Jones'ing for a stainless fermenter - maybe Delta

[TexasTea]

A friend just got one of these. I don't know if Vevor will ship your way, but it appears to be built by the folks that built my SS Brewbucket. I don't know about parts support , but its a hell of deal for $168. https://www.vevor.com/beer-brewing-...slprRASznrsW0yGi_IFYakOMHkrBGqMhoCI6sQAvD_BwE

Yep +1. Got mine last year for $124.99 (includes tax and shipping). Amazon sometimes carries Vevor products. The only thing I don't like is the valve on the bottom is too small (like alot of them made in the US and elsewhere), it needs to be a larger diameter to drain the trub. I already told Vevor about it. I'm fermenting a batch in it right now. Parts support is great. They sent me a free replacement silicone lid gasket yesterday.

I also have their 5 and 16 gallon brew kettles (they are 201 SS but holding up well. Ive had the 5 gallon one over a year. They seem to be about 1/2 the price of other vendors.

 

[bike2brew]

I surfed some fake shipping for your location. Almost seems like you could fly down to the lower 48 a take your purchase back as checked baggage cheaper. Sympathetic to your challenges.

 

[bike2brew]

 

[TexasTea]

Oops, Post deleted. I hate wasting peoples time.

 

[matt_m]

off topic but for sh*ts and giggles when I was doing extract brewing (started back in the mid 70's - actually brewed some wine when I was 14 earlier), here is a label I stuck on one of my bottled brews. Moonlight springs is where we get our water. Really good water.

Even more off topic, you bottled that on my 21st birthday.

 

[Deadalus]

I will toss in some additional thoughts as you weigh your options . You mentioned yeast harvesting. I don't ship liquid yeasts in the summer if it can be helped. Obviously you are very aware of your shipping challenges and transit times. I've worked in warehouses in the summer and they can get hot and the trailers get real hot! Personally I am less concerned about shipping liquid yeasts during cooler periods. I bank yeasts by overbuilding starters and storing samples in bottles. One can also go so far as to store yeasts on slants. Building the starters does require periodic DME purchases too, also a shipping concern for you. Note here that you could also build starters for your dry yeast by dividing a packet. A packet good enough for 5 gallons could by divided ~10x to make 10 two liter starters. Making starters is easiest in metric, 10 ml H2O to 1 gram DME. A two liter starter needs 200g, so 10x200g=2000g=2kg DME per packet. A 3lb package of DME=1.36kg, which would be almost 7 starters. Three pounds is the size I generally buy. Harvesting yeast from the fermenter is free. Since I don't do this much, I am less familiar with storage issues but it seems people have longer term storage concerns. But you would need to factor in your shipping specifics to get a better economic assessment.

Checking out further your Fermtank Pro possibility. It has plenty of ports, the leg architecture would not interfere with an elbow as my X2 does, and the TC clamps have thin width on the thumbscrews. On a 7-8 gallon conical, multiple ports on the cone get crowded. Another plus to the Pro here as the cone ports are well spaced. Not well-spaced on my X2. Cons are the two valves. The butterfly valve in the bottom is not a trigger squeeze and will have just a few positions. It's not critical there but in my experience, the ball handle butterfly valves may not be as nicely made. My Brewbuilt 2" squeeze trigger is my favorite squeeze trigger as it has a short handle and seems well built. (But I can't use it on my 1.5" racking arm where I really need a short trigger and Brewbuilt doesn't seem to offer a 1.5" squeeze trigger.) The valve on the racking arm for the Pro is a ball valve. Since flow is through the pickup arm, the port is already constricted but the ball valve is a little less sanitary. They are cutting the corner a little on price as some manufacturers put a butterfly valve there. It's also barbed and the barb may or may not come off. The valve could be repurposed to the blowoff tube where it is useful to close off that port for spunding or pressure transfer. I have a couple of TC inline ball valves I picked up used and use them that way. My SSBT uni has a mounted blow off tube standard. The Pro at 32 5/8" is also taller than a 5 gallon ball lock, and has a wider base. If it could fit in a mini-fridge, it would be a big one quite possibly needing a collar and no freezer section or you could move the freezer. Finding something used could be challenging.

