It's been a few weeks and both beers are done! I've transferred both into kegs, topped them off with co2 and they are crash cooling. Here's my feedback: for ease of typing I'll call the Fast Ferment FF and the Mini Brew MB
Brew Day: FF has the stand as well as the carrying handles to move it. MB had to be carried full from my garage to the bar, full of beer, stand and all. FF wins this one.
Trub: FF, it took the drain balls full of trub to empty the fermenter of it. MB, I didn't worry about it, there's a transfer port just above the trub. I transferred the beer to the keg without worry of trub. MB wins this one
Clarity: Very close, too close to judge especially since these are two different beer recipes. Draw
Ease of transfer: FF extremely easy. I took off the ball and hooked up the drain hose that came with it, then just put the other end of the house into the keg and opened it. MB, a little more work involved. I moved the fermenter and stand onto my bar, a little heavy. Then found some spare hose in my beer closet to use to transfer the beer and hooked it up on the drain. Then after putting the other end into the keg, opened the valve and drained it into the keg. FF wins this
Cleaning: about the same. Draw
Feel and weight; MB has much thicker and more heavy duty plastic There are lines on both that show how many gallons inside, but the FF actually has numbers clearly marked, the MB only has dashes. For a home brewery, the weight of the FF is fine for me. FF wins this
Overall: I like them both, but the FF is the clear winner in my opinion. I love the look of the Mini Brew and actually leave it in my bar on display, it's a great conversation starter, however ease of use from start to finish makes the Fast Ferment stand out.
