In the market for a new fermenter

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ReaperOnefour

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Hello all. So as the title states im in the market for a new fermenter. There are 3 stainless steel fermenters that i have my eyes on. The Sovereign from northern brewer, the Anvil 7.5 gallon, & the SS brewtech 7 gallon fermenter. I really like the SS brewtech. I really like their products. I have the SS brewtech 3.5 mini brew bucket,( which is awesome. I love this little guy.) And my kettle is the SS brewtech 5.5 gallon kettle. The problem is the brew bucket is over $200. The other thing about the brew bucket is that its a little harder to bottle from.( I dont like using auto siphons, or bottling buckets because its just more equipment that i have to clean & sanitize.) Thats where the sovereign, & the anvil come in to play. With either of them i can bottle straight from the fermenter. No extra tubing needed. Just slap on the bottling wand, & im ready to rock. I've never used any anvil products, or northern brewer fermenters. I was just wondering if anyone has had any experience using the anvil or the sovereign. What do you think would be the best? Thanks in advance for any help.
 
Sorry I don't have any advice to offer regarding the Anvil or Sovereign. I own a 10 gallon brew kettle from Ss and love it. I'm already planning on getting one of their fermenters in the future here.

You could always wait for a sale. Weren't they like $30-$50 off around Black Friday last year? I know that's a long time to wait...
 
That's true. I want to get one before then though. That way I can brew a few more times before summer. I usually don't brew during the summer because of the heat.
 
I have the Anvil. I like having the threaded connection on the valve and it is easy to orient the pickup tube during transfer. The handles don't fold down and that can limit how it fits in a fermentaion chamber. This isn't an issue for me.

How are you planning to mix in carbonation sugar? I can't imagine doing that in a fementor.
 
Some day I will start kegging too. I've been doing some research. There isn't much on the nb sovereign. Like I said I really like the SS brew tech 7 gallon fermenter.....but I don't know if I want to spend 200 bucks on it. I found some YouTube videos on the anvil 7.5 gallon fermenter. It seems like it's pretty good.
 
My wife got me the SS brew tech 7 gallon for Christmas a few years ago and I really like it allot. I highly recommend it, it's an excellent design and very well made.
 
I like the anvil's as well. I've heard a lot of good things about them. As I've said before. I like the SS brew buckets, but the $200 price tag is a bit high for me.
 
Of the mentioned options I only have experience with the brewbucket and I am not sure why you can't bottle with it? I only keg but the general process should be the same. I ferment in it and have my airlock hooked to purge my keg, then when kegging add light pressure and transfer to the clean keg through a liquid ball lock connection to the keg. Not sure why you couldn't swap the ball lock for bottling wand and have a similar process without the keg purge and light pressure steps. It is definitely expensive but I bought a second after a year or so since I brew 10g at a time and I'm happy with my decision. It will last a long time with some occasional o-ring replacements so the upfront cost is worth it to me.
 
I think the Anvil is the way to go, based on price. I think you'll be happy with the Anvil or the SS Brewtech (particularly because you're already happy with your little SS Brewtech). Can't comment on the Sovereign, but it sure looks the part. You can also keep an eye out on FB marketplace... the SS products tend to come up used from time to time for $125-150. I sold mine to a pal for $100. ;-)

I hate to mention it... and you're seemingly set on stainless (and nothing wrong with that), but I sold my SS Brewbucket because I didn't prefer it enough over the couple of Big Mouth Bubblers that I own. Cheap and really functional. And if you can get over the idea that stainless is 'oh-so-much-better' than quality PET plastic, it is hard to justify the cost of the stainless.

(p.s. I have larger fermenters in stainless for10+ gallon batches... just because I got some for a great deal. But I stuck with the BMBs for if/when I care to do a 5 gal batch.)

That said, I don't think you'll regret a stainless, and the saying "buy right buy once" applies. But the $40ish BMB (with harness and everything) is a really functional unit, and for me, it is hard to justify $130+ for similar functionality. Plus, Northern Brewer is always having 20% off, or some kind of deal, and you can get them cheaper. I got my first one for free with the purchase of 3 kits, and got my 2nd one for some kind of deal where I also got a coupon to get a beer kit for $5. So there are deals to be had. I've since graduated to all grain, and have been brewing steadily for a couple of years, but still think the BMB is about all you need for a fermenter. It has a 3/8" hose barb on the spigot for racking/transferring. While it doesn't have a racking arm, because you can actually see inside of it, you can tip it slightly to maximize draining, and you can see when any hops/trub start to move toward the spigot from the inside... so the end result is about the same (to me) as a racking arm. And assuming you have the ability to cold crash, that yeast/trub cake pretty well stays put, and the beer drains right off the top with just a little tilting. Also, with a tweak or two (a stopper an a carbonation cap), you can also do safe pressure transferring if/when you ever keg.

