Is this anything different from the standard spigot assembly I can get at my lhbs? I thought maybe it would be angled to compensate for the slope of the cone but it doesn't look like it.
FastFerment conical fermenter??????
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Is this anything different from the standard spigot assembly I can get at my lhbs? I thought maybe it would be angled to compensate for the slope of the cone but it doesn't look like it.
I didn't buy the spigot kit that manufacturer offers for the FastFerment, but I did install a standard spigot from my LHBS. I found the directions from the kit to see where they recommend it to be installed. I use it to take gravity readings when needed and it's been working great for me!
Staticsouls
When will the beer be free?
I think any spigot with a bulkhead would work, given its made of acceptable materials.
That was my sense too, but I wanted to know if there were something "special" about their port. Thanks!
ElmCityWobblyPops
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Nothing special about theirs, other than I thought that it came with the step bit you need to put it in.
If you just buy a spigot from an lhbs, you would also have to buy the step bit if you didn't already have one.
That is the only difference. It is the same spigot you would buy for a bottling bucket. You can get a cheap step bit at Harbor Freight, since it is only going to be used on plastic, it should last a long time.
kaffeenjunkie
Well-Known Member
I installed a spigot from the lhbs with no problem. I had a step bit from putting some holes in my pot. As its been said, you can get a step bit at harbor freight pretty cheap.
I went with the third and newest option. I bought one of the Tilt Brewometers and just drop that bad boy in there when I fill it up. I've now brewed two batches that way and love it. I want to know the gravity, from my chair in the family room, I just pop open the app on my phone and take a look....
Brewmasher
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I went with the third and newest option. I bought one of the Tilt Brewometers and just drop that bad boy in there when I fill it up. I've now brewed two batches that way and love it. I want to know the gravity, from my chair in the family room, I just pop open the app on my phone and take a look....
What could be more exciting than watching your gravity drop?
I would not. I use PBW, just fill it up with water. Put some PBW in it, let it sit, use your and to scrub the inside or a sponge, not a green scouring sponge, that will scratch, just a plain old sponge. Rinse. Starsan it before filling.
What could be more exciting than watching your gravity drop?
You don't know? Defragging your hard drive of course......
I've just filled mine with hot tap water and a scoop of PBW, A big soft sponge will wipe everything away after an hour soak.
ElmCityWobblyPops
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I use Oxyclean in mine, fill it up about half way, with hot water, drop in about a half scoop of Oxyclean and then fill and leave over night. Then just clean it out the following day. I just use a clean micro fibre cloth. Wife has a bunch of them here for cleaning dishes and wiping the counters down.
Bobb25
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As soon as I drain the conical, I slowly fill it with warm water, sloshing it around as I go. I dump it, then fill with a weak PBW solution, and let it set overnight. Dump and rinse, and it's fine.
Bob
Anyone else have issues with the yeast sticking to the sides of the FF and not falling out into the ball? Are there solutions to this? One of the main reasons I bought a FF conical was to rack straight to the keg.
joshuadbak
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I tap on the sides with both hands at the same time.....open like a slap.....once a day or so.... after the first week. There is a little bit of yeast clinging to the sides when I rack, but not very much. I usually do 6 or 6.5 gallon batches. Before I shoot it to the keg...I usually fill a few growlers and tap on the sides while filling those. This usually leaves me with fairly clear beer heading to the keg. Hopefully soon I can build a nice ferm chamber and cold crash before as well. Right now I just ferment in a small room I keep at 64 with no way of dropping to cold crash temps, unless it's cold enough outside to use my porch that is.
I tap with the handle of a screw driver and if that doesn't work, I sanitize a straightened metal coat hanger and use it to poke a whole in the trub and the burst of air/ beer filling the collection ball cleans off the sides.
I have had 2 collection balls break though. One of them them cracked at the bas of the threads and yesterday I filled my fast fermenter with water to sanitize and the collection ball had a small leak at the top along the seam. I am going to try and come up with a way to use a mason jar in place of the ball.
joshuadbak
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12 days in on a creme of 3 Cropsish...but I took the grain bill times 1.25 and used cluster hops at 60, Irish moss at 15, tetnang at 10 and a tiny bit of cascade at flame out. Used washed notty from my last batch. Already dumped the collection ball once. Notice the yeast is dropping out nicely.
Bobb25
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Santa brought my Fastferment last December. It came with two gaskets that I think are the neoprene. after reading about many problems not sealing well, I used both gaskets. It sealed well and I could see the bubbles in the air lock. However when I attemped to remove the top, one of the gaskets took a dive into the fermenter. The second time that I used the Fastferment I tried to be very careful, and the same thing happened. Any ideas out there ? Could i use a few dabs of silicone caulking to fasten the two together ?
Bob
Bob
joshuadbak
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I sanded my lid top flat wth a block of wood and progressively finner sandpaper. I also use a bit of Teflon tape on the threads....I always have vigorous bubbling but use hydrometer to know when beer is finished.