 

[Hunky]

I surfed some fake shipping for your location. Almost seems like you could fly down to the lower 48 a take your purchase back as checked baggage cheaper. Sympathetic to your challenges.

Actually not a bad idea. I sometimes bug folks who are coming up to bring something that I would ship to their house for free. But it is pretty rare for visitors up here. And the airlines are really screwing down their baggage rules.. charging people extra for bags. Alaskans still get a deal on baggage when flying from/to the state with Alaska Airlines.. not sure how long that'll last.

I may be doing some travel next month so if I decide to take the plunge.. it would be a good time to ship to a friend/family member for free and pick it up.

 

[Hunky]

Even more off topic, you bottled that on my 21st birthday.

If only I'd known... coulda sent over a bottle! (hidden in the mail)

 

[Hunky]

I will toss in some additional thoughts as you weigh your options . You mentioned yeast harvesting. I don't ship liquid yeasts in the summer if it can be helped. Obviously you are very aware of your shipping challenges and transit times. I've worked in warehouses in the summer and they can get hot and the trailers get real hot! Personally I am less concerned about shipping liquid yeasts during cooler periods. I bank yeasts by overbuilding starters and storing samples in bottles. One can also go so far as to store yeasts on slants. Building the starters does require periodic DME purchases too, also a shipping concern for you. Note here that you could also build starters for your dry yeast by dividing a packet. A packet good enough for 5 gallons could by divided ~10x to make 10 two liter starters. Making starters is easiest in metric, 10 ml H2O to 1 gram DME. A two liter starter needs 200g, so 10x200g=2000g=2kg DME per packet. A 3lb package of DME=1.36kg, which would be almost 7 starters. Three pounds is the size I generally buy. Harvesting yeast from the fermenter is free. Since I don't do this much, I am less familiar with storage issues but it seems people have longer term storage concerns. But you would need to factor in your shipping specifics to get a better economic assessment.

Checking out further your Fermtank Pro possibility. It has plenty of ports, the leg architecture would not interfere with an elbow as my X2 does, and the TC clamps have thin width on the thumbscrews. On a 7-8 gallon conical, multiple ports on the cone get crowded. Another plus to the Pro here as the cone ports are well spaced. Not well-spaced on my X2. Cons are the two valves. The butterfly valve in the bottom is not a trigger squeeze and will have just a few positions. It's not critical there but in my experience, the ball handle butterfly valves may not be as nicely made. My Brewbuilt 2" squeeze trigger is my favorite squeeze trigger as it has a short handle and seems well built. (But I can't use it on my 1.5" racking arm where I really need a short trigger and Brewbuilt doesn't seem to offer a 1.5" squeeze trigger.) The valve on the racking arm for the Pro is a ball valve. Since flow is through the pickup arm, the port is already constricted but the ball valve is a little less sanitary. They are cutting the corner a little on price as some manufacturers put a butterfly valve there. It's also barbed and the barb may or may not come off. The valve could be repurposed to the blowoff tube where it is useful to close off that port for spunding or pressure transfer. I have a couple of TC inline ball valves I picked up used and use them that way. My SSBT uni has a mounted blow off tube standard. The Pro at 32 5/8" is also taller than a 5 gallon ball lock, and has a wider base. If it could fit in a mini-fridge, it would be a big one quite possibly needing a collar and no freezer section or you could move the freezer. Finding something used could be challenging.

Thanks Deadalus - great info I'll be bookmarking. Back in college when I thought I would be a biologist I did play around some with agar agar and petri dishes. Might be something I could get into.. got a pressure cooker that is under used. I could probably find the tubes for free shipping on the amazons.

As for the valves, if I decide to splurge on a conical..say the Fermtank - and the valves proved to be an irritant, I could do as you say and also just swap 'em out. Adds to cost of course, but over time it wouldn't seem bad. Great hearing about real world experiences.

 

[Broken Crow]

Actually not a bad idea. I sometimes bug folks who are coming up to bring something that I would ship to their house for free. But it is pretty rare for visitors up here. And the airlines are really screwing down their baggage rules.. charging people extra for bags. Alaskans still get a deal on baggage when flying from/to the state with Alaska Airlines.. not sure how long that'll last.

I may be doing some travel next month so if I decide to take the plunge.. it would be a good time to ship to a friend/family member for free and pick it up.

