Brew Bucket by SS Brewing Technologies

[SpeedYellow]

Hmm. Mine came with the concave side facing the bucket, and it sealed fine the last two batches. Maybe they realized it works even better concave side facing the lid and changed the instructions and the way it ships.


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[Beer-lord]

I just heard back from SS Brewing and they did say the U should fast the bucket as I have it attached. They think it's possible the newer gasket I got may not actually be the newer one so they are sending me another one to try.
I'm pleased with their fast replies (way after work hours too) and think what they mention could very well be possible.
After my beer is done, I'll run some water tests to see for sure.

 

[BYOB]

It may not be your seal, on one of mine I took the clamp and used some pliers to bend it more inward to create a tighter seal. That clamp should not real easy to close but not to hard either just enough to squoosh the seal.

 

[joshualoomis]

I just heard back from SS Brewing and they did say the U should fast the bucket as I have it attached. They think it's possible the newer gasket I got may not actually be the newer one so they are sending me another one to try.
I'm pleased with their fast replies (way after work hours too) and think what they mention could very well be possible.
After my beer is done, I'll run some water tests to see for sure.

awesome, thanks. maybe I will try it this way on my next batch.

 

[Eugenio]

Not having one, i think it makes sense concave part goes up. It works as a spring making sure the entire gasket touches the bucket, if you install it concave side down, i imagine you have the potential of not having contact, or enough pressure at some spots.

 

[Spartan1979]

I flipped mine and its bubbling out the airlock. I'm not convinced that was the way it was designed to go, but it works so that's the way I'll continue to do it.

And this morning, it was no longer bubbling out of the airlock. Fermentation is not done. It's a lager at 50* that was made on Sunday. With the gasket flipped, I can also look at the lid and see some waviness to it since it so much tighter this way.

I like the idea of the whole thing, but I need some visual clue as to what is going on, either from the airlock bubbling or seeing through fermenter. I've been at this too long to not have that.

 

[FastDogBrewing]

Have you check to make sure your airlock is sealed properly?


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[rawlus]

And this morning, it was no longer bubbling out of the airlock. Fermentation is not done. It's a lager at 50* that was made on Sunday. With the gasket flipped, I can also look at the lid and see some waviness to it since it so much tighter this way.

I like the idea of the whole thing, but I need some visual clue as to what is going on, either from the airlock bubbling or seeing through fermenter. I've been at this too long to not have that.

um.. sample and test FG via the racking port? how do you think the big boys do it? they dont judge if its done by looking at it.

 

[VinceS77]

My only real problem is the stopper for the airlock. Mine was sliced after the first insertion.

+1. Silicone stopper sliced up after 1 use.

 

[TVHABrewguy]

I just changed over to a harder durometer stopper


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[403Brewer]

um.. sample and test FG via the racking port? how do you think the big boys do it? they dont judge if its done by looking at it.

Agreed, if you've been at this for a long time you should be checking FG not bubble activity...but thats the beauty of having the racking valve on this, super easy to check.

 

[FrozenOcean]

Thinking about getting one of these... Any concerns about putting hot wort in? I'd like to play around with the no-chill method... Just dump the wort in here straight out of the kettle, let it cool for a day, and then pitch the yeast.

Since it's stainless, I guess that shouldn't be a problem. My only concern would be the gaskets on the ball valve. Are they silicone?

 

[audiophool]

Ball valve gaskets are silicone - shouldn't be a problem dumping hot wort into the BrewBucket

 

[Schumed]

if you follow kegoutlet on facebook....brew buckets are $199 plus free shipping for a limited supply and time...great deal

http://www.kegoutlet.com/promos/email.aspx?promo=KEG199BB

 

[403Brewer]

Has anyone had a ring develop likely where the krausen line sits on their fermenter? I have one after each brew and its extremely hard to remove even after a PBW soak...anyone have this and any solutions? I feel like I need to take sandpaper to it

 

[singybrue]

Has anyone had a ring develop likely where the krausen line sits on their fermenter? I have one after each brew and its extremely hard to remove even after a PBW soak...anyone have this and any solutions? I feel like I need to take sandpaper to it

I haven't, but try scrubbing it with bar keeper's friend cleanser.

