I have been brewing for about 6 months now and moved over to all-grain a few months ago via a keggle-based electricbrewery.com HERMS system. I have been using a FastFerment since I started brewing but had 2 major problems:
1. No matter how much I cleaned it with PBW and StarSan it always smelled like beer after it was cleaned. This was coupled by a brewmaster buddy of mine that said he did not like having beer in contact with plastic for any length of time.
2. I wanted to start brewing 10 gallon batches since my 5 gallon batches were getting consumed too quickly.
3. The FastFerment wasn't even close to being sanitary with all the threaded connections and plastic ball valve. That being said, I never had an infection or off taste in any of my brews.
I looked at all the ~14 gallon fermenters out there and narrowed it down to the Brewers Hardware 15 gallon fermentor, the SS BrewTech Chronical 14 gallon fermenter and the Bru Gear fermenter. My major considerations were capacity, how sanitary it is out of the box, design/function, and finally how good it looks.
If money is no object the Brewers Hardware unit is a winner on all fronts. I do have a little concern about a massive 2" dump valve with such a small batch of beer. I think it may be unnecessary. It is completely sanitary and the ability to use tri clover to build a taller stand is a terrific innovation. What ruled this one out for me was it was over 60% more expensive than the competition shipped and wasn't functionally superior in my opinion.
I assume, although have no source for my assumption, that the SS BrewTech and Bru Gear units are made in the same factory or made from the same base design with some key differences. The price is similar, $495 plus shipping for the SS BrewTech and $588 for the Bru Gear. What made me finally decide on the Bru Gear was it is a totally sanitary design compared to the semi-sanitary design of the SS BrewTech. The BruGear has sanitary Tri Clover fittings for the bottom dump, racking arm, thermowell, and the blowoff port. It also comes with sanitary butterfly valves for both the dump and racking arm. In contrast, the SS Brew Tech does have a sanitary Tri Clover bottom dump and racking arm, but the thermowell is weldless, indicating threaded, and the unit ships with harder to sanitize 3 piece ball valves. All that being said, I have made great beer in the FastFerment and gasp even plastic buckets, but for the tiny price difference, why not select the best fermenter for the price? This is why I bought the Bru Gear.
As a novice brewer I was troubled by the lack of photos and description on the BruGear website to exactly show and list what I would receive with my order. I am a visual person, so photos help me understand what else I would need to order to make a complete fermenter. This is what you get in your double walled cardboard box:
I opted for the sanitary valve for the racking arm as it was only a $39 option. Everything is pictured that comes in the box, in addition it comes with one Tri Clover clamp and a Tri Clover to 1/2" barb fitting for racking. I fill it from the top, more on that later, so it is pretty much turn key. If you mount it high enough, you can use the 1/2" barb Tri Clover to rack your beer into kegs or bottles. A buddy of mine has a few of the 40 gallon fermenters and he suggested another elbow and a sightglass for the bottom dump. You don't want to restrict the trub dump with a 1/2" barb and with the current design it will shoot out horizontally and make a huge mess. I bought my additional fittings from Brewers Hardware.
After unboxing, the fermenter had the distinctive smell of welding/factory. I looked around and there was a little polishing compound stuck in a few of the Tri Clover fittings so a through cleaning with PBW was in order. Once it was cleaned and sanitized, there were no odors. The welds are consistent and the interior of the fermenter is completely polished smooth, very impressed.
On to brew day! I brew a citrus wheat that I just can't keep enough around, so it made sense to make this the first 10 gallon batch. My brewery is mobile, setup on 2 saw horses and some 2x4s. I usually brew outside, fill the fast ferment and then carry the filled fast ferment to my fermentation chamber. At around 50 pounds, it really isn't a big deal to carry. The filled BruGear probably weighs around 95 pounds plus I am not certain it is a good idea to move it full of beer. I needed a way to pump the wort from the outside brewery to the fermentation chamber. I purchased 20 feet of 1/2" silicone tubing for the task. To sanitize, I used a small fishtank powerhead pump in a bucket of StarSan, so during the entire brew day I was circulating StarSan through the tube. To get the last gallon or so of wort out of the transfer tube, I just heated some water in the HLT and pumped it though the tube. I have a valve at the end of the tube to stop the flow when I saw the color change to fresh water. It worked out great.
Finally, here is everything in place in my True GDM-12 fermentation chamber. I use an Inkbird STC-1000 to maintain the temp at 63 degrees for this wheat beer. I will report back on the quality of the beer in 2 weeks. I am going to try to harvest the yeast out of this batch via the bottom dump.
In summary, I am very pleased with the purchase and would not hesitate to recommend the BruGear fermenter to anyone looking for a high quality fully sanitary fermenter with no compromises. They really have a winner here. I think the SS BrewTech has some design compromises that are not easily overcome such as the weldless thermowell. I would have rather not have the thermowell. then have the weldless one. The threaded valves are replaceable, but then you are in the Brewers Hardware price territory with an inferior design. I really like the Brewers Hardware Fermentor, but at 62% more expensive than the BruGear, it doesn't make financial sense.
Hope this helps.
