Catalyst Fermentor Kickstarter

[dmtaylor]

I like, but at that price you can buy many Better Bottles, or it is pretty close to stainless steel. I often have 2-4 beers and a couple of wines going all at the same time. $200 each would break the bank. Well outside my budget - about $170.

This is a good point actually. I wouldn't want to buy two of these, but I often brew 2 or 3 things at one time.

 

[Redlantern]

Why is it clear? or at least why don't they provide a shroud of some sort? Part of the reason I went stainless is no light gets in.

 

[whovous]

I got in @ $160 as an early adopter after seeing it at the AHA in Baltimore. I like the ability to remove the trub, harvest yeast, and dry hop; all via the Mason Jar. I realize it is not the only conical out there, but it seems well constructed and doggone it I just like the way it looks!

 

[whovous]

Why is it clear? or at least why don't they provide a shroud of some sort? Part of the reason I went stainless is no light gets in.

I am counting on the light going out when I close the door on my old fridge repurposed as a fermentation chamber. There is talk of an eventual shroud of some sort, but it will add to the price.

 

[dmtaylor]

My glass carboys are clear. That's why they hide in the basement where it's cool in the 60s F anyway.

 

[AMH_]

Has anyone had any hands on time with it?

 

[madscientist451]

I already have a pretty big collection of carboys, I don't need to spend $200 on a plastic home brew conical. If they can bring the price down with larger scale production I may be interested.

 

[k1ngl1ves]

It looks like it's 100% plastic. I don't trust the base or the valve. Any of it actually.

Garbage in less than six months.



The pledged amount is surprising for something so cheaply made, yet costs almost ss price. I guess it's true there's a sucker born every day.

 

[day_trippr]

There've been a half dozen threads on this going back to July.
The main/surviving thread has been binned to the Crowd Funding sub-forum,
here...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=586764

Cheers!

 

[IslandLizard]

[...] Garbage in less than six months.

[...] I guess it's true there's a sucker born every day.

964 so far.

 

[ZebulonBrewer]

at $100, I'd almost consider it, especially with the advantages of being lower profile than the fast ferment, and mason jars thread right on. At $200 they've lost me. How much does a SS brewbucket cost again?

 

[Redlantern]

In truth, not nit-picking like earlier, I am curious about center of gravity. When you have to move it, how do you carry it? The bulk of the weight will be above your hands if you carry it by the base. Not a fan. With Stainless, there are handles high on the bucket for a reason. Straps were made for carrying carboys for the same reason. If you have 6 gallons of wort in it, that is 48 lbs - not too heavy by itself, but when ALL of that weight is above your hands, it is not good. Would be too easy to tip when carrying or placing. How about some handles?

 

[xandersaml]

I wouldn't mind one, except... The price point is too high. SS Brewmaster Bucket is $225

 

[CraftaBrew]

Unbelievable what a few drawings and some clever wording can promise. Who buys this stuff?

Is this Mr. Beer v2.0?

We just wanted to chime in and let everyone know we have all of the pieces completely manufactured now and will be assembling and packaging them up for shipment in early September. We have gone through 5 prototypes and have fermented over 20 batches in it to ensure everything is perfect for the final production units.

Why is it clear? or at least why don't they provide a shroud of some sort? Part of the reason I went stainless is no light gets in.

We are finalizing a light proof cover with handles to make carrying the unit easier. This should be ready for shipment in November.

It looks like it's 100% plastic. I don't trust the base or the valve. Any of it actually.

Garbage in less than six months.



The pledged amount is surprising for something so cheaply made, yet costs almost ss price. I guess it's true there's a sucker born every day.

Again we have fermented over 20 batches in the final production sample and it has worked flawlessly. The plastic we are using is Tritan and it tougher than any plastic ever used in a fermenter. The base is extremely sturdy and we have tested it by putting 250 pounds for over a week without any signs of bowing, cracking or breaking. Plastic can get a bad wrap but it is extremely tough and durable if the right polymer is used and is well engineered.

We have also done over 1,000 cycles of the valve without any wearing, leaking etc. We would not be releasing this product if it was not as durable as possible. We looked into doing the valve in Stainless yet a custom stainless valve would have made the final unit over $250 and would not provide any real benefits in functionality.

In truth, not nit-picking like earlier, I am curious about center of gravity. When you have to move it, how do you carry it? The bulk of the weight will be above your hands if you carry it by the base. Not a fan. With Stainless, there are handles high on the bucket for a reason. Straps were made for carrying carboys for the same reason. If you have 6 gallons of wort in it, that is 48 lbs - not too heavy by itself, but when ALL of that weight is above your hands, it is not good. Would be too easy to tip when carrying or placing. How about some handles?

The tank is seated into the stand securely so while it is a bit top heavy it does not shift or tip. The base makes great handholds, we looked at molding handholds into the base yet after real world testing holding the base to carry it was not an issue.

