Here are my experiences with the FastFerment. I purchased the FastFerment as part of my equipment overhaul. I identified the major obstacles that were preventing me from more frequent brewing. This resulted in some equipment upgrades:
- Larger (8 to 10 gallon) brew kettle with spigot
- Hop basket
- Conical fermenter
- Digital refractometer
My first brew with the FastFerment was a nightmare. It was a 1.060 OG IPA with Wyeast American Ale II. Nothing too complicated. But the yeast flocculated quickly and clogged the collection bulb, valve, and neck. I machined a long plastic wand to poke down through the fermenter to clear the valve. This meant routinely opening up the lid, sanitizing the wand, and poking around inside. I wasted about a gallon of that batch just trying to keep the valve clear. The threads from the fermenter body and union valve leaked, and the threads from the union valve to collection bulb leaked. It was a mess.
The cause of the leaks was plastic flashing in the threads from where the two injection-molded half-shells of the fermenter were heat-joined together. A good manufacturing process would include a step of polishing the threads and removing the flashing. Since they apparently skipped that manufacturing step, I used a Dremel tool to polish the threads of both the fermenter body and collection bulb. This eliminated leaking and the parts fit better.
The next batch was a 1.055 OG APA with Imperial Yeast A20 Citrus and 9oz of hops. Most of the kettle hops were filtered out with a bazooka mesh. I later added dry hops in a muslin bag. The trub immediately clogged the conical neck. It was clearly clogged because the collection bulb did not have the proper progressive color change with sentiment. I was afraid the collection bulb would grow stale and possibly infected, so I removed and cleaned the bulb, then cleared the clog with my plastic wand. This repeated over the next two or three weeks. Overall, I wasted over a gallon just trying to keep the bulb from going stale. I was becoming tired of the routine: standing on my countertop over the fermenter with the long plastic rod, clearing a plug from the valve body.
The third batch was a 1.050 OG Hefewiezen with Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan and 1oz of hops in a hop basket. I started the process with the valve closed. After the cold crash, I opened the valve to clear the trub from the bottom of the conical before pitching yeast. I dropped a hydrometer into the fermenter so I could watch gravity. After a week, I cracked the valve open a little again to clear the dead yeast at the bottom of the conical. No valve clogs!
My recommendation is the following practice:
- Assemble fermenter with valve closed and without collection bulb.
- I do hop additions in the boil using mesh basket to control particles. This is a key part of my method. I removed the bazooka screen.
- After boil, cool wort (I use an immersion coil).
- Dump the entire kettle into the fermenter (instead of whirlpooling the cold break trub in the kettle, I now dump the whole thing into the conical).
- Let the wort settle in the conical. When you can see substantial sentiment at the bottom, open the valve and drain the sentiment. This is the cold break trub. I found using the conical to concentrate cold break trub is more efficient that whirpooling in the kettle. I waste a lot less wort.
- Oxygenate and pitch yeast. Partially fill collection bulb with sanitizer and install. Keep valve closed. This is to protect the bottom of the valve from contaminants while sitting.
- Check back every few days. Youll see a lighter-colored yeast cake followed by darker sentiment. These are particles and dead yeast that will clog the valve if left unchecked. If the bottom of the conical has enough dark sentiment, remove the collection bulb and open the valve to drain 1-2 of trub. Close the valve and replace the collection bulb (which is still partially filled with sanitizer solution).
- After a week, I usually sanitize a plastic brewing spoon and give it a good stir. This rouses the yeast to finish the fermentation, and also allows the heaviest particles to settle at the bottom of the conical. After a few hours of settling, I purge these out (about 1 to 2), always closing the valve and replacing the collection bulb partially filled with sanitizer solution.
So my strategy is to never use the collection bulb, except to protect the bottom of the valve. This method has worked far better now. Here are some benefits of this method:
- Less waste when transferring from the kettle to the fermenter. My previous method of whirlpooling always left a lot of wort in the kettle along with the trub.
- The hop basket eliminates the need for the bazooka. I hated the bazooka. It would clog, snag on my grain bag, get in the way of the immersion chiller, etc. It was a coarse mesh, which let a lot of smaller particles through. Glad to see it go.
- The hop basket has a much finer mesh than the bazooka. It vastly reduces the amount of kettle cold break trub. Theres a whole lot less gunk now.
- Letting the cold break settle in the conical concentrates it and makes it more efficient and easier to remove. I probably waste a third as much as before, because its much more concentrated out of the bottom of the conical.
- Theres no need for the collection bulb unless you are intentionally harvesting yeast. Since I dont use the same yeast twice in a row, I use fresh yeast for every batch.
- If you want to harvest yeast, this method is excellent. It keeps the valve clear and the heaviest trub purged. Youre left with the fluffiest, most viable yeast. Wait until your FG is getting stable (about 1.5 weeks). Purge the darkest trub from the valve (usually about 1-2) and discard. Attach the collection blub and collect 3-4. This will be the healthiest and most viable yeast.
- Keeping the valve closed eliminates the possibility of the collection bulbs threads and gasket leaking. The only source of leaks is the threads between the fermenter body and union valve. If youve polished the threads, you shouldnt experience any leaking.
