14G FastFerment Presale

[Fast_Rack]

Hi Everyone,

We hope the week is going great!

All of our products at Fastbrewing & Winemaking come from suggestions from homebrewers and winemakers. We love getting feedback on how to improve our current products and also what we should make next. Please keep emailing us with your questions and ideas - We are always all ears.

Without further delay below is our newest product we are designing and we want your feedback!

14 US Gallon - 53 Litre FastFerment

1.5” Teflon Seated Union Valve
--Current FastFerment uses the same style valve except 1”
14G total internal capacity including the Collection Ball
37 - 44 ounce Collection Ball
--Let us know your preferred size
304 Stainless Steel Thermowell
304 Stainless Steel insert for Thermowell to screw into
--This one is a maybe as it has been tricky to figure out
Slightly thicker walls (.137”/3.5mm) to give more rigidity and robust feel
No wall mounts - Very sturdy stand included in base model
--This FastFerment will sit much deeper in the stand and be very stable
Exterior Volume markings on the Conical Body
Exterior Volume Markings on the Collection Ball
6” Screw top lid with our newest hollow silicon gasket
--This the same lid we use on our current FF. This lid will have little dimples that add grip and there will be no sealing issues!
Estimated footprint in the stand will be 18” by 18” by 39”
Works with the current Thermometer and Spigot W/Drill Bit Accessories

Potential Future Accessories
Mason jar adaptor
Taller stand for fitting kegs underneath
Adaptor to make 7.9G FF Collection Ball fit to this unit
Insulated Jacket/Some type of cooling device


The Best Part?

We are doing a pre-sale for 1000 of the Base Models at a discounted price!

Presale Price - $159.99 USD plus $30 USD Shipping

Target MSRP after Presale = $190 - $205 USD Plus Shipping
(We haven’t confirmed this but this is range we are aiming for)

The Presale will start later in February with a ~2 month delivery time.

If you want to keep in the loop add your email address on our site www.fastbrewing.com


(Feel free to cross post this in another thread if anyone thinks it fits better there)

 

[JayDog]

I wouldn't buy it. I just don't have a need or space for a fermenter this size. But one thing that stands out to me is the collection ball.
Why not eliminate it altogether? Make a wider opening and use mason jars. Even if you don't want the wide mouth jars the regular mouth would still have a wider opening. Plus for 20 bucks you could get a case of jars.
Edited to add, I think a wide mouth would be best. Then you could use anything from a pint jar to a half gallon sized jar.

 

[Markd27]

Maybe those other guys patented it?

 

[xben]

Having LITERS marking along with gallons would be convenient to people actually living outside US (there is some, believe me! )

 

[strangebrewing]

We are looking forward to the new model and will contact you directly to discuss all of the proposed options and upgrades.

Cheers!

P.S. Any plans for a SMALLER collection valve for the standard FastFerment?

 

[Racinjoe]

I have the 7.9 FastFement and love it but I have no use right now for a fermenter this large, though if you needed a tester I would be happy try it out for you!!!! The Mason jar adapter for both sounds like a great idea as I currently pour my harvested yeast from the ball to a sanitized mason jar for storage..

 

[kh54s10]

There are two things that keep me from buying this product. One is that I don't brew things that need one that big. Two is my limited budget. I now have seven Better bottles and a couple of bucket fermenters. Total cost for those was less than $270.

 

[Dcpcooks]

$170 to $205 is a great price for a 10 gallon batch size fermentor! Keep on keeping on FastFerment!

 

[CA_Mouse]

I already have a couple of the FF 7.9 fermenters and love them. I think this new one is a great size and the price is reasonable, depending on what the total package includes. After buying all the "accessories" for the 7.9s, the cost was over $150 each.

What is the height of this one with the airlock installed?
Is the collection ball shorter and fatter to allow it to sit lower in the stand?
Are the volume markings already colored to allow them to be seen when filled?

 

[jleiii]

As an owner of pre-sale original FF 7 unit I'd say you are on the right track here.
A few thoughts - Why is the sampling port still an aftermarket option? That was one of the first things I did to mine then it came up here on HBT. I later changed mine to the push button spigot I removed from my 10gal water cooler during conversion to a mash tun. It is absolutely perfect! (and a suggestion I made that you acknowledged was a good idea)
I don't ever save yeast from mine, so the mason jar option would not be of interest. I only save fresh yeast from starters. I do count on the collection ball to gather all the sediment.
It's not come up in this thread yet, but there has been lots of discussion in other FF threads about bottling directly from the FF. I won't since I almost always cold crash in a carboy, but there are a lot that are interested. Maybe something you could incorporate in this regard?

IF I was in the market for a bigger one, I'd be interested, but I'm not. I'm content with my 5gal batches.

I'd also suggest you change the POLL question to "If you were in the market for a larger fermenter...". You're going to get a lot of No's from those with no intentions of buying a larger fermenter of any kind.

 

[Fast_Rack]

Hi Everyone,

Very sorry for the delayed answers! We are swamped over here trying to wrap up all the details for the new 14G plus keeping everything else going.

We really appreciate all the awesome feedback and I will answer everyone’s questions below.




@JayDog
We thought about going the Mason Jar route only and the feedback we got from previous/current FastFerment users and retailers was split down the middle. We will be offering a Mason Jar adaptor as an upgrade for this 14G FF and eventually the 7.9G FF

@Markd27
From what we found there wasn’t anything for using a Mason Jar as that is too common of a product to patent for a specific application. We also use union valves not butterfly ones so they hook up will be a bit different.

@Xben
We are Canadians at Fastbrewing & Winemaking! It will 100% have both gallons and litres marked on it.

