UNBREAKABLE plastic hydrometers coming soon?

[Epimetheus]

Unbreakable hydrometers. Really. And pails designed for brewing, not make-do version from the paint store. This from a company that normally makes air conditioners. WTH, if they have injection molding machines, go for it!

Not yet. Soon. The company put out a product announcement.
Plastic pale stars in home brewing kit Plastics News 2013.12.05

 

[bob1852]

And pails designed for brewing, not make-do version from the paint store.

The 7.9 gallon pails I use are designed for brewing, but aren't clear. One of the reasons I use them is because they aren't clear...

 

[BeerGrylls]

I'm more interested in this:

They also reduce sedimentation and use a special collar and ‘floating’ lid arrangement instead of an air lock to enable vigorous brews to expand while fermenting without spilling.

 

[ryansanders]

Hmm, yeah. That seems like an odd direction to innovate towards. New buckets that let in as much light as possible? Maybe they are for making a new style category of brew: skunk! Ha!

Love how the press release talks about how this new space age material, what is it called? Oh, "plastic", has finally arrived to free us from tyranny of glass and stainless steel. Am I pronouncing that right? Is it plah-stick? Play-steck? However you pronounce this never before seen word, I'm excited to see it in person soon!

Seriously though, glad people are even thinking about the home brew industry. Kudos to those dudes!

 

[Doctor_M]

Since when were wooden casks/ barrels, Stainless steel kettles and conicals, and dare I even say glass carboys less aesthetically pleasing then ugly clear pails? BWAHAHAHAHA … I needed a laugh thanks!

Edited to add: I do welcome new homebrew ingenuity and plastic hydrometers though!

 

[poptarts]

Hmm, yeah. That seems like an odd direction to innovate towards. New buckets that let in as much light as possible? Maybe they are for making a new style category of brew: skunk! Ha!

Love how the press release talks about how this new space age material, what is it called? Oh, "plastic", has finally arrived to free us from tyranny of glass and stainless steel. Am I pronouncing that right? Is it plah-stick? Play-steck? However you pronounce this never before seen word, I'm excited to see it in person soon!

Seriously though, glad people are even thinking about the home brew industry. Kudos to those dudes!

Pretty sure if clear was that big of an issue people wouldn't use carboys.

 

[ryansanders]

People keep carboys in dark spaces because they are clear. Opaque buckets are more flexible in that regard.

 

[mattd2]

Huh? the new style of Coopers fermenter has been on sale for at least the last 12 months if not more? This is not new, and it looks flimsy when compared to the old barrels they used to supply with their kits (although they are "harder" to clean)

 

[FatDragon]

Plastic hydrometers would be cool, though it seems they would be prone to warping and losing accuracy.

Their "floating lid" looks like it's just half a bucket that goes into the fermenting bucket and stops about 1/3 of the way down. No idea how that's supposed to be better than a hydrometer or blow-off tube.

Coopers sells beer here in China if you know where to look. I've only tried it once or twice because it was absolutely insipid. Good on 'em for encouraging the growth of homebrew and all, but I'm steering clear...

 

[jpalarchio]

I bought two of the Coopers plastic hydrometers a while back and found them to be pretty inaccurate compared to my glass one.

It sits in my drawer as a backup should my glass one break.

 

[The_Glue]

I'm more interested in this:

Isn't that floating lid is actually against oxidization? It creates zero headspace, i've seen this used in the wine world.

 

[TNugent]

Wish there were better pics of the fermenter. Not that I'd get one but I'd be interested in seeing it closer up.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004QCXWSA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20