- Enjoy it now! No siphoning from carboys! No bottle brushes trying to scrub the krausen crust from the interior of carboys!
- Larger (8 to 10 gallon) brew kettle with spigot
- Hop basket
- Conical fermenter
- Digital refractometer
My first brew with the FastFerment was a nightmare. It was a 1.060 OG IPA with Wyeast American Ale II. Nothing too complicated. But the yeast flocculated quickly and clogged the collection bulb, valve, and neck. I machined a long plastic wand to poke down through the fermenter to clear the valve. This meant routinely opening up the lid, sanitizing the wand, and poking around inside. I wasted about a gallon of that batch just trying to keep the valve clear. The threads from the fermenter body and union valve leaked, and the threads from the union valve to collection bulb leaked. It was a mess.
The cause of the leaks was plastic flashing in the threads from where the two injection-molded half-shells of the fermenter were heat-joined together. A good manufacturing process would include a step of polishing the threads and removing the flashing. Since they apparently skipped that manufacturing step, I used a Dremel tool to polish the threads of both the fermenter body and collection bulb. This eliminated leaking and the parts fit better.
The next batch was a 1.055 OG APA with Imperial Yeast A20 Citrus and 9oz of hops. Most of the kettle hops were filtered out with a bazooka mesh. I later added dry hops in a muslin bag. The trub immediately clogged the conical neck. It was clearly clogged because the collection bulb did not have the proper progressive color change with sentiment. I was afraid the collection bulb would grow stale and possibly infected, so I removed and cleaned the bulb, then cleared the clog with my plastic wand. This repeated over the next two or three weeks. Overall, I wasted over a gallon just trying to keep the bulb from going stale. I was becoming tired of the routine: standing on my countertop over the fermenter with the long plastic rod, clearing a plug from the valve body.
The third batch was a 1.050 OG Hefewiezen with Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan and 1oz of hops in a hop basket. I started the process with the valve closed. After the cold crash, I opened the valve to clear the trub from the bottom of the conical before pitching yeast. I dropped a hydrometer into the fermenter so I could watch gravity. After a week, I cracked the valve open a little again to clear the dead yeast at the bottom of the conical. No valve clogs!
My recommendation is the following practice:
- Assemble fermenter with valve closed and without collection bulb.
- I do hop additions in the boil using mesh basket to control particles. This is a key part of my method. I removed the bazooka screen.
- After boil, cool wort (I use an immersion coil).
- Dump the entire kettle into the fermenter (instead of whirlpooling the cold break trub in the kettle, I now dump the whole thing into the conical).
- Let the wort settle in the conical. When you can see substantial sentiment at the bottom, open the valve and drain the sentiment. This is the cold break trub. I found using the conical to concentrate cold break trub is more efficient that whirpooling in the kettle. I waste a lot less wort.
- Oxygenate and pitch yeast. Partially fill collection bulb with sanitizer and install. Keep valve closed. This is to protect the bottom of the valve from contaminants while sitting.
- Check back every few days. Youll see a lighter-colored yeast cake followed by darker sentiment. These are particles and dead yeast that will clog the valve if left unchecked. If the bottom of the conical has enough dark sentiment, remove the collection bulb and open the valve to drain 1-2 of trub. Close the valve and replace the collection bulb (which is still partially filled with sanitizer solution).
- After a week, I usually sanitize a plastic brewing spoon and give it a good stir. This rouses the yeast to finish the fermentation, and also allows the heaviest particles to settle at the bottom of the conical. After a few hours of settling, I purge these out (about 1 to 2), always closing the valve and replacing the collection bulb partially filled with sanitizer solution.
So my strategy is to never use the collection bulb, except to protect the bottom of the valve. This method has worked far better now. Here are some benefits of this method:
- Less waste when transferring from the kettle to the fermenter. My previous method of whirlpooling always left a lot of wort in the kettle along with the trub.
- The hop basket eliminates the need for the bazooka. I hated the bazooka. It would clog, snag on my grain bag, get in the way of the immersion chiller, etc. It was a coarse mesh, which let a lot of smaller particles through. Glad to see it go.
- The hop basket has a much finer mesh than the bazooka. It vastly reduces the amount of kettle cold break trub. Theres a whole lot less gunk now.
- Letting the cold break settle in the conical concentrates it and makes it more efficient and easier to remove. I probably waste a third as much as before, because its much more concentrated out of the bottom of the conical.
- Theres no need for the collection bulb unless you are intentionally harvesting yeast. Since I dont use the same yeast twice in a row, I use fresh yeast for every batch.
- If you want to harvest yeast, this method is excellent. It keeps the valve clear and the heaviest trub purged. Youre left with the fluffiest, most viable yeast. Wait until your FG is getting stable (about 1.5 weeks). Purge the darkest trub from the valve (usually about 1-2) and discard. Attach the collection blub and collect 3-4. This will be the healthiest and most viable yeast.
- Keeping the valve closed eliminates the possibility of the collection bulbs threads and gasket leaking. The only source of leaks is the threads between the fermenter body and union valve. If youve polished the threads, you shouldnt experience any leaking.
- Enjoy it now! No siphoning from carboys! No bottle brushes trying to scrub the krausen crust from the interior of carboys!
Last edited by a moderator:
