FF vs Catalyst

[aidanstar]

Brew Wife here (professional bottle-cleaner and equipment tripper-overer)

I've decided this year's Christmas present for Dr. Beer is a conical fermenter. Before you get all excited and tell me to get a $700 stainless one, let me stop you. I'm not going to invest in one of those yet. We do, in fact, have to pay for real life.

He's been brewing for probably 14 years and knows what he's doing. We often provide beer for parties, charitable donations, etc.

I'm looking at the FastFerment and the Catalyst and would like some advice/suggestions/pointers from folks who have actually used them so I can decide.

Happy beering!
Brew Wife

 

[jekeane]

Ssbrewtech brewbucket would be my choice over the two personally.

I have friends who own both of the products you listed. The fast fermenter has been replaced with a brew bucket and the catalyst seems decent but there is a lot of flimsy feeling plastic around the valve (my friends opinion).

I have a couple of ss brewbucket sand love them. I decided to purchase two brewbuckets rather than one conical and have been very satisfied.

https://www.homebrewsupply.com/ss-b...-bucket.html?gclid=CKnB8r67vNACFZQbgQodnloPpA

I recently picked up one for $159 on sale. Some places may have a sale this week on them and most places ship them free.

The only drawback to them in my opinion is the lack of a dump valve. which with 20 batches or so in them has never been an issue for me.

If you are going to spend $100+ on a piece of equipment it needs to be an item that will last forever without special care stainless is the way to go over plastic in that price range in my opinion.

 

[CraftaBrew]

We are running a Black Friday week sale on The Catalyst for 10% off if you choose to order from CraftaBrew.com, just use coupon code CBB10 at checkout.

In terms of the quality of our unit, it is second to none, all of the plastic (including the valve) is made of a polymer called Tritan which is much harder and scratch resistant then other plastic fermenters on the market and is even dishwasher safe. The valve is very sturdy and built to last.

I too have a Brewbucket and this it is a great product but what really sets The Catalyst apart is the ability to capture and dump the trub in standard mason jars, then while aging you can capture clean yeast that does not need to be washed before storage which is a real time and money saver. This way there is no transferring, just a simple turn of the valve.

Feel free to post any questions you have or email us at [email protected], cheers!

 

[Weezy]

If you want the functionality of a conical, the catalyst is the choice. FF is awkward. Brewbucket is an overpriced stainless pot with a dent in the bottom.

 

[jekeane]

If you want the functionality of a conical, the catalyst is the choice. FF is awkward. Brewbucket is an overpriced stainless pot with a dent in the bottom.

I would disagree with your view on the brewbucket but realize there are pretty much two views of it. There are people out there who swear by their old trusty plastic bucket and think anything else is a waste of money and there is merit to that and by the same token there are those who like the permanence and cleanliness of stainless.

As for the dent in the bottom I think it is a very functional design that allows you to leave behind trub and rack a beer to a keg in minutes with no extra equipment other than a hose. A good deal of evidence out there says trub and yeast in the fermenter on a home-brew scale is irrelevant so for me the only point of a dump valve is to harvest yeast. Which I prefer to do from the starter in most cases. So I'm not sure what benefit I would see from a conical, (doesn't mean i wouldn't get one if I had $400 that my house or toddlers weren't trying to spend.)

We agree on the fast ferment. I almost bought a catalyst but my friend received his before I pulled the trigger. It too to me is kind of awkward and would require an upright freezer to see much benefit. On a whole It's fine and it will probably do the job it was intended for, for a good long while. But we both agreed as we looked over it that the lid seal is a little wonky and the dump valve leave a lot to be desired in terms of durability.

 

[Weezy]

I didn't say the bewbucket didn't work. I said it's an overpriced stainless pot with a dent in the bottom. You could build two or three out of stainless puts and valves. Conical bottom in one gives room for trub? Install the valve 1.5-2" up the side of a pot. It should be $120. I'd own three if they were. I'd use them for aging beers.

A true conical with a dump valve gives you functionality that a pot never could. If you don't care about or don't need that functionality, that's just fine. But a lot of people like it. The OP quit literally is asking about true conicals; not a pot with a dent in the bottom.

 

[RTL]

I have two of the 14 gallon Chapman stainless fermenters. I chose them over the brew bucket for price, and I do larger batches. Correct my if I'm wrong but yeast will settle into the cone but still be flat on top right? So don't you still have a flat surface you are transferring from in a brew bucket? Either way to me tilting the vessel to get the last bit of beer off the trub is perfectly acceptable considering the price difference.

Also It is better to overbuild a starter and harvest yeast off of that than to pull yeast out of the fermenter. Hop oils inhibit the yeasts ability to reproduce effectively, and considering the oils stick to the hops when they settle out you could introduce variability into future batches. This of course could be mitigated by washing the yeast and not harvesting from hoppy beers, but I can harvest from an overbuilt starter every time regardless of the beer I am brewing.

Just my two cents, I'm sure he will be happy regardless.

https://www.chapmanequipment.com/collections/fermenters

 

[BarleyPopBrewer]

What are people's opinion on the Catalyst being clear? (In regards to UV attack)

 

[day_trippr]

Fermentation chambers are typically pretty gloomy spaces

If I was into the whole conical thing and didn't go stainless for whatever reason, I think being able to see just how clean the fermentor is would be a plus. That's one of the reasons I'm still using glass...

Cheers!

 

[foscojo]

What are people's opinion on the Catalyst being clear? (In regards to UV attack)

They sell a cover for it that they say blocks 100% of UV light. As for it being clear, well, glass carboys have been used for years and they are clear.

 

[Jtvann]

Seeing as how the OP specifically asked about the catalyst vs fast ferment, and again specifically said not interested in spending on stainless, I'm not sure why brew buckets and Chapman's are even being brought up. Oh wait ... its homebrewtalk, what should I expect?

I had a fast ferment a few years back. I wasnt a big fan. The dump valve on the bottom is too small. The lid can be leaky. Theres a gasket that comes standard now that's better. The plastic flashing at the top sometimes needs trimming to seal good. Overall, the bottom dump port being small led to me never really using it.

When the catalyst came out, I thought it looked pretty cool. I like that it is clear. Watching the beer ferment is cool. The opening is bigger, so cleaning may be easier. The plastic on the fast ferment is not as smooth as glass. The catalyst appears much smoother.

My choice would be a catalyst if choosing between the two.

 

[Vale71]

Seeing as how the OP specifically asked about the catalyst vs fast ferment, and again specifically said not interested in spending on stainless, I'm not sure why brew buckets and Chapman's are even being brought up. Oh wait ... its homebrewtalk, what should I expect?

Exactly. As far back as four years ago threads had a tendency to diverge from the question posed by the OP with great ease...