Santa brought my Fastferment last December. It came with two gaskets that I think are the neoprene. after reading about many problems not sealing well, I used both gaskets. It sealed well and I could see the bubbles in the air lock. However when I attemped to remove the top, one of the gaskets took a dive into the fermenter. The second time that I used the Fastferment I tried to be very careful, and the same thing happened. Any ideas out there ? Could i use a few dabs of silicone caulking to fasten the two together ?
Bob
I contacted Northern Brewer and the manufacturer about a similar issue. My silicone gasket would keep falling into the FF. Northern Brewer gave me a bunch of their first generation gaskets that were foam. They said to use both together and the foam one holds the silicone gasket in place. Now no more gaskets dropping into the fermenter. The manufacturer sent me a new lid. The new lid has some groves to make it easier to unscrew the lid, where as the old one was smooth and made it more difficult to unscrew the lid.
So with all of that being said contact the vendor you bought it from or the manufacturer.
ElmCityWobblyPops
Well-Known Member
Haven't had an issue with mine. Take off the ball full of yeast and trub, either discard or harvest, once I put the ball back on, and open it up, the air bubble is usually enough to dislodge anything else that might not have made it into the ball the first go.
ElmCityWobblyPops
Well-Known Member
I did the same, and got one of the old gaskets from FF themselves, but don't find it works any better, the gaskets still drop in. Foam one isn't so bad as it floats, the silicon ones sink like a rock however. Thankfully I have a couple of spares.
The foam one doesn't last long though, I have managed to mangle it pretty well, and there is a fine line getting the top cover just tight enough but not to sling the foam gasket out of place.
Got to be a better way.
Even with the notches in the top cover to grip on to, using just the silicon gasket, it still tends to be very hard to open. I have used one of those silicon mats used to put a hot pot on, and it seems to work OK, but the cover can still be stubborn. Wondering of cinching a belt around the cover and using it to get to cover off, kind of like a large oil filter wrench.
msbrewblog
Well-Known Member
Same issue. Used my FF about 6 times now and 3 times the gasket fell in. After the first time I tried lubing it up with some keg lube to provide some stickiness (and to help seal the leaking lid)...no dice, still had it fall in.
I don't have a foam version but would give it a try.
You can make your own foam one fairly easily. Go to Michael's, Hobby Lobby or Walmart (art supplies aisle) you can buy that foam for dirt cheap, cut your own.
kaffeenjunkie
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I've had my FF for almost two years. Love it. If you haven't taken it apart and broken it down completely, might not be a bad idea.
ATLbeerdude
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New to the forum and love all the great feedback. Sorry to resurrect an old post but had a quick question. I made it through 45 pages of questions and answers so I apologize if this has been discussed previously in this thread.
Has anyone made a hop tea to add to the collection ball when reattaching to prevent air from going in to the fermenter? If so, what's the best way to make it? Does anyone think this would work or should I just abandon the idea?
Has anyone made a hop tea to add to the collection ball when reattaching to prevent air from going in to the fermenter? If so, what's the best way to make it? Does anyone think this would work or should I just abandon the idea?
The answer to your question, I don't know. The answer to the air bubbles rising up has been discussed a lot. It is not really an issue as the bubble rise up quickly and leave through the airlock. They are large bubbles and are not getting incorporated into your beer.
ATLbeerdude
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Thanks for the response, I appreciate it.
I've not done a hop tea for my FF. I've found they don't produce much flavor and can give a vegetal taste to beer in general.
If you are concerned with the air in the collection ball getting into your finished beer, you can (if you have the sample port) fill your collection ball with beer from the fermenter before attaching it to the FF.
Brewmegoodbeer
Well-Known Member
I just read through all 100 pages over the past couple of days. I just ordered a fastferment and I feel I am educated enough now to get a good start on things! Thank you all! As for those that don't want to read through 100 pages to become knowledgeable about this fermenter, here are the cliff notes:
1) The sealing on the lid is an issue. Make sure you wrap with teflon tape, and that you have the newer addition with the clear silicone gasket vs. the foam (pool noodle looking) one.
2) You can dump the trub easily by racking into the conical, waiting overnight and then dumping the trub by attaching the bottle filler attachment and dumping the trub in a bucket until beer comes through and then quickly close the ball valve. Attach the yeast collector, open the valve, and pitch the yeast.
3)The changing of the collection balls: It seems that if you initially dump all the trub before pitching, all you need is a change after primary and then a change when secondary is complete. Maybe you will need another change if you have some more yeast or trub in the unit. Don't worry about the bubble that moves through the beer when you open the valve. In all 100 pages, I did not see one person reporting oxidation in their beer from this.
4)yeast harvesting: If you want to harvest, if you have initially dumped the trub before pitching, you can harvest the next collection ball after primary. pour it into a mason jar and follow yeast washing procedures.
