Hello again. Fermenter ?

[actech]

Life got in the way of brewing. Cleaning brew room to get back into it. Found all of my buckets were split on the bottom ? Wow just sitting. Any reason why ? So I’m looking at the Big mouth pet carboys and some of the conicals out there. Any recommendations ? Also been hearing about new hop varieties out there. Gonna be some fun coming up soon.

 

[VikeMan]

Are you a kegger? If so, would you like to be able to do closed transfers to exclude O2?

 

[actech]

Yes I keg. only bottled when I made ciders or a xocoveza clone. For a conical I guess first I need to make sure I can fit it in my ferment fridge.

 

[Elric]

I have buckets that have been abused and sat around for years and never seen a single one split. Really curious as to what the heck may have happened to have that happen to multiple ones for you. I have some fermonsters (modded lid to have gas and liquid posts installed and a floating dip tube) and a fermzilla all rounder. Fermzilla is great if you want to do any pressure ferments, both are great for doing closed transfers, and I love the clear pet for watching the fermentation as opposed to hpde buckets/fermenters or stainless (i also have a fermenting keg setup and a kit to turn my kettle into a fermenter), and I am much more comfortable with plastic over glass for weight and fear of breakage reasons. Enjoy your return to brewing with whichever fermenter you choose!

 

[VikeMan]

Yes I keg. only bottled when I made ciders or a xocoveza clone. For a conical I guess first I need to make sure I can fit it in my ferment fridge.

That can definitely be an issue for conicals. If height is the issue, maybe take a look at the Flex+. It fits in practically anything. The tradeoff for its shorter height is that there's no valve to dump trub.

 

[3 Dawg Night]

I love my 7-gallon Fermonster. Plenty of headspace for a 5.5 gallon batch; I don't even use a blowoff any more. The wide mouth and smooth sides make cleanup super easy.

 

[actech]

Was shocked Got to the kegs. Sitting for 3 yrs. Gonna leak and be gross. Nope. Pulled pressure relief and basted out co2. So I never opened but what can grow in a strong co2 environment

 

[RePete]

I bought one of the 30L Speidel fermenters. Big opening at the top make it easy to clean, the folding handles on the sides are nice for carrying it around, and having a spigot lets me take samples more easily. I do closed transfers using gravity. Its been a big improvement over the glass carboys I was using before.

 

[kman6234]

I use food grade plastic buckets I bought at lowes to store grain and I did have one or two crack at the bottom. Never treated them rough but they were stored in my garage so maybe the temperature swings caused it. The buckets are cheap to replace but the gamma seal lids don’t come off easily.

 

[Saunassa]

Right now using plastic bmb and like them a lot. Slipped with partial fill and dropped about a foot. Like plastic a lot more then glass. Cleanup is so easy. When I replace them it may be with fermzilla (?) All rounders so I can pressure ferment and closed transfer.

 

[Holden Caulfield]

Fermonsters are great - I used them when I first started brewing. Easy to clean, fairly inexpensive, clear, light, don't shatter. Also, I have seen posts on they can modified to do closed transfers. The one drawback is that they are PET and can scratch.

For the past 20+ batches, I switched to an SS Brewtech Brewbucket. I think it is fantastic. Expensive, but significantly less than true conical. Stainless steel so very sanitary, very easy to clean, you can easily do closed transfers by pushing low pressure CO2 down the airlock hole. While not a true true conical, it has a conical bottom to rack your beer off the trub, yeast, hops, and is a lot easier to maintain. I find that the stainless steel conducts heat and cold much better than plastic which helps with fermentation temperature control. Some brewers don't like that you can't disassemble the ball valve, but I just boil for a min or two prior to using. Only drawback is you can't see what is going on inside and have heard that the stainless steel may interfere with wifi enabled hydrometers like Tilt.

 

[marc1]

I've got a Kegmenter that I like a lot. Can't dump trub but a floating dip tube works great for transfers with ball lock connections. Pressurizable so you can spund and carb during fermentation. Durable stainless, but heavier than plastic fermenters.

 

[actech]

Just got a fermonster and stuff to brew. Figures, on call this weekend. Have to wait until next to brew.