 

[Doctor_M]

Has anyone had a ring develop likely where the krausen line sits on their fermenter? I have one after each brew and its extremely hard to remove even after a PBW soak...anyone have this and any solutions? I feel like I need to take sandpaper to it

Probably a silly question but are you using a hot pbw mixture or cold? A hot pbw bath gets even hop extract off stainless which in my experience is the most stubborn of all things brew related.

 

[403Brewer]

Filled the bucket warm but maybe I'll try a scrub with hot PBW, don't know hot to keep it hot for an entire soak

 

[TVHABrewguy]

PBW is a hot process. Should be 130 - 180 degrees


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[SpeedYellow]

Obviously don't take sandpaper to the inside. Barkeeper's Friend will clean it right up, and will also passivate the metal. So all new owners should use the BKF right off the bat. This must be the 127th recommendation for Barkeeper's Friend in this thread so far.

I can't imagine filling this thing up with water and PBW or oxyclean - what a waste. A quick wash with a sponge & soap has worked for me. That's the whole point of an open-top fermenter!

 

[renthispace]

Anyone try this for their air lock?

 

[BribieG]

Hi from Australia. Without trawling through 75 pages just one question.

This product is about to arrive on our Antipodean Shores in June and I (along with many others) have pre-ordered one. The bigger sized Chronical fermenters are also going to be on offer.

I've heard through the grapevine that there could be problems with pitting and corrosion. As you have a 1 year jump on us here with the brewbucket, has anyone had problems with pitting or failure at all? I would have thought that there wouldn't be problems with 304 grade SS, seems to have kept the St Louis Arch in good condition for a few decades or so

 

[403Brewer]

Anyone try this for their air lock?

No, there is a chance you can siphon all the fluid out of your container into the fermentor having it on top like that

 

[Beer-lord]

4 brews in and still loving my SS Brew Bucket. But, I have to say, I can't use the spigot at all. All 4 of my brews have had so much trub, that it blocks the spigot. I keep it pointed down while fermenting and move it to the up position when moving to a keg but end up having to use the auto siphon.
Not a big deal, just don' know why all 4 of these brews had more trub than normal.

The beer coming out of this bucket tastes fantastic. I wish I had a second one but will wear this one out first.

 

[SpeedYellow]

Anyone try this for their air lock?

Not a good idea. Lots of threads here go like this: "Help! Wort cooled a couple degrees and sucked all my sanitizer from the blowoff pitcher into the beer!"

 

[Schumed]

I've had mine now about 9 months...all is good...I think there was one guy on this thread that reported pitting....personally it looked like he used some kind of acid that caused it...but that's my opinion...Believe SSbrewtech took care of the issue though and issued a new one.

Nice St Louis Arch reference

 

[FastDogBrewing]

A good clean with Hot PBW should clean off the vast majority of things. Anything left over should wipe off. No need for Bar Keepers Friend. Scrubbing with bar keepers friend is a bit extreme and hard on the surface if not needed.



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[renthispace]

Not a good idea. Lots of threads here go like this: "Help! Wort cooled a couple degrees and sucked all my sanitizer from the blowoff pitcher into the beer!"

Been there, and luckily for me I haven't had any bad effects from that happening. It only happens if I forget to remove the hose from the liquid when I cold crash. Honestly there is no reason to use the liquid (starsan in my case) other than for blowoff or just fermentation indicator. I've only had slight blowoff with one batch using the bucket, but I like avoiding a mess (and airlocks do not prevent this).