We have this question asked a lot and I admit it does look top heavy if you have not used it in the real world. This week we will be posing some videos on our Kickstarter page showing one of the ladies in the office moving the unit to demonstrate how simple and sturdy it is.

 

[bford]

It looks like it's 100% plastic. I don't trust the base or the valve. Any of it actually.

Garbage in less than six months.



The pledged amount is surprising for something so cheaply made, yet costs almost ss price. I guess it's true there's a sucker born every day.

My Speidel fermenters are all plastic or polymer... valves included.... they are doing great after two years of service.... so plastic isn't garbage.

 

[barnaclebob]

Meh, they make a lot of terrible comparisons. 5 gallon all grain with secondary and bottling to extract. The brewing process is completely irrelevant to this product and should have been left out because this does not save any space like they wasted the first minute of video claiming.

It look like a good product but claiming that it will simplify things greatly over a carboy is a stretch.

There is also nothing revolutionary about it. This is just a plastic conical. However the mason jar attachment is a good idea.

 

[Redlantern]

In post #44, they said they are making a light proof cover with handles to make it easier to carry, but at the same time, in the same post, they state that carrying it in its current configuration is easy and not problematic.

So why handles?

 

[TorMag]

It look like a good product but claiming that it will simplify things greatly over a carboy is a stretch.

Disagree with you on that one. Not a fan of this product, too expensive for what you are getting, but I have the FastFerment conical, wall mounted and it has really simplified the process. No secondary, no racking canes, dumping trub from the ball, yeast collection and the best part, kegging. I love having a conical over a carboy or bucket.

 

[CraftaBrew]

In post #44, they said they are making a light proof cover with handles to make it easier to carry, but at the same time, in the same post, they state that carrying it in its current configuration is easy and not problematic.

So why handles?

Honestly it does not need handles but that is one of the most requested items, since we are making the cover anyway we decited to incorporate handles so you will have the option to grab it from the base or with the handles.

 

[xandersaml]

In post #44, they said they are making a light proof cover with handles to make it easier to carry, but at the same time, in the same post, they state that carrying it in its current configuration is easy and not problematic.

So why handles?

Because people want them.

 

[CraftaBrew]

Here is an example of how easy it is to pickup and how stable it is when moving: Catalyst Lift GIF

 

[Redlantern]

Here is an example of how easy it is to pickup and how stable it is when moving: Catalyst Lift GIF

That looks quite good. Center of gravity seems nice. What is tipping angle on that?

I poked and you answered. Good positive displays there. Thanks

 

[lewandowski46]

at $100, I'd almost consider it, especially with the advantages of being lower profile than the fast ferment, and mason jars thread right on. At $200 they've lost me. How much does a SS brewbucket cost again?

This. $195 for a SS Brew Bucket.

 

[xandersaml]

The design seems solid. I still think the price point is too high.

 

[ZebulonBrewer]

Here is an example of how easy it is to pickup and how stable it is when moving: Catalyst Lift GIF

Thanks for the .gif, lifting it was also one of my main concerns (bonus points for multiple angles!).

 

[ImNoExpert]

Here is an example of how easy it is to pickup and how stable it is when moving: Catalyst Lift GIF

GAAAHHH! Lift with your knees!

 

[bford]

This. $195 for a SS Brew Bucket.

Which is a great item, but it doesn't make it easy to collect or get rid of the yeast like this does. That is the major advantage of the Catalyst. The Brew Bucket has the advantage of being stainless steel which is great.

 

[Bobby_M]

If you're going to make function and price comparisons, at least be honest about it.

There are conicals and if you look at them as being advantageous for being able to dump yeast to avoid racking, there's that advantage.

Conicals come stainless or plastic. To date, the stainless ones offer no window into the clarity of the wort or state of sedimentation. That's what a rotating racking port is for. Rotate up and pull a sample. Clear? Rotate down and take another sample. Clear? OK, time to dump and rack to serving tank. The only plastic conicals to date have been MDPE or HDPE and they are not clear enough to "sight" clarity. This is the first crystal clear conical so that is "revolutionary" by definition.

If you don't care about clarity, then stainless is probably a better option. However, you can't call a brew bucket a conical and it's not even close to the same product unless you back out to "fermenter". Do you want a stainless carboy or do you want a conical?

I've had stainless conicals before and I decided they were not for me. I don't like fermenting blind. Watching progress is enjoyable to me. The fast ferment only half way gets you there but it's still not clear enough for my taste.

 

[Anyhowe]

I don't like fermenting blind. Watching progress is enjoyable to me. The fast ferment only half way gets you there but it's still not clear enough for my taste.

I ferment my sauerkraut in a ceramic crock. I ferment pickles in glass jars. I ferment beer in stainless. I must admit I do like looking at the pickles.

 

[TorMag]

i ferment my sauerkraut in a ceramic crock. I ferment pickles in glass jars. I ferment beer in stainless. I must admit i do like looking at the pickles.

lmao