Well I have had 3 and almost 4 ferment cycles on my SS brew bucket and here are my findings. I didn't get through #4 because it started leaking and I had to move into a carboy.
Pros:
The bucket is Stainless so it's easy to clean.
It's light and easy to move around full of wort/beer.
The Top gasket and clamps work well, all the clamps are usable with a single hand. Hard to explain but you can take off and put on the clamps with a single hand.
Cons:
a Few of the clamps rusted after the second batch which makes them harder to operate since rust affects the movement.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pkkxkerluwkilxj/2014-03-10 20.29.07.jpg
The ball valve at the bottom is very difficult to seat correctly, the internal gasket constantly slips into the gap between valve body and vessel hole. So it leaks. I have been very careful but basically at some point you can count on misalignment and leaking. To give you an idea I took a few measurements. The hole in the body is 17mm, the valve body is 16mm, so there is a 1 mm gap and the gasket is 19mm and 0.75 mm thick. It just takes one bump of the valve and it starts leaking. Only option you have is to drain it into something else and fix the problem.
I am probably going to try to fix this myself with a better fitting.
The little rubber feet that go into the legs shear off into the legs and then you end up scraping up whatever you are sitting your brew bucket in. Scraps aren't the best for sanitation, so it gets a demerit for that as well.
Other Note: I brought the rust to the companies attention, they "offered" to replace it, but never followed up. The latches shouldn't rust, in fact they all didn't rust, only two of the 4 rusted, so something is wrong with the finish of those parts.
Sum it up it's a great idea, they need to address quality of their finishes on the non stainless parts and resign the valve so it's easier to seat and doesn't come unseated if you bump the valve.
Pros:
The bucket is Stainless so it's easy to clean.
It's light and easy to move around full of wort/beer.
The Top gasket and clamps work well, all the clamps are usable with a single hand. Hard to explain but you can take off and put on the clamps with a single hand.
Cons:
a Few of the clamps rusted after the second batch which makes them harder to operate since rust affects the movement.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pkkxkerluwkilxj/2014-03-10 20.29.07.jpg
The ball valve at the bottom is very difficult to seat correctly, the internal gasket constantly slips into the gap between valve body and vessel hole. So it leaks. I have been very careful but basically at some point you can count on misalignment and leaking. To give you an idea I took a few measurements. The hole in the body is 17mm, the valve body is 16mm, so there is a 1 mm gap and the gasket is 19mm and 0.75 mm thick. It just takes one bump of the valve and it starts leaking. Only option you have is to drain it into something else and fix the problem.
I am probably going to try to fix this myself with a better fitting.
The little rubber feet that go into the legs shear off into the legs and then you end up scraping up whatever you are sitting your brew bucket in. Scraps aren't the best for sanitation, so it gets a demerit for that as well.
Other Note: I brought the rust to the companies attention, they "offered" to replace it, but never followed up. The latches shouldn't rust, in fact they all didn't rust, only two of the 4 rusted, so something is wrong with the finish of those parts.
Sum it up it's a great idea, they need to address quality of their finishes on the non stainless parts and resign the valve so it's easier to seat and doesn't come unseated if you bump the valve.
