What fermenter are you using?

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springinloose1

springinloose1

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I started brewing in ’08 with buckets and made the move to glass pretty early so I can see fermentation and for sanitary reasons. Every brew day, the only thing I get anxious about is carrying the glass carboys to the fermentation chamber in the basement. I know it’s not a matter of if, but when, one of those babies breaks on me. So, I’m in the market to move to stainless (plus I'm thinking about harvesting yeast for future batches) but want some advice of what you’re using and if you’re happy with your purchase. Between Anvil, SS Brew Tech, Blichmann, Chapman… there’s so many to choose from. Brew bucket or conical? I'm looking for advantages, features, and benefits, not just the cheapest price... I have a birthday coming up so hopefully I can talk the fam into going in on it :) :) :)
 
I just got the anvil 7.5G fermentor, used it for 3 batches now. I miss seeing the yeast do its work but it's a really nice upgrade. Cleaning was easy, kegging was super duper fast, the domed bottom is not quite a conical but it does the job pretty well, i'd likely get another one next time I think i'm in the market for a new carboy.
 
I ferment in sanke kegs with the "SANKE FERMENTER CONVERSION KIT" from brewhardware.com and cool-zone jacket/heat tape for temp control from gotta-brew.com

I like how cheap the fermenters are; used kegs can be had fairly easily and removing the spear is dead-simple.. I can ferment between 5 to 13 gallons without issues.. I steam sanitize before use and use keg/carboy (diy) cleaner between batches.. I can pressure ferment, and do closed transfers when kegging..

only thing a conical has over sanke fermenters (imho) is they are easier to clean/inspect, and easier to dump yeast from. cost was really the deciding factor for me.

I also still use buckets for some batches -- the gotta-brew stuff works just as well for buckets so, if I'm being lazy and don't want to clean a fermenter I pull out some buckets.
 
As 10 home brewers a question and you will get 13 different answers. HAHA Everyone will have their way or the things they like, etc...

Lately I have been fermenting in extra corny kegs I have acquired. It allows me to do closed transfers, pressure ferment if I wanted (haven't tried yet), easy to clean (built my own keg washer) and virtually indestructible. I also have a 6 gallon fermonter and a FastFerment that I use. I picked up a 5 gallon glass carboy years ago but really haven't used it much. My plans for the glass carboy are for meads if and when I ever decide to try to make one and let them sit for a while.

I don't bother harvesting yeast and washing it from batches. I do starters and overbuild them and save the extra yeast for my next starter.

I have entertained the idea of getting an Anvil or SS Brewtech fermenters, but since I have four 5 gallon corny kegs I can ferment 3 gallons in each keg and still end up with 10 gallons finished in the serving kegs. I would say if you can get a bunch of extra corny kegs for a good price, I would go that route again. Just my two cents and good luck with your decision.
 
IMG_1973.jpg

I’m fairly new at this. I moved quickly from the one gallon kits to doing BIAB and using the Spike fermenter. I love it and no regrets
 
I have used about everything.

I own several ss brew buckets and a ss brewtech conical now. I would buy 2 brew buckets before I ever bought another conical. I can find little reason to justify the extra cleaning and cost a conical requires.

I would not buy the brewmaster editions with the weldless thermowells.
 
pshankstar said:
Now that’s a fermenter I would love to get some day. Although my wife would think I really went off the deep end with this hobby.
Click to expand...

My wonderful wife gave up on asking on the price of things...You know they only cost around $100 ;)
 
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I started with buckets, which I used for 15+ years. Also used a glass carboy but retired that after finding a crack near the bottom but replaced it with a plastic version. In the last 3 years I use Big Mouth Bubblers exclusively! Found a deal on the Northern Brewer website of 4 for $100, and couldn't pass that up.
 
When I bought my first equipment kit I saw buckets, glass carboys and PET carboys. (Better Bottles). Having had experience with lids on buckets and the difficulty getting them on an off that was the first eliminated. Then it was an easy choice between glass and PET. I knew that empty glass carboys are heavy. Then add the weight of 5 gallons of wort. So for me it was PET.

Side benefits, you can see the fermentation and they are way safer than glass. I do have buckets for wines and when dry hopping.

I would love a nice SS conical, but, that is way out of my budget. Especially since I have had as many as 5 beers and 4 wines fermenting at the same time once. That would be very expensive in SS.
 
I started with buckets and bought glass carboys pretty quickly. When I started brewing 10 gallon AG batches with a friend I bought a 14 gallon fast fermentor when they first released and a spiedel 15g for a backup and recently bought the Spike Stainless (yet to be used) which I plan on added the heat/cooling package.

I haven’t really notice any difference in the quality yet but the conicals in conjunction with legged has saved me tons of time. My new conical when I add temp control should hopefully help with quality.

IMG_4663.jpg
 
springinloose1 said:
I started brewing in ’08 with buckets and made the move to glass pretty early so I can see fermentation and for sanitary reasons. Every brew day, the only thing I get anxious about is carrying the glass carboys to the fermentation chamber in the basement. I know it’s not a matter of if, but when, one of those babies breaks on me. So, I’m in the market to move to stainless (plus I'm thinking about harvesting yeast for future batches) but want some advice of what you’re using and if you’re happy with your purchase. Between Anvil, SS Brew Tech, Blichmann, Chapman… there’s so many to choose from. Brew bucket or conical? I'm looking for advantages, features, and benefits, not just the cheapest price... I have a birthday coming up so hopefully I can talk the fam into going in on it :) :) :)
Click to expand...

So many of us are successful with plastic buckets and some of us harvest yeast from them too. Sanitation isn't nearly the problem with them as some make out. My 10 year old bucket just keeps cranking out good beer. Buckets have handles for easy carrying, big openings in the top for easy cleaning and are so cheap that you can replace them if damaged without breaking the bank. Stainless looks cooler but it really doesn't make beer all that much better. Spending money on grains, hops, and yeast makes more sense.
 
I've got the 6.5 gal buckets i sporadically use, a 6.5 gal glass carboy i now reserve for sours, 2 of the 9 gallon speidels and a fermentasaurus conical.

I tend to use the speidels and the fermentasaurus for most of my brews.
 
kproudfoot said:
I started with buckets and bought glass carboys pretty quickly. When I started brewing 10 gallon AG batches with a friend I bought a 14 gallon fast fermentor when they first released and a spiedel 15g for a backup and recently bought the Spike Stainless (yet to be used) which I plan on added the heat/cooling package.

I haven’t really notice any difference in the quality yet but the conicals in conjunction with legged has saved me tons of time. My new conical when I add temp control should hopefully help with quality.

View attachment 568285
Click to expand...

I'm looking at that same conical.. please keep us posted on how you like it... also thinking of this of the SS brewmaster conical.. both with the heating/cooling coils and temp control system... same reason as you ... i want to work on refining my brews and controlling the temps should help to ensure repeat ability in your brews and the fermentation process to a T and get the same quality time and time again...
 
universalfrost said:
I'm looking at that same conical.. please keep us posted on how you like it... also thinking of this of the SS brewmaster conical.. both with the heating/cooling coils and temp control system... same reason as you ... i want to work on refining my brews and controlling the temps should help to ensure repeat ability in your brews and the fermentation process to a T and get the same quality time and time again...
Click to expand...

Will do. Using for the 1st time this weekend. I went with Spike over Ss Brewtech for 2 reasons. 1. Spike seemed cheaper to start and 2. I just thought it looked cooler.

A few things I don’t like just from messing around. 1. Not sure the purpose of gallon markings on the inside as if you have the lid on when you fill it you can’t see them. 2. Price for accessories adds up in a hurry 3. I wish the handles allowed you to lift when full. I currently brew in my garage and ferment in my basement so I fill buckets, walk down stairs and fill conical. Just a hassle.
 
Fastferment... for the price ($99 when I bought mine) IMHO I think they are hard to beat. A conical, so the ability to collect/dump trub and or harvest yeast. Easy to put a sample port into and a thermal well if you want to accurately monitor temps. Plus Brewjacket makes a lid for them so you can use one of their devices to control fermenter temperatures.

Yes, eventually they could potentially get scratches that could harbor "bugs" just like buckets but if you take care when cleaning that is a lot of batches down the road.
 
I have both a BME chronical and a unitank. As of now a brew has yet to go in the unitank, but the benefits to cost analysis should be done by you.

Will you have adequate ways of chilling? If so, then the pressure rating is worth it to carb. The unitank acts as a Brite tank in this case.

Things like that you'll need to ask, if you want it just do it these are all great products but I like the unitank a touch more than the BME bc I want to experiment.

Honestly I think I could've been extremely happy with brew buckets and saved a lot, but I like shiny toys. Spike didn't get my money because they didn't include accessories. So beware you'll have to build your own, or at least that's what they were doing at the time I was deciding on a kettle and once I decide on a brand I'm all in and haven't been disappointed.

I would say two options. Conical or brew bucket, I really don't like plastic, I think even with my conicals I could find utility in a bucket and definitely an easier sell for a bday [emoji6]
 
Pair of old school blichmans with 50ft of copper wrapped around sitting on a bed of thermal tape, to control temp I connect the copper to a pump sitting in a cooler of ice water or a bucket heater for high temp belgians. Also have a 7 gal brew bucket and a 14 gallon Chapman for Ciders and hopless beers
IMG_5681.JPG
 
I have...

1x SS BrewTech Brew Bucket (7gal)
1x SS BrewTech Brew Bucket Mini (3.5gal)
1x generic PET bucket (6.5gal)
1x bottling bucket (6.5gal)

I use all of the above, mostly for 3gal batches.
 
Kproudfoot, I have Spike's CF10 which I plan to use within a couple of weeks. I have the TC-100 from them as well. I'm waiting on two customized 20 gallon kettles from them which hopefully I will get next week.

I see you have the 2" sight glass attached to the end of the 2" butterfly valve. Was that so you could control the "blast/flow" that would occur if you switched them around? Are you planning on opening valve, fill sight glass, close value and then dump the trub by taking off the end plate of the sight glass?

On other Spike conicals, I have seen where the sight glass was attached either before or after the 90 degree elbow and then the butterfly valve was the last item attached.
 
CodeSection said:
Kproudfoot, I have Spike's CF10 which I plan to use within a couple of weeks. I have the TC-100 from them as well. I'm waiting on two customized 20 gallon kettles from them which hopefully I will get next week.

I see you have the 2" sight glass attached to the end of the 2" butterfly valve. Was that so you could control the "blast/flow" that would occur if you switched them around? Are you planning on opening valve, fill sight glass, close value and then dump the trub by taking off the end plate of the sight glass?

On other Spike conicals, I have seen where the sight glass was attached either before or after the 90 degree elbow and then the butterfly valve was the last item attached.
Click to expand...

I have a cap on the end and the value attached to the elbow. Primarily because the flow when opening is so fast I heard it could get messy. I didn’t see the point of opening it slowly as it defeats the purpose of having the 2” Valve. I plan to open the value after a few days of fermenting and letting everything settle. Close value, dump turn, reattach and repeat until I see clear bear and then seal off. My only issue now, as you pointed out is that I have to remove clamp quickly and remove site glass since it’s horizontal and not vertical. Most of the pictures you referred to are on tanks with leg extensions. There isn’t enough room without them. To me this is a design flaw. There should be room for butterfly valve and then site glass.



IMG_4784.jpg
 
I have the fermentasaurus and I'm starting to hate it. The valve assembly at the bottom you have to tighten a fair bit to ensure no leaks. At that point it makes it difficult to extremely difficult to remove for cleaning. You cant use anything on the inside of the tanks as they scratch extremely easy so its soak and wait for the krausen line to disappear which is a day to a week in oxy or PBW. I bought a spare tank from Oxebar (the maker) and they all had defects such as bubbles in the mold line or contamination in the plastic. They said that was normal which are not present on my original tank.
with that being said the stand is sturdy, collection ball is easy to use and is the same thread as soda stream bottles.
I wouldn't buy another... I'd probably go with a SS or Anvil brew bucket.
 
kproudfoot said:
I have a cap on the end and the value attached to the elbow. Primarily because the flow when opening is so fast I heard it could get messy. I didn’t see the point of opening it slowly as it defeats the purpose of having the 2” Valve. I plan to open the value after a few days of fermenting and letting everything settle. Close value, dump turn, reattach and repeat until I see clear bear and then seal off. My only issue now, as you pointed out is that I have to remove clamp quickly and remove site glass since it’s horizontal and not vertical. Most of the pictures you referred to are on tanks with leg extensions. There isn’t enough room without them. To me this is a design flaw. There should be room for butterfly valve and then site glass.