@Racinjoe
Thanks for the feedback and great to hear you like the 7.9G FF! We have a stainless steel hop filter in the works for it, a stainless steel thermowell upgrade and maybe a 2.5G FastFerment if we get enough demand. We also will have that mason jar adaptor for you for the 7.9G later this year.

@Kh54s10
That makes sense to us. We honestly can’t get the prices down anymore when factoring in margins for wholesalers and also retailers. We really did some work to be able to get the presale at $159 for the 14G and I’m hoping we can hit the $190-$205 end retail once we finish up the presale.

@Dcpcooks
Thanks for the nice words - We have at least 6 new products/accessories coming out this year. We are going to be sending more regular updates through our website newsletters as we get closer to wrapping up the specs for them. I just got the first pics of one dry hop filter sample, so we should have those in the office in a week or so for testing.


@CA_Mouse
Good question - The 14G will have everything below - The 7.9G FF thermometer and spigot will work with this model. We will also be offering a leg extension as an accessory in the presale and maybe the new hop filter if we have that ready to go.

Kit Contents
One 14 US Gallon / 53 Litre Conical Fermenter
6" (15cm) Screw Top, Grommet & Airlock
Bottom Collection Ball For Harvesting Yeast
1.5" Union Teflon Valve and fittings
Steel stand that is at least 30% thicker than our current stand
1/2" (1.25cm) PVC Hose & Hose Clamp
Stainless Steel Thermowell
Instructions

What is the height of this one with the airlock installed?
-We are nailing this down next week but the vessel body will be 28” long versus the 23” for 7.9G and 18” wide versus the 14” wide for the 7.9”. Overall we are aiming for it to be only ~6” taller than the current 7.9G.

2. Is the collection ball shorter and fatter to allow it to sit lower in the stand?
-It is fatter and only 1” or less taller than the ball on the 7.8”. We are still confirming this as we have some 3D prints coming next week. We are 3D printing the 28” by 18” vessel body as well to do some tests.

3. Are the volume markings already colored to allow them to be seen when filled?
-Working on this one as we agree it would be better to make this available. We don’t have anything firmed up yet but it is on the spec sheet.

@Jleiii
Thanks for helping us make FF available by supporting the presale. These new products are expensive to get up and running with the tooling and manufacturing set-up. We have the sampling port and all the other accessories as aftermarket as we always try to get the base model price as low as possible.We strip away all the extra features and have them as add-ons. We have a lot of people who only use the $100 base model so we need to always shoot for the lowest price we can get to.

Thanks for the feedback on the Mason Jar - Honestly from everyone we talk to it is a 50/50 split on the Mason Jar so that is why it will be an accessory. It actually saves us a lot of money to go only the Mason Jar route as we don’t need a Collection Ball mold or collection ball but we want to appeal to as many people as possible.

We increase the wall slope a built on this FF to allow us to fit the 14G volume into the size we need but this may also helped funnel the sediment down to the collection ball even faster/easier.

Thanks for the poll question wording - I’ll update it after this post.


Keep the questions and ideas coming!

Thanks again,

The FastBrewing Crew

 

[Fast_Rack]

Just after hitting send on that last reply the 1.5" valve samples showed up.

See some pictures attached to give you an idea how big they really are next to the 1" valve for the 7.9G FF!

 

[JLeuck64]

Sorry, but I am content with brewing in buckets for now. If and when I ever feel the need to switch to a conical I will go with a stainless model.
Thank-you

 

[Fast_Rack]

First 3D Rendering - The first complete 3D printed test unit should be done the first week of March!

 

[Racinjoe]

Sorry, but I am content with brewing in buckets for now. If and when I ever feel the need to switch to a conical I will go with a stainless model.
Thank-you

You don't know what you are missing! The ease of fermenting in one vessel, while removing the trub and harvesting your yeast has to be experienced to believed.

 

[JLeuck64]

You don't know what you are missing! The ease of fermenting in one vessel, while removing the trub and harvesting your yeast has to be experienced to believed.

Super happy for you! I have committed to buckets early on and I too ferment in one vessel, a bucket... I too harvest yeast, but it's from a starter in a flask ( ;

Not trying to brag but I can control temps during fermentation with so many buckets! 35gal during the winter months with no problem, and 15-17gal during the summer months... all those buckets won't cost as much as one conical ( ;

 

[Fast_Rack]

Hey everyone,

We finally have the presale live - It was quite a week of work to get it going.

http://fastbrewing.com/14gfastferment

Let us know if the website link is slow to load for anyone.

Cheers!

 

[tsull8]

I've been reading through this thread and the information on the website and find it interesting and tempting, but the big issue for me is what would I do once I've put 10 1/2 or 11 gallons of liquid into the larger FF? How would I move it around? I have a 10 gallon brew stand, but I generally fill two fermenters due to the weight. 11 gallons would be close to 90 pounds. That would be fine if I had a fermentation chamber where I could pump the wort right into the fermenter in my garage where the brew stand is kept, but I don't. I split my batch in two and carry the fermenters to the basement where I can control their temperature.

I have one 7G FF and one of the other guys conicals. I also ferment in Big Mouth bubblers. My favorite depends on how the last batch went, but to be honest, the other guys conical worked quite nicely the first (and only) time I used it. Time will tell which I like better.

I do like that you have a SS hop filter. Even if I can't see my way to your FF 14G, I may go ahead and pick up one of the filters for dry hoping.

Cheers.

 

[StinkyVp]

Just ordered the 14G bundle.

Now need to get some accessories. I will probably need a cooling jacket or something in the summer. I may re-engineer my swamp cooler setup.
I have not brewed a 5G batch in years.
The three main reasons I pulled the trigger on this are price, size and the hop screen filter. This will fit easily into my regular process I think. I always rack to a secondary to dry hop. Eliminating that racking step will be nice in a couple of ways I think.