curvature of where the valve is mounted. I'm wondering if slightly bending the washer to fit the curvature might give a better seal?

I don't think the curve is that great. The two stock o-rings already make a good seal on the curve. The washer would only ensure you can't/don't overtighten the nut on the inside (though tightening by hand pretty much ensures that) and also ensures that no matter how you push/pull the valve assembly that you're not going to overly compress/bulge the o-ring. The washer doesn't have to be flush with the surface.

Kal

 

[pretzelb]

I was finally able to use one of my new buckets yesterday. How many gallons are people collecting? I collected 5.75 gallons of Belgian stout and I was surprised to see trub going out the blow off tube. I had assumed I would have plenty of head room.

 

[kal]

I've already ordered a couple of the 3" TC lids so that I can aerate easily with my wine degasser wand down the middle and to give the beer a little more headroom. I'll be using a TC fitting with a blow-off hose.

Basically one of these lids: http://www.ssbrewtech.com/collections/accessories/products/copy-of-lid-3-tc-7-gal-fermenters
With this 3" TC fitting: http://www.ssbrewtech.com/collectio...17-mm-blow-off-hole-and-pressure-relief-valve
With this attached: http://www.ssbrewtech.com/collections/accessories/products/blow-off-barb-for-ftss-lids

A picture:

The new Brew Buckets with tri-clover lid and blowoff tube fit very well in my fermenting fridges!

Kal

 

[jammin]

A picture:

https://scontent-lga3-1.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e35/15625234_1528955717118995_1724936686586036224_n.jpg[/ig]

The new Brew Buckets with tri-clover lid and blowoff tube fit very well in my fermenting fridges!

Kal[/quote]

Beautiful!

 

[pretzelb]

A picture:

The new Brew Buckets with tri-clover lid and blowoff tube fit very well in my fermenting fridges!

Kal

Those lids are not only nice looking but seem to add good functionality. I'm amazed they fit in that Danby.

 

[Carlscan26]

A picture:

The new Brew Buckets with tri-clover lid and blowoff tube fit very well in my fermenting fridges!



Kal

Kal,

What are the model numbers in those fridges? Did you have to modify them at all to fit the bucket?

 

[kal]

What are the model numbers in those fridges? Did you have to modify them at all to fit the bucket?

They're 4.0 cubic feet in size, Danby DWL458BLS wine fridges, shelves removed, no modifications required. Very happy with them. Just set the temp (39-64F) and walk away. Only improvement I'd suggest to the manufacturer would be to remember the temp setting between power off and on (it defaults to 55F).

Kal

 

[Carlscan26]

They're 4.0 cubic feet in size, Danby DWL458BLS wine fridges, shelves removed, no modifications required. Very happy with them. Just set the temp (39-64F) and walk away. Only improvement I'd suggest to the manufacturer would be to remember the temp setting between power off and on (it defaults to 55F).



Kal

Thanks Kal!

By any chance can you take interior measurements of it please? I'm curious if it will fit their new 14 gallon bucket...

 

[Drk93TT]

Best purchase of my brewing hobby so far was the brewmaster 7 gal bucket.

Used TSP and then starsan soak when I first got it. Cleaned with PBW and sanitized.. brewed a IPA couple weeks ago and its still in the fermenter.. kegging soon!

I really like the thermowell ... its a must have for me. Slide my temp probe from the temp controller in there and it gets the job done.

The racking arm/dump valve is kinda weird to get used to assembly wise. Hand tighten only. the o ring on the inside tends to pinch so I added some star san to it and didn't tighten the crap outta it and it sealed fine with no pinching.

Im most looking forward to not having to clean and siphon the auto siphon when kegging the beer... YES.

 

[kal]

Thanks Kal!

By any chance can you take interior measurements of it please? I'm curious if it will fit their new 14 gallon bucket...

There is absolutely no way any fridge this size would fit their 14 gallon bucket (or any 14 gallon fermenter). The fridge only has an inch or two of clearance with their 7 gallon brew bucket.

Kal

 

[Carlscan26]

There is absolutely no way any fridge this size would fit their 14 gallon bucket (or any 14 gallon fermenter). The fridge only has an inch or two of clearance with their 7 gallon brew bucket.



Kal

Well you have the taller cover on there...so depending on which dimension you are saying barely clears...

The standard 7 gal is 20.5"H X 12.5"W. The 14 gal is 24"H X 16"W.

I can add a collar for depth if the height works...

 

[kal]

Definitely won't fit. The 24" height just fits but there's only 15" in width, and at the bottom the 8" high hump makes the depth only 12". Because of the hump (which pushes the brew bucket forward) the 7 gal only has an inch or so of clearance from the glass door.

Kal

 

[radwizard]

When you guys rack, how do you position the dip tube? I have been starting off with he dip tube vertical facing up. Then just keeping my eye on it and rotating it down near the end when I can see the top.
I kind of had issues today when I wasn't able to rotate it in time and at the flow stopped. I couldn't get the flow to start again and ended up losing some beer.
Is there a better way I could be doing this?
This was my 5th batch, and I never had any problems before. Im kind of stumped on what went wrong...

 

[jmark]

I've yet to use my new brew bucket but in the conical I used to have I would start with the dip tube vertically in the down position and slowly turn it until the beer runs clear... then hook it to the keg and let gravity do its thing.

 

[Horseflesh]

I find that the yeast cake and trub usually just about fills the conical bottom. So, I align my dip tube horizontally, pointed left -- about 9 o' clock. When I turn the valve, if it doesn't run clear in a few seconds I rotate the valve clockwise a bit, to about 10 o' clock. This gets the opening in the dip tube just above the yeast cake. Then I watch as it drains, and towards the end I may rotate the tube back closer to 9 o' clock.

You are not supposed to rotate CCW but I find you can do that a little bit without causing a leak. I would not try rotating from 3 o' clock to 9 o' clock, that's likely to loosen the nuts.

 

[schaez]

I stopped using the dip tube after two batches. It's easier for me to just tilt slightly at the end of the transfer and to not have to worry about a siphon or dip tube angle.