And I just like being able to see inside, lol!

And as you'll find, you'll get a multitude of opinions. The stainless fermenters are great, and I don't think you'll regret any of those that you mentioned. I'd pick the Anvil if you can't find one used. If you aren't sold on stainless, consider a big mouth bubbler. And for the price, you can buy one, use it for a while, and if it isn't fancy enough... buy a stainless later, and have a good backup fermenter for occasional use when you decide to brew more than one batch in succession! It will happen. ;-)

Just a thought. Again, I don't think you can go wrong with any of these choices.


p.s. As far as the tubing is concerned... heheh... you may just need to suck it up and buy a few feet of extra tubing, no matter what you choose. Get one piece long enough to be convenient when you bottle. You will seemingly always have to sanitize one piece of tubing, and a long enough piece in whatever size will only cost you a few bucks. So, if the SS brewbucket is your favorite option, with one section of tubing, you'll be able to bottle just fine. Same with all the others.
 
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I was looking at the BMB as well. I like the depth charger feature. I was looking at the 6.5 gallon version with the spigot.
 
Yeah, the 6.5 with the spigot would be the one. I contemplated buying a depth charger, but never got around to it. (Plus,, at $55ish, pretty pricey relative to the fermenter). Would be a great way to dry hop for sure, and I also think the depth charger might be a great way to strain the wort initially when putting it into the fermenter. Again, haven't tried it, and just a thought. But with that as a $50 add-on... you're getting to $90+... and that might be close enough to opt for the Anvil.
 
Check out the for sale section. Theres a fermzilla that has the temp coil and everything for cheap . Unless your adamant on getting SS.
 
I will do so. All these choices, it's hard to decide. Lol. Thanks for all the great ideas guys. My wife just showed me a picture of Spike's flex conical fermenter. That's a nice one too. For $250 though? I think not.
 
I've been using good ol' plastic buckets since I started brewing 5 years ago, and now I'm considering an upgrade. Here's the thing, though; I really like the plastic buckets because they're dirt cheap (read: replaceable), dead simple to clean (literally, 2 minutes), two of them fit comfortably side by side in my upright fridge, they're light, and the lids provide a lot of real estate for adding "features" to suit your process.

My main complaint is that the lid seal is weak. I'm reasonably sure it seals adequately at atmospheric pressure (i.e., negligible pressure differential), but that's just it - I can't apply any pressure at all to it. For the most part, not a big deal because I've got a good process down for gravity transfers without opening the lid. But I have not been able to successfully use the trick of purging kegs using fermentation CO2. I'm not 100% certain, but I believe the problem is that with the tubing, fittings, and keg attached to the bucket airlock during fermentation, enough "back pressure" is created by all those components that the path of least resistance for the fermentation pressure is around the bucket lid seal rather than through the keg.

So now, I'm suspicious of how it performs in other areas. Namely, even though I use a closed transfer setup when kegging (i.e. as keg fills, I pipe the CO2 exiting the keg back into the bucket headspace), the weakness of the lid seal has me wondering if the bucket headspace is being filled with more or less pure CO2 from the keg, or if it's sucking in air around the lid seal.

Which is why this caught my attention...

tjmac5071 said:
Of the mentioned options I only have experience with the brewbucket and I am not sure why you can't bottle with it? I only keg but the general process should be the same. I ferment in it and have my airlock hooked to purge my keg, then when kegging add light pressure and transfer to the clean keg through a liquid ball lock connection to the keg. Not sure why you couldn't swap the ball lock for bottling wand and have a similar process without the keg purge and light pressure steps. It is definitely expensive but I bought a second after a year or so since I brew 10g at a time and I'm happy with my decision. It will last a long time with some occasional o-ring replacements so the upfront cost is worth it to me.
Click to expand...

So the lids on these things provide a good enough seal to do these sorts of things? You are 100% sure that the gas is going through the keg (for example, by placing a piece of tubing on the keg's gas post and dropping it in some star san and seeing bubbles?)
 
I've read that the gallon markings on the anvil 7 gallon fermenter were incorrect, & that the hole for the airlock was chewing up the stopper. Does anyone know if these two issues have been corrected?
 
