I found a cheap freezer on CL, so the elbow plan is canceled. After all, the collection ball is one of the biggest selling points of FF.
have to make it fermenting chamber while waiting for the stainless thermowell.
Can't wait to using it!
FastFerment conical fermenter??????
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I found a cheap freezer on CL, so the elbow plan is canceled. After all, the collection ball is one of the biggest selling points of FF.
have to make it fermenting chamber while waiting for the stainless thermowell.
Can't wait to using it!
Brewmegoodbeer
Well-Known Member
What size is the thermowell?? I am interested in getting a stainless thermowell, but don't want to buy the wrong size (I think the brass one is 5/8"?) Anyone find a decent thermowell online that worked?
Brewmegoodbeer
Well-Known Member
Another question about the thermowell. How tight do you have to screw it in? Is hand tight sufficient to make a seal, or do you have to take a wrench to it and get every thread into the wall of the fermenter?
Hand tight on the thermowell. Never had any issues except when it didn't put it in straight. But I was lucky I didn't strip the treads.
augiedoggy
Well-Known Member
I use 2 elbows on my stainless conicals with a jaybird canning jar collection jar ot move it offset out past the ledge it sits on.... yeast finds its way down there without issues...
On my FF the yeast tends to stick to the sidewalls and not drop as it is so I only use it when my other 3 conicals are full. I did add stainless camlocks though along with a stainless valve when the cheap plastic one cracked on me after first use.
I also works to to remove the collection ball and easily add a drain line for keg filling.
Dfitz
Well-Known Member
The problem I've had with my FF is that trub settles and clogs the ball. I empty it a couple times and by the time I crash cool the trub gathers on the walls and won't knock loose to settle into the ball. I've tried shaking it down, tapping the fermenter walls with a screwdriver handle and nothing seems to work. When I Try to drain the fermenter, now matter how slow I drain the trub drains into the keg.
I use sankes but I bought a couple ball locks to use as bright tanks to try to elevate the problem.
I use sankes but I bought a couple ball locks to use as bright tanks to try to elevate the problem.
Not yet receiving the theermowell. It is 1/2" NPT.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=478906&page=41
I confirmed it by checking the brass one.
One concern that I had about using elbow is that it rise the probability to hit the extended arm and crack the plastic neck. Even the weight of the collection ball with wort in it might generate a force toward the neck because of leverage. I believe FF team has considered this to design current FF.
Brewmegoodbeer
Well-Known Member
Just bought a stainless steel thermowell on Ebay for $4.49 with free shipping! Here is the link
http://www.ebay.com/p/stainless-ste...27458779&ul_noapp=true,true&chn=ps&lpid=82,82
http://www.ebay.com/p/stainless-ste...27458779&ul_noapp=true,true&chn=ps&lpid=82,82
I actually bought exact the same one. I can wait for two or three week before my next brew. Hope it will arrive before that.
Brewmegoodbeer
Well-Known Member
Don't want to bring up something that has already been discussed, but dry hopping:
Can i put pellets in without the muslin bag and will it compact in collection ball over a week? I have muslin bags, but would like to maximize hop to beer contact.
Can i put pellets in without the muslin bag and will it compact in collection ball over a week? I have muslin bags, but would like to maximize hop to beer contact.
ElmCityWobblyPops
Well-Known Member
Depends on how much hops you are adding. I have always used a muslin bag, just to make it easier, and don't have to worry about filtering it out, or the hop trub causing a blockage.
However I will likely grab one of these from OBK that are made for dry hopping with the FF.
https://www.ontariobeerkegs.com/FastFerment_Hop_Filter_p/fast-ferment-hop-filter.htm
Brewmegoodbeer
Well-Known Member
MAN this thing really does ferment fast! I just made an IPA that started at 1.072 and 10 days later, I was at 1.015! My target FG was 1.023, so I ended up with a very efficient fermentation (and a higher alcohol beer at 8.2%. I went out of town, but I am thinking it hit my target gravity within a week. I already harvested the yeast and started dry hopping. I will be bottling in 2 calendar weeks from when I dumped the yeast in! This fermenter (and prob. any conical fermenter) is highly efficient! Just raised my efficiency in Beersmith's options from 70% to 80%. This is an addition to my home brewery for brewing highly efficient beers!
ElmCityWobblyPops
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I have found that beer ferments better in this than in a glass carboy.
Last one I did went from 1.068 to 1.009 in about 3 days.
Mind you I am sure the yeast had alot to do with it as well, but still.
Last one I did went from 1.068 to 1.009 in about 3 days.
Mind you I am sure the yeast had alot to do with it as well, but still.
Brewmegoodbeer
Well-Known Member
Can anyone tell me their average volume loss from fermentation and changing the collection balls? I just did my first batch and with changing the collection ball 2 times, a couple hydrometer readings, and fermentation, I went from 5 gallons to a bottling volume of 4 gallons. I will compensate for this on my next batch by making a 6.25 gallon batch to end up with 5 (or more) gallons at bottling. Trying to get the batch volume right in this to end up with exactly 5 gallons at bottling. Thanks.
I keg, but I up my recipe up to 6 gallons to compensate. Always end up with a little extra after filling the keg.
MrKelly
Active Member
Just do the math for what you expect to take out. I always start with 5.5 gallons and end up with a full keg. But that's considering my process.
ElmCityWobblyPops
Well-Known Member
Collection ball is 700ml each time, so if you dumped it twice, there is 1.4L
I don't use a hydrometer myself, just a refractometer, so not loosing anything there.
