Brew Bucket by SS Brewing Technologies

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Schumed

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I officially got a hold of one of the Brew Buckets

Have to say pretty impressed with the construction ...I've seen Stout Tanks and Blichmanns and this is just as good as quality stainless steel

It was packed professionally came with a reference guide and had the ball valve and airlock bung packed separately . Didn't smell or notice any oil that sometimes you see with stainless products

Ball valve is one solid piece with two silicone gaskets and a stainless nut with a plastic turn knob. It was easy to install and did a leak test and saw no drops on the first install. Racking arm was easy to move. I'm thinking it could be a little longer. But for the purpose of taking gravity samples and racking it does it's job

Super impressed with the lid and latch mechanisms...they have a built in spring that applies addition pressure...inside has a gasket to have a solid seal...I actually filled the bucket up with water turned on its side and not a drop leaked out

I actually weighed a standard glass carboy to compare the bucket and they both weigh the same right at 10lbs. Bucket fells lighter though. The handles are in the right position to carry and look to be securely attached. They could be a little wider and maybe have a rubber grip to add some comfort.

I do fermenting in buckets, carboys, and even corny and sankes. I've had buckets get scratched and cause infections, carboys have broke. Problem with sanke and corny it's hard to see inside and when racking you aren't sure where the trub is. This is the reason I'm excited to use this. The conical shape should collect the trub and yeast so when I go to rack I should avoid it.

Plan on filling this up tomorrow and will update the thread. Plan on doing a big IPA to see how well it collects the trub

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Do you still need to rack or transfer to secondary on this or can you dump the yeast cake from the bottom through that valve?
 
Do you still need to rack or transfer to secondary on this or can you dump the yeast cake from the bottom through that valve?

You can't dump the trub or yeast. The single port is too high and is designed to pull your beer from above the trub and yeast cake.
 
Officially filled up my bucket in the bitter cold today... 6 gallons ...IPA with 5 ounces of pellet hops so hopefully will have lots of trub...well also dry hop with another 2 ounces...will report back in 2-3 weeks to see how the trub settled in the conical

Very easy to carry with 6 gallons of wort

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so your going to dry hop in the primary? or transfer to another one of these and dry hop in that?

You should look to modify the bottom to have a dump, even if you have to extend the legs a bit.
 
What exactly is the function of the conical bottom? In real cylindro-conical fermentors it's made steep enough so that the yeast/trub doesn't stick when being removed through the bottom.
 
Brian4x4 said:
so your going to dry hop in the primary? or transfer to another one of these and dry hop in that? You should look to modify the bottom to have a dump, even if you have to extend the legs a bit.

I always dry hop in the primary

The spot where the racking arm is should be right about the trub so shouldn't need a dump...that's the theory I'm testing anyways
 
orangehero said:
What exactly is the function of the conical bottom? In real cylindro-conical fermentors it's made steep enough so that the yeast/trub doesn't stick when being removed through the bottom.

The way I understand it it should collect the trub so when you rack using the arm you shouldn't loose any beer compared to using a bucket or carboy...that's what I'm testing anyways

This bucket isn't meant to be a conical
 
So they do exist! I was beginning to think they were just the stuff of legend.

OP, can you tell me how tall that is with the air lock in place? I need to see if it'll fit in the ferm chamber.
 
So they do exist! I was beginning to think they were just the stuff of legend.

OP, can you tell me how tall that is with the air lock in place? I need to see if it'll fit in the ferm chamber.

I'll measure it when I get home from work later this evening
 
Should of at least ferment a 1/4 barrel. Would of been cooler. It would benefit 5 gallon batches.

Cheaper then a conical fermenter
 
GoodDogShelby said:
So they do exist! I was beginning to think they were just the stuff of legend. OP, can you tell me how tall that is with the air lock in place? I need to see if it'll fit in the ferm chamber.

24 inches on the nose

13in diameter ...bucket is 12 inch carboy is like 11.5

Put a standard bucket and glass carboy to it for comparisons

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Braufessor said:
Thoughts/concerns on cleaning the spigot, and keeping it clean over time? Thanks

Going to treat it like any other piece of a brew equipment

Take a part, clean it, soak in PBW, rinse, replace gasket when it gets worn out

I'll find out over time how it hold ups
 
Going to treat it like any other piece of a brew equipment

Take a part, clean it, soak in PBW, rinse, replace gasket when it gets worn out

I'll find out over time how it hold ups

Does it come apart? That was my concern - looks like it might not - the valve part that is.
 
Does it come apart? That was my concern - looks like it might not - the valve part that is.

I am thinking it may be a simple turn valve that unloads from the center of the knob the same as a Perlick would, but that is assumption on my part from looking at the demo .gif. If not it seems a small bottle brush should be able to do a pretty good job of it.
 