ReaperOnefour said:
I've read that the gallon markings on the anvil 7 gallon fermenter were incorrect, & that the hole for the airlock was chewing up the stopper. Does anyone know if these two issues have been corrected?
Click to expand...

Yes. The airlock gets chewed up a little bit but just be careful. It settles in over time and still seals well. The markings, I just created a cheat sheet. It’s a quarter gallon off. So anvil marking at say 4.75g is really 5g. No biggie, now I know. It’s a nice little unit and I would get more but am going to put on my big boys pants next and jump in the conical pool.
 
ReaperOnefour said:
I was looking at the BMB as well. I like the depth charger feature. I was looking at the 6.5 gallon version with the spigot.
Click to expand...
I would like a stainless one but when my wife saw the price she said hmm. I stuck with the bubblers. I like seeing the fermentation in action, Hornindal was the most amazing thing to watch.
 
My wife says im crazy to spend hundreds of dollars on a fermenter. I tried explaining it to her, but she doesn't get it. Lol. However she doesn't see anything wrong with spending $300 on one of those mixing machines. I think it's for mixing dough.
 
mattdee1 said:
I've been using good ol' plastic buckets since I started brewing 5 years ago, and now I'm considering an upgrade. Here's the thing, though; I really like the plastic buckets because they're dirt cheap (read: replaceable), dead simple to clean (literally, 2 minutes), two of them fit comfortably side by side in my upright fridge, they're light, and the lids provide a lot of real estate for adding "features" to suit your process.

My main complaint is that the lid seal is weak. I'm reasonably sure it seals adequately at atmospheric pressure (i.e., negligible pressure differential), but that's just it - I can't apply any pressure at all to it. For the most part, not a big deal because I've got a good process down for gravity transfers without opening the lid. But I have not been able to successfully use the trick of purging kegs using fermentation CO2. I'm not 100% certain, but I believe the problem is that with the tubing, fittings, and keg attached to the bucket airlock during fermentation, enough "back pressure" is created by all those components that the path of least resistance for the fermentation pressure is around the bucket lid seal rather than through the keg.

So now, I'm suspicious of how it performs in other areas. Namely, even though I use a closed transfer setup when kegging (i.e. as keg fills, I pipe the CO2 exiting the keg back into the bucket headspace), the weakness of the lid seal has me wondering if the bucket headspace is being filled with more or less pure CO2 from the keg, or if it's sucking in air around the lid seal.

Which is why this caught my attention...



So the lids on these things provide a good enough seal to do these sorts of things? You are 100% sure that the gas is going through the keg (for example, by placing a piece of tubing on the keg's gas post and dropping it in some star san and seeing bubbles?)
Click to expand...

mattdee1... you're a candidate for a BMB. They're more expensive than buckets, of course, but still 'cheap' and replaceable... though I've never needed to replace. Just as easy to clean with a sponge so that there is no significant risk of scratching using any kind of cleaning brush (like a carboy brush with a metal rod, for example). However, there are some complaints about the lids on BMBs as well. The BMB silicon seals are arguably "too big" such that when you press the lid in, it wants to pop back out. That's the gist of it. Seals REALLY well if it stays in! I have never had this problem myself during fermentation (others have, as you'll see if you search), but when I add a couple of pounds of CO2 pressure for closed transfer, the lid would indeed pop off.

Fortunately, I am a super-genius problem solver. I bought a 5 lb plate weight (for $5) and set it on the lid. Presto. Now zero chance of having the lid pop out during fermentation, and capable of holding a couple pounds of pressure for transfers. The plate weight even has a nice hole in the middle... just perfect for accessing the stopper hole. Almost like it was made for this purpose.

I bet my super-genius "put a weight on it" idea might help with your standard bucket as well? Just a thought.
 
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ReaperOnefour said:
Hello all. So as the title states im in the market for a new fermenter. There are 3 stainless steel fermenters that i have my eyes on. The Sovereign from northern brewer, the Anvil 7.5 gallon, & the SS brewtech 7 gallon fermenter. I really like the SS brewtech. I really like their products. I have the SS brewtech 3.5 mini brew bucket,( which is awesome. I love this little guy.) And my kettle is the SS brewtech 5.5 gallon kettle. The problem is the brew bucket is over $200. The other thing about the brew bucket is that its a little harder to bottle from.( I dont like using auto siphons, or bottling buckets because its just more equipment that i have to clean & sanitize.) Thats where the sovereign, & the anvil come in to play. With either of them i can bottle straight from the fermenter. No extra tubing needed. Just slap on the bottling wand, & im ready to rock. I've never used any anvil products, or northern brewer fermenters. I was just wondering if anyone has had any experience using the anvil or the sovereign. What do you think would be the best? Thanks in advance for any help.
Click to expand...

I have both the mini brew bucket and the 7 gal. I use a bottling wand with both and it works great. I just slide a small piece of approx 1.5 in silicone tubing over the end of the bottling wand and the spigot on the brew bucket and bottle away.

The cone and racking arm on these two fermenter allow for excellent clarity beers.
In the competitions I enter I get high to excellent Mark's for clarity.
 
ReaperOnefour said:
My wife says im crazy to spend hundreds of dollars on a fermenter. I tried explaining it to her, but she doesn't get it. Lol. However she doesn't see anything wrong with spending $300 on one of those mixing machines. I think it's for mixing dough.
Click to expand...

I used to be into stereo equipment, and forum discussions usually included "WAF" ratings. Acronym for "wife acceptance factor." Thus far, I have yet to find any brewing equipment with a significantly positive WAF score. Most of my upgrade suggestions have received a WAF rating of 'zero.' Doesn't help that my wife doesn't care much for beer. (Interestingly, I have found there to be a slight WAF increase when equipment is converted to cider production... but still not enough for most purchases to be approved.)

Rather than continue the search for the elusive fermenter with high WAF score... I decided to buy first and explain later. That decision seems to have had an undesirable (but perhaps foreseeable) effect of decreasing WAF ratings across the board, including in categories unrelated to homebrewing. Not recommended.
 
Baglorious said:
I used to be into stereo equipment, and forum discussions usually included "WAF" ratings. Acronym for "wife acceptance factor." Thus far, I have yet to find any brewing equipment with a significantly positive WAF score. Most of my upgrade suggestions have received a WAF rating of 'zero.' Doesn't help that my wife doesn't care much for beer. (Interestingly, I have found there to be a slight WAF increase when equipment is converted to cider production... but still not enough for most purchases to be approved.)

I got around the WAF thing decades ago in two ways. One I've always maintained a "hobby account" to save for that next surfboard, shotgun, golf club, whatever.

The second was just a simple discussion with the wife that outside of work my hobbies provided my enjoyment in life and really that is what I live for.

She buys her stuff for baking, gardening, etc and I don't say a word. I have a full woodworking shop, bird photography gear, golf, and brewery. Happy man.

Rather than continue the search for the elusive fermenter with high WAF score... I decided to buy first and explain later. That decision seems to have had an undesirable (but perhaps foreseeable) effect of decreasing WAF ratings across the board, including in categories unrelated to homebrewing. Not recommended.
Click to expand...
 
WAF. Lol. I like that. That's a good one. I really like the SS brew bucket,. But like I said. With a $200 price tag.....I just don't know. I just can't find enough info on the sovereign, so I don't think I'll go with that one. I've been thinking about going with the anvil 7 gallon fermenter. I was thinking I could probably get the same results as I would if I got the brew bucket.
 
I have the smaller 4 gallon Anvil, which costs $99 (7.5 gallon is $129).

I respectfully suggest that you might be in analysis paralysis about what is really a simple product. Short of a no-name Asian brand bought off Alibaba, the Anvil offers the lowest price point in an American-based (if not manufactured) product. The spigot doesn't leak and fits a standard 1/2" ID hose. The pickup tube rotates easily and transfers minimal trub without fuss. The lid has clamps and seals reliably. The opening supports a stopper/airlock or blow-off and remains airtight. It's lightweight and easy to clean.

I use mine for estery styles like English and Belgian ales and German weissbier. I prefer fermenting in a keg for lagers and hoppy beers. Kegs are great too - maybe you should look into those as an alternative. Get yourself a floating dip tube and a spunding valve and go to town.
 
After much consideration I'm going to go with the 7 gallon anvil. Everyone here, & online say that it's a good fermenter. It looks really cool, & is more in my budget. I just recently switched from brewing 2.5 gallon to 5 gallon batches, so I'm really looking forward to getting a new fermenter. The thing I really like about brewing 5 gallon batches is most recipes & equipment is tailored to 5 gallons. So it makes things easier for me now.
 
I like my anvils, I wish there was a 14 gallon version.
 

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That would be cool. The little 4 gallon anvil looks pretty cool too. I was just looking at the anvil electric kettle set up. I think its called the foundry or something like that. That looks really cool. It comes with everything you need.
 

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