My average loss is about .75 gallons, but it depends on the beer and where it is headed after fermentation. If I'm kegging I want 5.25 gallons, bottling I want 5 gallons, a long term secondary sour fermentation 6.25 gallons and my small barrel 5.5 gallons.
Lower ABV beers that don't use a lot of oats/wheat/flaked barley, also, tend to have less loss due to settling.
I've found that anything that I want crystal clear, I will let the trub settle and dump that first, then aerate and pitch, dump the yeast and then keg. Most of the time that results in less than a .25 gallon loss.
Same thing I do. Works very well.
Brewmegoodbeer
Well-Known Member
Here is a pic of my new fermentation chamber. I got the refrigerator free off of craigslist! Cheers!
Brewmegoodbeer
Well-Known Member
FastFerment Brewers:
I just discovered a product that I think would allow us to bottle directly from the fermenter, even after rousing up the yeast and the trub on the walls after stirring in the priming sugar. It is a stainless steel inline filter that stops trub and large particles of yeast from flowing through (still allows small yeast for bottling). I just ordered it and I'm going to try it out in a few days when I get it in the mail. I will keep you updated. It is called the Bouncer Inline Beer Filter. It is 25 bucks with free shipping!
Here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JWO5RK2/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
I just discovered a product that I think would allow us to bottle directly from the fermenter, even after rousing up the yeast and the trub on the walls after stirring in the priming sugar. It is a stainless steel inline filter that stops trub and large particles of yeast from flowing through (still allows small yeast for bottling). I just ordered it and I'm going to try it out in a few days when I get it in the mail. I will keep you updated. It is called the Bouncer Inline Beer Filter. It is 25 bucks with free shipping!
Here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JWO5RK2/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
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Looking at the pictures, that is not going to stop trub. That will trap large stuff like hops and such, but a screen will not stop trub.
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Brewmegoodbeer
Well-Known Member
It claims it will. We will see. Ill update on here what happens. In the reviews, people claim that it keeps alot of the trub out when using it to rack into the fermenter or bottling bucket.
Please let us know. If so, I will certainly buy one.
ElmCityWobblyPops
Well-Known Member
I have been using mine for a year, with probably a dozen or so batches through it, and bottling from the fermentor hasn't been an issue, if anything, I have been getting less sediment left in the bottom of the bottles than I was before using a traditional glass carboy and auto siphon to fill my bottles.
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Brewmegoodbeer
Well-Known Member
Have not tried bottling from fermenter yet. OI have read in different posts and seen a video where yeast and sediment can get thrown off the wall of the fermenter when mixing in the priming sugar. I believe you though. Im sure with careful mixing of the priming sugar, its not a big deal.
ElmCityWobblyPops
Well-Known Member
Haven't had any yeast and sediment sticking to the sides of the fermenter.
All goes into the collection ball. Once primary fermentation is finished and you empty the ball, the air the shoots up through it pretty much dislodges anything stuck to the sides, and will eventually float down into the ball again.
There will be some sediment from the krausen on top, when mixing in the priming sugar, but hasn't been an issue as of yet.
No more sediment than from a glass carboy, and less in many batches.
Brewmegoodbeer
Well-Known Member
That is good to hear that you have not had much sediment. I am a bottler, and I have been weary of bottling directly from it because I saw a video where someone tried it and he ended up getting a bunch of sediment in his bottles. I am on only my second batch with this fermenter, but like you said, there is no visible sediment (except for the krausen ring) that I can see on the walls of the fermenter. I am going to use the bouncer inline filter to bottle this tuesday, and I will see if it makes a big difference from what it filters out. I will keep you updated on here.
M0KCE
Well-Known Member
Brewmegoodbeer
Well-Known Member
I have seen a few review videos showing it takes out a decent amount of stuff. The newest one is on youtube which was made yesterday: https://youtu.be/3uQMucJhrS0?list=PLpYJPiYr-bAxaJODbSA_zSNWWoo2COaWF
I'm going to try it out myself and make a review to see if it's any good. They are also coming out with a larger gauge filter (50 gauge vs. 20 gauge) to help the filtration process. We will see.
M0KCE
Well-Known Member
Watched that video. Guessing he had more stuff to filter out than I do with my conical fermenter.
Same here. But he was also draining from the trub too, I dump that stuff before I even pitch my yeast and then dump my yeast before sending it to my keg.
If you can't find a finer mesh to use, maybe try putting a stainless steel scrubbie inside the filter. It might help catch a little more crud.
But frankly, if you rap on the sides of the FF to start a trubalanche of the fine crud settled on the sides the day before you do the final trub dump, there won't be much left to filter out.
Brewmegoodbeer
Well-Known Member
Just tried out the Bouncer Inline Filter to bottle from the conical directly. It got a little bit of stuff out, but not much. Maybe I did not have much trub in the conical in the first place, as I drained the trub before I pitched the yeast and changed the collection ball twice. I am suspecting a finer screen may catch more (if there was more). I'll have to put it at a greater test when I dry hop after primary fermentation. Here is the link: https://youtu.be/Y-odr6bpN5s
Brewmegoodbeer
Well-Known Member
I took your idea and hacked my filter! This should deff catch more stuff. They are coming out with a finer mesh, but this should do. It may clog, but hey, dump and keep going. Thanks!
kaffeenjunkie
Well-Known Member
I really love my FF. But that thing with the lid seal cheapens it. The gasket they send it a POS. Aside from that it is a quality piece of work.
ElmCityWobblyPops
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I have replaced mine with a piece of flexible foam. Can buy a pack from the Dollar Store for a few bucks, enough usually to make 4-5 lid seals. Works very well.