Nightshade said:
I am thinking it may be a simple turn valve that unloads from the center of the knob the same as a Perlick would, but that is assumption on my part from looking at the demo .gif. If not it seems a small bottle brush should be able to do a pretty good job of it.
PBW soak will do the job

I've had the same ball valve on my keggle for 3 years now and have never taken it off...always PBW soak...and it's been fine...have a bunch of medals to show for it too
 
Nightshade said:
:ban::ban: but seriously that really is a sexy fermenting bucket. Gonna keep my eye on the site and maybe order a couple when they get back in stock.

Ban?...Whatever

There are all kinds of group buys; why not a conical group buy?
 
I got an email from SS Brew Tech this morning. I appreciate the pressure they are under due to the overwhelming demand for their product, but can someone explains what this means?

And we do plan some time in late Jan or early Feb to shut down the lottery and just dump whatever inventory we have into our regular warehouse and just see what happens and/or how many wait list folks will convert into purchases

Does this mean that if you signed up for their lottery in November and don't receive a golden ticket by mid January, they are tossing that out the window and you just have to start over on through their normal process? Not sure I follow that logic.
 
I got an email from SS Brew Tech this morning. I appreciate the pressure they are under due to the overwhelming demand for their product, but can someone explains what this means?

And we do plan some time in late Jan or early Feb to shut down the lottery and just dump whatever inventory we have into our regular warehouse and just see what happens and/or how many wait list folks will convert into purchases

Does this mean that if you signed up for their lottery in November and don't receive a golden ticket by mid January, they are tossing that out the window and you just have to start over on through their normal process? Not sure I follow that logic.

I would email them...they have been pretty quick to respond to all my emails
 
They said you could stack buckets during fermentation. Are the legs really tall enough and is there enough room on the underside for the ferm lock?

I've been in the lottery for a while but am not hopeful based on them saying there are a "couple thousand" in the lottery. Shipping for me may be a killer anyway...Unless I can find a mule that will bring it from stateside like some of my other big equipment.
 
I I have been in the lottery since October 29th – this is why I don’t play the real lottery.

I hope they get there inventory in soon and there company does well, I can understand new companies are not easy, heck I don’t own a company I could not even imagine.

I just feel bad for them as Christmas is here and two of these buckets were on my list. (Wonder how many other home brewers had them on their Christmas list) - I know I am not getting this item from Santa this year.
 
I I have been in the lottery since October 29th – this is why I don’t play the real lottery.

I hope they get there inventory in soon and there company does well, I can understand new companies are not easy, heck I don’t own a company I could not even imagine.

I just feel bad for them as Christmas is here and two of these buckets were on my list. (Wonder how many other home brewers had them on their Christmas list) - I know I am not getting this item from Santa this year.

Me too. I have been following this closely. I did like this part of their most recent email:

As such, we have modified our lottery algorithm to now bias a bit more toward early adopters / sign-ups, as we want to accommodate a bunch of those folks while at the same time not wholesale changing our methodology and totally excluding people that signed up in November or December.
 
Hey guys, I have one of these on order from KegOutlet. Apparently they are expecting some from SSBrewTech in time to ship sometime in early January. I asked and they're only taking pre-orders on what they can fulfill and there are a few left.

http://www.kegoutlet.com/ss-brewbucket-the-brew-bucket-fermenter.html

Schumed, what holds the racking arm into the valve? Is it threaded or o-ring/press fit?
 
Hey guys, I have one of these on order from KegOutlet. Apparently they are expecting some from SSBrewTech in time to ship sometime in early January. I asked and they're only taking pre-orders on what they can fulfill and there are a few left.

http://www.kegoutlet.com/ss-brewbucket-the-brew-bucket-fermenter.html

Schumed, what holds the racking arm into the valve? Is it threaded or o-ring/press fit?

you rock thanks for the info! - and 15 flat rate shipping _ Score
 
PBW soak will do the job

I've had the same ball valve on my keggle for 3 years now and have never taken it off...always PBW soak...and it's been fine...have a bunch of medals to show for it too

Kettles don't concern me - you are dealing with boiling hot temperatures that sanitize everything anyway. Fermenters on the other hand ...... stuff can get a foothold in a spigot you can't get inside to clean.

Anyone know if there is a comparable spigot that could fit in the opening that is easier to clean/take apart. I would buy one and swap it out if there was. Still looks like a great fermenter - just wish the spigot was a bit more accessible for cleaning.
 
I officially got a hold of one of the Brew Buckets

Ahhh, you beat me to it! Greetings fellow SS Brew Bucket owner! Mine arrived yesterday, and looks great. Interestingly enough, my valve's handle was colored Black. I guess they just use what's available.

Anyhoo, I emailed them today about drilling the hole bigger (or using a separate hole) for a thermowell, and they said have at it. I certainly won't touch the bucket itself with that, but am more than willing to butcher the lid for this purpose.
 
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