..and then use it for your 'baggage'. Since you're dead-set on SS, a simple brewbucket can easily serve as a suitcase holding your clothes and such...just tell Customs you were travelling to a brew-themed event and used your fermenter as a suitcase.
..just thought I'd thow that in there because years back I filled out a carnet to bring my 16mm movie camera across the border to shoot some footage, but I dropped by my American PO box to pick up a motor for the camera and brought it back duty-free.

 

[Hunky]

Yep +1. Got mine last year for $124.99 (includes tax and shipping). Amazon sometimes carries Vevor products. The only thing I don't like is the valve on the bottom is too small (like alot of them made in the US and elsewhere), it needs to be a larger diameter to drain the trub. I already told Vevor about it. I'm fermenting a batch in it right now. Parts support is great. They sent me a free replacement silicone lid gasket yesterday.

I also have their 5 and 16 gallon brew kettles (they are 201 SS but holding up well. Ive had the 5 gallon one over a year. They seem to be about 1/2 the price of other vendors.

Amazon does have the Vevor. One of the few local brewers has them and is happy enough with them. I'll have to look up the 201 steel.. familiar with 304 and 316 as I'm building an ocean cruising sailboat. Probably something I should do at first and see if I head towards needing a conical/or keg setup or not (pressure brewing and whatnot). Do you passivate? Saw someone post a review of the Anvil bucket (if I remember right) and theirs got all rusty. Guessing they didn't.

 

[Hunky]

..and then use it for your 'baggage'. Since you're dead-set on SS, a simple brewbucket can easily serve as a suitcase holding your clothes and such...just tell Customs you were travelling to a brew-themed event and used your fermenter as a suitcase.
..just thought I'd thow that in there because years back I filled out a carnet to bring my 16mm movie camera across the border to shoot some footage, but I dropped by my American PO box to pick up a motor for the camera and brought it back duty-free.

I imagine I'll be doing a few more brews in my plastics.

Now if I could just figure out how to ship LiFePO4 cells up here to build me a boat battery. Talk about shipping costs! Even the barge from Seattle wants about $400 extra in hazmat fees.

 

[TexasTea]

Amazon does have the Vevor. One of the few local brewers has them and is happy enough with them. I'll have to look up the 201 steel.. familiar with 304 and 316 as I'm building an ocean cruising sailboat. Probably something I should do at first and see if I head towards needing a conical/or keg setup or not (pressure brewing and whatnot). Do you passivate? Saw someone post a review of the Anvil bucket (if I remember right) and theirs got all rusty. Guessing they didn't.

The Vevor fermentor is 304 SS, so no problems there. The Vevor brew kettles are 201 SS (although the fittings, valve , etc are 304. I didn't passivate them. Here is the inside of my little Vevor brew kettle I use for extracts that I have been using for a year. I'm guessing 25 batches through it (give or take). I scorched it last year when I first got it (DME scorch) and boiled some vinegar in it, scrubbed a little with white scotchbrite and it cleaned right up.

False bottom a bazooka filter that came with it.

 

[Deadalus]

Thanks Deadalus - great info I'll be bookmarking. Back in college when I thought I would be a biologist I did play around some with agar agar and petri dishes. Might be something I could get into.. got a pressure cooker that is under used. I could probably find the tubes for free shipping on the amazons.

As for the valves, if I decide to splurge on a conical..say the Fermtank - and the valves proved to be an irritant, I could do as you say and also just swap 'em out. Adds to cost of course, but over time it wouldn't seem bad. Great hearing about real world experiences.

This way uses even more DME stepping up to note. I did yeast storage on slants with agar agar in the late 90s. I was fairly successful with it but occasionally had difficulty with sanitation due to the caps I had available. (I was a poor grad student.) There's a glycerin method for freezer storage I have considered but I have a tendency to put off making my starters. A multi-step starter easily delays my expected brew day, so the overbuild is a happy medium for me (200-250ml into a 2l flask.) The overbuilds do take up long term fridge space however and fall all over my gutted mini-fridges.

 

[shoengine]

I'll have to look up the 201 steel.. familiar with 304 and 316 as I'm building an ocean cruising sailboat.

Now that's a hobby...

 

[Hunky]

Now that's a hobby...

Almost done. Been several years. Apologies for the off-topic.