View attachment 568633
Click to expand...

If I had the leg extensions and unlimited funds I would have the bottom set up like:

Tank, butterfly Valve, site glass, butterfly valve, elbow, cap (to be safe)

Since butterfly values are $50-$60 next best option is:

Tank, butterfly vale, site glass, elbow, cap.

But because of lack of space I use:
Tank, elbow, butterfly valve, siteglass, cap
 
Man! Some of you guys have some really super duper sweet set ups! I value your opinions very much. Thank you all for sharing. I'm still not sure which direction I want to go but I hope more chime in. I'm leaning towards Speidel or that Anvil brew bucket. I have an SS BrewTech 20 gal mash tun that's amazing but comparing the SS bucket to Anvil, Anvil has the same features for less money. It's relatively inexpensive for something shiny but still does a good simple job, but more importantly, won't break. Plus it doesn't seem to be any heavier than glass (?) If I was going to go big, it would absolutely have to be under pressure. Lugging some of those units you guys have out of a chest freezer looks almost impossible for a mortal, then add wort. Looking at Speidel's products for the first time (thanks for the link!) I had to chuckle. Last brew day I was talking to the gf looking at an empty case of Dud light from a beer pong tourney and thought how cool it'd be to have 6.5 gallon designs as a rectangle... now I see some of Speidel's bigger units. That'd be the ultimate for a chest freezer. No more circles! LOL! :) But I see the logic... why pay $130 for a 7.9 gallon bucket when you can pay $90 for 15.9 gallons...

Can the Speidel products connect up to a blow off tube if need be?
 
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kproudfoot said:
If I had the leg extensions and unlimited funds I would have the bottom set up like:

Tank, butterfly Valve, site glass, butterfly valve, elbow, cap (to be safe)

Since butterfly values are $50-$60 next best option is:

Tank, butterfly vale, site glass, elbow, cap.

But because of lack of space I use:
Tank, elbow, butterfly valve, siteglass, cap
Click to expand...

I bought mine without leg extensions and wheels. It will sit on the lower level of a two level bar. So, I will have the same height limitations like you have. Though, your wheels probably add another inch more than the standard feet.

I read the leg extensions made the conical not only top heavy, but unstable. The triangular plate was developed to help stabilize the unit better. However, the top heavy issue remains. I read people have strapped it against a wall or pole.

When your conical is full, how is the stability? I'm debating whether to buy the triangular stability plate.
 
Really curious about this as well.

I'm currently using 2 or 3 corny kegs. I really like them except for cleaning is more work than i like.

I was thinking about converting to a conical with glycol, but its spendy even by my standards. Anyone who went to a conical really like the switch, or have buyers remorse?
 
CodeSection said:
I bought mine without leg extensions and wheels. It will sit on the lower level of a two level bar. So, I will have the same height limitations like you have. Though, your wheels probably add another inch more than the standard feet.

I read the leg extensions made the conical not only top heavy, but unstable. The triangular plate was developed to help stabilize the unit better. However, the top heavy issue remains. I read people have strapped it against a wall or pole.

When your conical is full, how is the stability? I'm debating whether to buy the triangular stability plate.
Click to expand...

Stability is okay sitting still but if I wheel it around (which really I should never have to do) and hit bump and am not careful it should get sketchy. It doesn’t seem like the legs really attached well. Really just one point of contact and not much surface area. I am thinking about getting the plate any ways. But like I said until I brew in the same room as I ferment I don’t even need to move it.
 
Can you do a pressurized transfer with an Anvil? Cause you can with a brewbucket, it requires another couple pieces but it can be done. If you’re making any hoppy beers it’s an absolute must IMHO.
 
schematix said:
Really curious about this as well.

I'm currently using 2 or 3 corny kegs. I really like them except for cleaning is more work than i like.

I was thinking about converting to a conical with glycol, but its spendy even by my standards. Anyone who went to a conical really like the switch, or have buyers remorse?
Click to expand...

I have 3 SSBrewmasters (14) gal with FSS heating and glycol cooling. I love them. I can control the temperature year around in the pole barn where I brew (MI) doing both ales and lagers. I can easily ramp to finish fermentation/diacytel rest and then cold crash and hold at 30*. I can easily dump and harvest yeast and, with a couple of extra pieces, can hook up CO2 when cold crashing and to pressure transfer meaning virtually no exposure to O2 unless I dry hop. Cleaning and sanitizing is a snap with a 1/3 hp sump pump and the CIP ball. Can take samples without any problems. I have the leg extensions with the square plate for stability and have zero stability problems rolling the units for sanitizing/filling/cleaning, full or empty. The system allows me to control all of the variables for fermentation so I can fine tune a recipie to what I like. Best investment I've made.
 
Here is my solution to getting enough space below the Spike conicals for various hardware attachments and keeping them stable when I roll them around my shop. The wooden stands were made from a couple of 8' 2x4's and one sheet of 4x8 1/2" plywood. I fabricated some simple aluminum brackets that capture the conical feet and are easily removable if/when I need to remove from the stands. My first batch (a NEIPA) is in one of the conicals now. I added the first hops (biotransformation) and plan on dumping/harvesting before I add the second dry hop in the next couple of days. We'll see how that goes. The Penguin glycol unit seems to work very well.
IMG_4255.JPG
IMG_4252.JPG
IMG_4253.JPG
IMG_4254.JPG
 
pughww said:
Here is my solution to getting enough space below the Spike conicals for various hardware attachments and keeping them stable when I roll them around my shop. The wooden stands were made from a couple of 8' 2x4's and one sheet of 4x8 1/2" plywood. I fabricated some simple aluminum brackets that capture the conical feet and are easily removable if/when I need to remove from the stands. My first batch (a NEIPA) is in one of the conicals now. I added the first hops (biotransformation) and plan on dumping/harvesting before I add the second dry hop in the next couple of days. We'll see how that goes. The Penguin glycol unit seems to work very well. View attachment 571287 View attachment 571288 View attachment 571289 View attachment 571290
Click to expand...


What is that quick disconnect you are using? Really like the 2-in-1!

I was just sitting down to drop a small fortune on a conical, penguin chiller and all the related parts, but i think i like your QDs better!
 
I just picked up two 45 bottle wine coolers with a temperature range from 41 - 68 degrees. The SS Brew Buckets just barely fit. 7 gallon plastic brew buckets fit just fine on the bottom rack. There is a compressor hump in the bottom that pushed the SS Brew Bucket out. I got the idea from Kal.
Fermenter.jpg
 
I've gone from plastic buckets to Fermentasaurus to 2x corny kegs with floating dip tube and spunding. I can't see myself fermenting in anything other than corny kegs in future.

Pros
- Cheap. I doubt you'll find any stainless FV cheaper, let alone one that is pressure-capable
- Closed transfers = less oxygen in your serving keg
- Pressure fermenting = free CO2 and no need to wait for carbonation
- No suckback of oxygen or sanitiser when you cold crash
- Use fermentation gas to purge and pressurise your serving keg (more free CO2)
- You can use them as kegs if you need to
- Serve directly from the fermenting keg while cold-crashing, since beer draws from the top
- indestructible, good handles for carrying
- Efficient on space compared with a conical, even with 2 kegs

Cons
- Hard to find one that has enough headspace for a 5g batch, meaning you need 2 of them which is more cleaning and space.
- Can't see inside. Mitigate by pitching well so you don't need to.
- Floating dip tubes can be a bit fiddly to work with. Some people just bend the steel dip tube instead.
 
I use about 8 buckets for primaries. I use carboys for secondaries, when I do secondaries.

I have about 20 carboys. I've NEVER cracked or broke one and I started brewing in 1994. They are stored in milk crates when full so I never have to worry about dropping them.

I also have over 20 kegs. I try my best to keep at least half of them full at all times.
 

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