Chris
1. No matter how much I cleaned it with PBW and StarSan it always smelled like beer after it was cleaned. This was coupled by a brewmaster buddy of mine that said he did not like having beer in contact with plastic for any length of time.
2. I wanted to start brewing 10 gallon batches since my 5 gallon batches were getting consumed too quickly.
3. The FastFerment wasn't even close to being sanitary with all the threaded connections and plastic ball valve. That being said, I never had an infection or off taste in any of my brews.
I looked at all the ~14 gallon fermenters out there and narrowed it down to the Brewers Hardware 15 gallon fermentor, the SS BrewTech Chronical 14 gallon fermenter and the Bru Gear fermenter. My major considerations were capacity, how sanitary it is out of the box, design/function, and finally how good it looks.
If money is no object the Brewers Hardware unit is a winner on all fronts. I do have a little concern about a massive 2" dump valve with such a small batch of beer. I think it may be unnecessary. It is completely sanitary and the ability to use tri clover to build a taller stand is a terrific innovation. What ruled this one out for me was it was over 60% more expensive than the competition shipped and wasn't functionally superior in my opinion.
I assume, although have no source for my assumption, that the SS BrewTech and Bru Gear units are made in the same factory or made from the same base design with some key differences. The price is similar, $495 plus shipping for the SS BrewTech and $588 for the Bru Gear. What made me finally decide on the Bru Gear was it is a totally sanitary design compared to the semi-sanitary design of the SS BrewTech. The BruGear has sanitary Tri Clover fittings for the bottom dump, racking arm, thermowell, and the blowoff port. It also comes with sanitary butterfly valves for both the dump and racking arm. In contrast, the SS Brew Tech does have a sanitary Tri Clover bottom dump and racking arm, but the thermowell is weldless, indicating threaded, and the unit ships with harder to sanitize 3 piece ball valves. All that being said, I have made great beer in the FastFerment and gasp even plastic buckets, but for the tiny price difference, why not select the best fermenter for the price? This is why I bought the Bru Gear.
As a novice brewer I was troubled by the lack of photos and description on the BruGear website to exactly show and list what I would receive with my order. I am a visual person, so photos help me understand what else I would need to order to make a complete fermenter. This is what you get in your double walled cardboard box:
I opted for the sanitary valve for the racking arm as it was only a $39 option. Everything is pictured that comes in the box, in addition it comes with one Tri Clover clamp and a Tri Clover to 1/2" barb fitting for racking. I fill it from the top, more on that later, so it is pretty much turn key. If you mount it high enough, you can use the 1/2" barb Tri Clover to rack your beer into kegs or bottles. A buddy of mine has a few of the 40 gallon fermenters and he suggested another elbow and a sightglass for the bottom dump. You don't want to restrict the trub dump with a 1/2" barb and with the current design it will shoot out horizontally and make a huge mess. I bought my additional fittings from Brewers Hardware.
After unboxing, the fermenter had the distinctive smell of welding/factory. I looked around and there was a little polishing compound stuck in a few of the Tri Clover fittings so a through cleaning with PBW was in order. Once it was cleaned and sanitized, there were no odors. The welds are consistent and the interior of the fermenter is completely polished smooth, very impressed.
On to brew day! I brew a citrus wheat that I just can't keep enough around, so it made sense to make this the first 10 gallon batch. My brewery is mobile, setup on 2 saw horses and some 2x4s. I usually brew outside, fill the fast ferment and then carry the filled fast ferment to my fermentation chamber. At around 50 pounds, it really isn't a big deal to carry. The filled BruGear probably weighs around 95 pounds plus I am not certain it is a good idea to move it full of beer. I needed a way to pump the wort from the outside brewery to the fermentation chamber. I purchased 20 feet of 1/2" silicone tubing for the task. To sanitize, I used a small fishtank powerhead pump in a bucket of StarSan, so during the entire brew day I was circulating StarSan through the tube. To get the last gallon or so of wort out of the transfer tube, I just heated some water in the HLT and pumped it though the tube. I have a valve at the end of the tube to stop the flow when I saw the color change to fresh water. It worked out great.
Finally, here is everything in place in my True GDM-12 fermentation chamber. I use an Inkbird STC-1000 to maintain the temp at 63 degrees for this wheat beer. I will report back on the quality of the beer in 2 weeks. I am going to try to harvest the yeast out of this batch via the bottom dump.
In summary, I am very pleased with the purchase and would not hesitate to recommend the BruGear fermenter to anyone looking for a high quality fully sanitary fermenter with no compromises. They really have a winner here. I think the SS BrewTech has some design compromises that are not easily overcome such as the weldless thermowell. I would have rather not have the thermowell. then have the weldless one. The threaded valves are replaceable, but then you are in the Brewers Hardware price territory with an inferior design. I really like the Brewers Hardware Fermentor, but at 62% more expensive than the BruGear, it doesn't make financial sense.
Hope this helps.
Chris
I have had the same issue with the AHB conical we use... Ironically its the butterfly valve on my bottom port thats causing my issues... the smaller ball valve is easier to control and I am able to cut the flow faster.. the lock on the handle of the butterfly valve has caused me to waste beer while I fight it.
