Craftabrew Catalyst, Its a PIA. Have a few questions about SSBrewtech

[bigdawg86]

I have brewed about 12 batches using my Craftabrew Catalyst, and from the beginning it's lack of headspace has really shown itself to be a problem. I never bottle from it because too much sediment stuck on the walls, and I found changing the mason jar to rid of trub to be not my style. Two days ago I brewed a HUGE beer (1.135 OG) and had a monster starter that I stepped up to 10L total. I kept temps to 60° first 36 hours and then let it self ramp to the recommended 64°. It was blowing off from the get go, but that few degrees increase in temperature was too soon... I wake up this morning to a sticky river of stout dripping out of my fermentation chamber. So far I am sitting at 3/4 gallon of beer loss and it's still blowing off like mad. I emailed Craftabrew 6 months ago about if they had plans for a domed lid, they said no.

I want a new fermentor with more headspace. I am looking at the SS Brewtech brew buckets (should have got one from the start). My question is this... not that I am doing huge beers all the time, and don't plan on doing 10g batches. Is 7 gallons still undersized when it comes to big beers, or beers that have 6 gallons of wort due to anticipated loss from dry hopping? Is there anything wrong with getting the 14g?

I am so pissed that this beer, which was planned for a long time and took alot of prep, has already had almost 1 gallon wasted.

 

[The_Bishop]

Look into the Fermentasarus. Total capacity is 9+ gallons.

 

[Metzen]

I have brewed about 12 batches using my Craftabrew Catalyst, and from the beginning it's lack of headspace has really shown itself to be a problem. I never bottle from it because too much sediment stuck on the walls, and I found changing the mason jar to rid of trub to be not my style. Two days ago I brewed a HUGE beer (1.135 OG) and had a monster starter that I stepped up to 10L total. I kept temps to 60° first 36 hours and then let it self ramp to the recommended 64°. It was blowing off from the get go, but that few degrees increase in temperature was too soon... I wake up this morning to a sticky river of stout dripping out of my fermentation chamber. So far I am sitting at 3/4 gallon of beer loss and it's still blowing off like mad. I emailed Craftabrew 6 months ago about if they had plans for a domed lid, they said no.

I want a new fermentor with more headspace. I am looking at the SS Brewtech brew buckets (should have got one from the start). My question is this... not that I am doing huge beers all the time, and don't plan on doing 10g batches. Is 7 gallons still undersized when it comes to big beers, or beers that have 6 gallons of wort due to anticipated loss from dry hopping? Is there anything wrong with getting the 14g?

I am so pissed that this beer, which was planned for a long time and took alot of prep, has already had almost 1 gallon wasted.

I’ve never done a beer that big, but I’ve also never had a blowout. As you note, a domed lid can be helpful from that perspective. I use the 7gal brew bucket with a domed lid and have been quite happy. I also have the blowoff connected to a trub trapper to eliminate that risk (and to prevent suckback when I cold crash).

If you are not going to do 10g batches and only occasional big beers , then the 14g fermenter is a bit overkill. However, it would probably work just fine IMHO. In my setup, I would stick with the 7g just to reduce the headspace I’d have to purge and the extra CO2 I would use during my dry hops, transfers, etc.

View attachment IMG_2596.jpg

 

[LLBeanJ]

I have the 7 gallon Brew Bucket and regularly do 6 gallon batches. Before the brew bucket, I used 7.9 gallon plastic buckets, which were large enough to handle the 6 gallon batches without the need for a blowoff, however after switching to the smaller brew bucket I was worried about reduced headspace, so I went with the domed lid and incorporated a simple blowoff set up and so far haven't had any actual blow offs, but I've only fermented about a half dozen batches in it. I really like the brew bucket for its simplicity and the fact that it easily fits inside my chest freezer ferm chamber. I've also rigged it to do CO2 back purges during cold crashing and CO2 transfers to the keg, eliminating most O2 exposure, as well as the need to use an auto-siphon. While it was a bit spendy, the brew bucket has been an awesome addition to my brewery. I highly recommend it.

 

[bigdawg86]

I’ve never done a beer that big, but I’ve also never had a blowout. As you note, a domed lid can be helpful from that perspective. I use the 7gal brew bucket with a domed lid and have been quite happy. I also have the blowoff connected to a trub trapper to eliminate that risk (and to prevent suckback when I cold crash).

If you are not going to do 10g batches and only occasional big beers , then the 14g fermenter is a bit overkill. However, it would probably work just fine IMHO. In my setup, I would stick with the 7g just to reduce the headspace I’d have to purge and the extra CO2 I would use during my dry hops, transfers, etc.

View attachment 418082

Both you are right, I rarely will do a HUGE beer and likely not going to 10g batches soon (current extract brewer for simplicity sake). I like the 7g with dome lid.

Could you explain how you have your temperature control setup? Right now I am using my keezer as a fermentation chamber. I'll brew 3x5 gallon batches using it as a ferm chamber, then when all are kegged I will drop the temps and use for serving... so if I could get good results with the FTss setup to keep my keezer a keezer, that would be ideal.

 

[Metzen]

Both you are right, I rarely will do a HUGE beer and likely not going to 10g batches soon (current extract brewer for simplicity sake). I like the 7g with dome lid.



Could you explain how you have your temperature control setup? Right now I am using my keezer as a fermentation chamber. I'll brew 3x5 gallon batches using it as a ferm chamber, then when all are kegged I will drop the temps and use for serving... so if I could get good results with the FTss setup to keep my keezer a keezer, that would be ideal.

I use the equivalent of the FTSs2 (cooling and heating). However, I built my own controller based on a RaspberryPi/CratBeerPi.

You’ll see that I have a coil mounted in the side of my bucket. The coil is connected to a pump sitting in a glycol reservoir in the mini fridge below the fermenter. The freezer coils of the fridge are bent down into the glycol reservoir. The fridge is turned on and off by the controller to keep the glycol cool. The controller turns on the pump when the fermenter needs cooling.

I have a heating pad under the neoprene jacket of the fermenter that is plugged into the controller.

For a single bucket, this system works well. I’ve been able to lager and cold crash any batch I’ve put in it.

 

[Metzen]

I use the equivalent of the FTSs2 (cooling and heating). However, I built my own controller based on a RaspberryPi/CratBeerPi.

You’ll see that I have a coil mounted in the side of my bucket. The coil is connected to a pump sitting in a glycol reservoir in the mini fridge below the fermenter. The freezer coils of the fridge are bent down into the glycol reservoir. The fridge is turned on and off by the controller to keep the glycol cool. The controller turns on the pump when the fermenter needs cooling.

I have a heating pad under the neoprene jacket of the fermenter that is plugged into the controller.

For a single bucket, this system works well. I’ve been able to lager and cold crash any batch I’ve put in it.

Also, I posted an overview of my fridge chiller here... https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=631203