And while this is a little different because temperature differentials can cause vacuums and active fermentation has positive pressures, through pasteur's experiment we are shown that a tube draped downwards would protect against bacteria entering the fermentation chamber (but would do nothing about if the fermentation went crazy and spewed yeast out the top).

 

[FastDogBrewing]

Well I was hanging out at a local brewery and ran into one of the owners of SSBrewtech. I am not one of the owners or an employee, I just seemed to run into people since My wife and I hang out a lot at the breweries and I was president of my Homebrew club for 4 years.

Anyway, we were talking about their products and he was telling me that they have been working hard on their inventory problems as well as new products, no real details. They are also working on some upgrades for the conicals and buckets. I said they needed a "pimp my bucket" accessory page.

He then asked if I wanted to see one of the upcoming bucket upgrades .... Uh yes!

I don't know if I am supposed to post all this, but WTH. They are coming out with a new lid with a SS coil and a temp control system. It's going to have a coiling system that they have not finished details on, but it will have digital temp control, insulated jacket, coil for cooling the beer, and I think he said it would fit both the bucket and Chronical. I may have had a few beers by this point.


I got to take a quick pic. I'm sure if they don't want it posted I'll get yell out. I like it, if I find out the price I will post back up..




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[geoffey]

Well I was hanging out at a local brewery and ran into one of the owners of SSBrewtech. I am not one of the owners or an employee, I just seemed to run into people since My wife and I hang out a lot at the breweries and I was president of my Homebrew club for 4 years.

Anyway, we were talking about their products and he was telling me that they have been working hard on their inventory problems as well as new products, no real details. They are also working on some upgrades for the conicals and buckets. I said they needed a "pimp my bucket" accessory page.

He then asked if I wanted to see one of the upcoming bucket upgrades .... Uh yes!

I don't know if I am supposed to post all this, but WTH. They are coming out with a new lid with a SS coil and a temp control system. It's going to have a coiling system that they have not finished details on, but it will have digital temp control, insulated jacket, coil for cooling the beer, and I think he said it would fit both the bucket and Chronical. I may have had a few beers by this point.


I got to take a quick pic. I'm sure if they don't want it posted I'll get yell out. I like it, if I find out the price I will post back up..

View attachment 202322


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Cool!


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[SpeedYellow]

Wow, that's brilliant! With a system like this, you wouldn't need a fermentation chamber, assuming it has both heat and cool. It's hard to impress me, but that's just a great idea.

 

[IvanTheTerribrew]

Now that, is awesome.


- ISM NRP

 

[nextgenxx]

Lagers?


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[SpeedYellow]

Lagers?

Hmm good point -- I bet it can't cool enough for lagers. That would be a challenge.

 

[FastDogBrewing]

It would depend on the temp outside. I have a 55 gallon drum wrapped with 4 layers of bubble wrap insulation and cooked by 35 degree glycol through a transmission cooler with fans on it. I can get a 1/2 BBL keg of fermented wort down into the 40s in my garage in winter. In summer it struggles to get into the 50s.

If you out one of these into and insulated box of some sort you should be able to lager easily with cold enough cooling supply.

I'll bee buying two of these kids for my buckets and running glycol through them. Two buckets and a chronical cooled this way and I am set. The trans coolers I have may get repurposed for a cellar.


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[FastDogBrewing]

Got to check out another new product SSBrewtech is working on. They are coming out with a weld less setup for their digital fermenter thermometer. Did not get a price.




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[BYOB]

How would this cool without it having some fan system or hooked up to a sink or something? Very impressed hope the price is right. Cant wait to hear more about it.

 

[Clweed]

Picture is on the website so it must be getting close to hitting the market

 

[FastDogBrewing]

How would this cool without it having some fan system or hooked up to a sink or something? Very impressed hope the price is right. Cant wait to hear more about it.

Rumor is they are working on a coolant system of some sort. I have a glycol chiller so that's what I will be using.




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[ruger988]

Interested in seeing more info/price on those for sure!