I'm glad to see that there is a conversation going on about this inaccuracy of the fermenter measurements. And I agree, this does seem pretty lame. So I want to explain more of the process and why we made the decision we did.
Before I get into that, I want to remind all of our Kickstarter supporters that if you would like your money back, we will give you a full refund at any time, for any reason.
So how did it happen?
First off, this error occurred because the fermenter design was changed from a straight design to a tapered one. The change slightly increased the height of the fermenter, and the volume markings were affected more than expected. We recalculated the markings and adjusted them in the design. If we had remade the prototype and tested it again would have added at least another month to production. We thought the calculations were accurate. So we gave the go ahead to mass produce.
When I visited the factory, I was surprised to see that the markings were still inaccurate. This was because of a slight miscalculation. The tapered design means the spacing between each gallon is slightly less as the markings go up. It's fairly difficult to calculate accurately. Thinking back on it, we shouldn't have bothered to calculate the markings at all. Instead, we should have just physically measured them and copied the markings from one to all of the fermenters. But hindsight is 20-20.
So why didn't we just tell them to fix it after we caught the mistake?
First, the bulk of our order is fermenters, and production was 90% complete. Second, pressings would be practically impossible to redo. So the only option would be to scrap all of the fermenters and do it all over again. Although we were disappointed, we decided against it. There were many factors we considered. Here are some of the things that we discussed while making this decision.
1. The accuracy of our fermenters is about 5% off. Most plastic bucket fermenters are even less accurate, having measurements up to 10% off.
Examples:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=45693
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=404807
http://www.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing/comments/201r5g/does_anybody_actually_know_how_much_water_they/
2. The functionality of the fermenter will not be impacted. In our Kickstarter update we showed a group of fermenters which were rejected. They were rejected because of issues such as scratches, cracks, failed welds, or cosmetic defects. Most of these things affect the functionality of the product. Inaccurate measurements are bothersome, but don't affect how well the product functions. In other words, it won't affect the quality of your beer.
3. You will always need to make adjustments in your fermenter for the trub/yeast cake. This is just adding one more adjustment to make.
These aren't excuses for having inaccurate markings, but they are things to keep in mind, not only for our products, but for all brewing equipment. I've seen 6-and-a-half gallon fermenters being sold as 8 gallon fermenters. I've seen companies selling defective kettles with no option for returns. Most business models are based on telling the customer what they want to hear and then dealing with the backlash when they realize they were lied to. These companies do this to inflate sales numbers without concern for the long term reputation of their company. I haven't met a homebrewer that I didn't like. So I think homebrewers deserve better than that.
So where do we go from here?
As I've said before, we are a no BS group of brewers. We made a mistake, and we are owning up for it. We aren't going to try and weasel are way out by keeping quiet and hoping nobody notices. If you want a refund, that's up to you. We would rather give out refunds than pretend everything is perfect. This is because we are more concerned about being trustworthy than becoming a high volume distributor.
The worst Kickstarters out there will treat the money as donations, and once it's in their hands, they feel no obligation to the supporters. The majority of Kickstarters will put on a good face, and treat their Kickstarter supporters like regular customers. But we want to be better than that. We want to include our supporters in the production process. We want to present our business model with transparency. And we certainly don't want anyone to feel like they got cheated out of their money.
Our Kickstarter supporters are more than just customers to us. So if the inaccuracy of the fermenters is a dealbreaker for you, then we'll give you your money back. And even if you do get a refund, we are still grateful that you took the plunge in the first place and helped us get to this point.
As Frostbrewer said, it would be nice if we could throw in a little extra gift as a sort of apology. We are thinking about ways to do that. But right now we are more concerned with giving our supporters something we hope is a little more valuable, honest answers and respect.
So I'll keep up posting in this thread when I can. And if you have any individual concerns that you would like addressed, feel free to send me an email or give us a call.
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fVGNh6JfL._SL500_.jpg)