5)LEAK TEST BEFORE YOU POUR YOUR WORT IN
6)dry hop in muslin bags to prevent all the mess and the waste of beer you will have from changing multiple collection balls to get all of the hops out.
7) get a sampling port (fast ferment sells one with the preferred drill bit). This will allow you to easily test your gravity without taking the lid off or taking off the collection ball.
8) If you plan to bottle, just drain from the fastferment into a bottling bucket with your priming sugar in it. This will eliminate the chance of taking sediment off the walls of the conical when stirring in the priming sugar if you try to bottle from the conical its self.
9)You may want to take a marker and outline the measurements on the outside of the conical as they are difficult to see, but this is up to the individual (I probably wont).
10)Use seal tape on all white plastic threads that is on the conical and on the collection ball. Also, seal the thermowell by wrapping it a good 3 times at least. There is instructions with the kit that will tell you what to wrap and the kit should come with seal tape.
11) ENJOY IT!!!!
My fermenter is coming in the mail tomorrow and I cannot wait!
1) The sealing on the lid is an issue. Make sure you wrap with teflon tape, and that you have the newer addition with the clear silicone gasket vs. the foam (pool noodle looking) one.
2) You can dump the trub easily by racking into the conical, waiting overnight and then dumping the trub by attaching the bottle filler attachment and dumping the trub in a bucket until beer comes through and then quickly close the ball valve. Attach the yeast collector, open the valve, and pitch the yeast.
3)The changing of the collection balls: It seems that if you initially dump all the trub before pitching, all you need is a change after primary and then a change when secondary is complete. Maybe you will need another change if you have some more yeast or trub in the unit. Don't worry about the bubble that moves through the beer when you open the valve. In all 100 pages, I did not see one person reporting oxidation in their beer from this.
4)yeast harvesting: If you want to harvest, if you have initially dumped the trub before pitching, you can harvest the next collection ball after primary. pour it into a mason jar and follow yeast washing procedures.
5)LEAK TEST BEFORE YOU POUR YOUR WORT IN
6)dry hop in muslin bags to prevent all the mess and the waste of beer you will have from changing multiple collection balls to get all of the hops out.
7) get a sampling port (fast ferment sells one with the preferred drill bit). This will allow you to easily test your gravity without taking the lid off or taking off the collection ball.
8) If you plan to bottle, just drain from the fastferment into a bottling bucket with your priming sugar in it. This will eliminate the chance of taking sediment off the walls of the conical when stirring in the priming sugar if you try to bottle from the conical its self.
9)You may want to take a marker and outline the measurements on the outside of the conical as they are difficult to see, but this is up to the individual (I probably wont).
10)Use seal tape on all white plastic threads that is on the conical and on the collection ball. Also, seal the thermowell by wrapping it a good 3 times at least. There is instructions with the kit that will tell you what to wrap and the kit should come with seal tape.
11) ENJOY IT!!!!
My fermenter is coming in the mail tomorrow and I cannot wait!
M0KCE
Well-Known Member
Just plan in it leaking. I really wish I hadn't purchased this and had instead applied the money to a stainless unit. Or that new one that uses the mason jars to collect...although for the $$ on that one stainless might again be the way to go.
Brewmegoodbeer
Well-Known Member
Not many ppl on here have complained of actual leaks (besides the lid gasket). Did you wrap everything with thread tape a good 4 or 5 times around? Im going to water test mine. I think i got the earlier version one though. It has the foam gasket ring. Ill just make a gasket for it if it doesn't seal
tight nbd.
tight nbd.
M0KCE
Well-Known Member
I just unassembled it and now need to run to the store for some more thread tape. It didn't leak until this most recent batch and then this time it's just been a PITA.
I've got a bunch of stuff in the cart at Adventures in Homebrewing and have added the sampling port and a few other parts that I've been meaning to get for it. Thermometer, carrying strap, etc. It's like a sign from a diety, the total at check out is $1343...my old fire department number. Sitting here now trying to decide if I want to order now and brew next weekend or wait until Black Friday/Cyber Monday to see if I can do better than the site wide pre-BF 10% off.
I disagree on the leaking. I use multiple FFs and none of them leak. You may not be taping your threads well enough.
I don't like the collection balls for yeast harvesting, but I wouldn't be happier with a mason jar set up either. Rather than trying to harvest yeast and separate trub, I just overbuild my yeast starters and harvest myffuture yeast from them.
M0KCE
Well-Known Member
I'd be happier with the mason jar due to availability. Plus I like the wide mouth, I think it would do better job of letting things settle in to the jar vs the narrow opening on the FF. My thread taping skills are unrivaled on this planet and I assure you that's not the problem.
Brewmegoodbeer
Well-Known Member
Did any of you have problems hand tightening the thermowell into the fermenter? I cannot even tighten it enough by hand to get it set on the threads. I have no problem using a wrench to tighten it, but i dont want to strip the threads. Also the handle that turns into a tool to take apart the ball valve does not fit to even take it apart.
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