Kickstarter for SS Mash Tun, Kettle and Fermenter

BrewSwag 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
@ChapmanEquipment - appreciate you owning up to the problem and providing all of the details on how it happened. I also appreciate you standing behind your products and offering a full refund at anytime. That is a nice breath of fresh air in today's market. Definitely still looking forward to my purchase, and in the end I don't think it will impact my brew day all that much.

A sticker would be nice though ;)

Also, I think it's great that we have a resource like HBT where we can actually engage with some of the manufacturers we get our products from and get honest answers like this one.
 
I'm still waiting anxiously for the Thermobarrel (mash tun) and fermenters that I chose as my reward! I just need to line up some recipes and get my brew days planned out as well.
 
I want to echo both Frostbrewer and drgonzo2k2. Steve @ChapmanEquipment raises the bar for equipment manufacturers.
I too cannot wait for my thermobarrel and fermenters.

Cheers!
 
Man... why am I just now stumbling upon this thread? That kickstarter price for the fermenters was awesome! Kicking myself for not seeing this earlier.
 
They still have great prices on their website. I am thinking of picking up the fermenter for $99. Still a great deal. Free shipping makes it better.
Trying to decide whether I should just come up with another hundred and go with the SS Brewbucket.
 
RichH said:
So are future production runs going to have corrected markings? i would assume so.
Click to expand...

We will have them corrected in the future. The speed at which we sell the first round of fermenters will determine exactly when the second round of production will be on its way. I imagine that will be 6 months to a year from now.


A quick update:
There is only one week left for the pre-order prices. In July, we will no longer be offering pre-orders at a discount.

Also, the shipment just left the port in China, and is currently on its way to the US.
 
Unfortunately, I missed out on the Kickstarter campaign. But I've been looking for a relatively inexpensive alternative to cooler mashtuns for a while now. I've been corresponding with ChapmanEquipment via email for the past few days and I nust say that I've never felt so taken care of as a customer of any company. @ChapmanEquipment, if your products are even half as reliable as your customer service has been, I'm positive I'll be pleased to have spent my money with you all! Thank you!
 
Let me start by saying that the quality and workmanship of these products is outstanding. There is a small amount of polish residue on the fermenter, but that is a easy fix. Small scratches from shipping and possibly stacking of he units, but not a big deal. The only concern I have is the false bottom dip tube does not appear to be stainless. Other than that there isn't much to write about since I can't find any issues besides the fact that my thermobarrel came with a dent on the bottom. I am assuming this came from shipping. The bottom of the box did not have much padding. Other than that I was fortunate to get the awesome Kickstarter price.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1439139046.351783.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1439139057.138849.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1439139070.745627.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1439139080.617434.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1439139091.272712.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1439139105.913439.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1439139115.101021.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1439139128.711060.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1439139143.582944.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1439139158.123092.jpg
 
 
Hey, thanks for posting the pics! Definitely looks like high quality workmanship. Now I'm even more excited for Tuesday to get here so I can check out my kettle, fermenter, and thermobarrel!
 
No detailed photos from me but whats the first thing I did?
Bust out the stepped drill bit and installed an Autosparge.
Next I'll mod the drain to be all full port 1/2" just like my cooler.
Slight issue with my supplied fittings. The nipple and bulkhead fittings are threaded straight and don't play well with pipe threads. No big deal for me.
That said this thing is awesome. Its just beautiful. I've just been staring at it for two days. Two weeks and I'll be brewing with it. Will post back with impression.

WP_20150807_15_14_28_Pro.jpg


WP_20150807_15_14_53_Pro.jpg
 
val214 said:
Let me start by saying that the quality and workmanship of these products is outstanding. There is a small amount of polish residue on the fermenter, but that is a easy fix. Small scratches from shipping and possibly stacking of he units, but not a big deal. The only concern I have is the false bottom dip tube does not appear to be stainless. Other than that there isn't much to write about since I can't find any issues besides the fact that my thermobarrel came with a dent on the bottom. I am assuming this came from shipping. The bottom of the box did not have much padding. Other than that I was fortunate to get the awesome Kickstarter price.

View attachment 295321View attachment 295322View attachment 295323View attachment 295324View attachment 295325View attachment 295326View attachment 295327View attachment 295328View attachment 295329View attachment 295330
Click to expand...


I'd certainly ask for & expect a replacement for the damaged goods!
 
KevinP said:
No detailed photos from me but whats the first thing I did?
Bust out the stepped drill bit and installed an Autosparge.
Next I'll mod the drain to be all full port 1/2" just like my cooler.
Slight issue with my supplied fittings. The nipple and bulkhead fittings are threaded straight and don't play well with pipe threads. No big deal for me.
That said this thing is awesome. Its just beautiful. I've just been staring at it for two days. Two weeks and I'll be brewing with it. Will post back with impression.
Click to expand...


What do you think of the dip tube?
 
val214 said:
Let me start by saying that the quality and workmanship of these products is outstanding. There is a small amount of polish residue on the fermenter, but that is a easy fix. Small scratches from shipping and possibly stacking of he units, but not a big deal. The only concern I have is the false bottom dip tube does not appear to be stainless. Other than that there isn't much to write about since I can't find any issues besides the fact that my thermobarrel came with a dent on the bottom. I am assuming this came from shipping. The bottom of the box did not have much padding. Other than that I was fortunate to get the awesome Kickstarter price.
Click to expand...

I'm more curious about the dip tube? it's not SS?
 
val214 said:
What do you think of the dip tube?
Click to expand...

Well its a tube and it dips.
I don't know how to spot grades of stainless but it seems stainless to me.

It's too small. Its too slow, i knew it would be. A simple gravity drain test shows a drastically reduced flow compared to my full port 1/2" cooler setup. I knew I wasn't going to use it when I ordered so it doesn't matter to me.
 
I got 2 7 gallon fermenters. They really look beautiful.

However. I'm having a terrible time getting my ball valves to seal onto the units. I'm sure I'll be able to fix that eventually but the provided silicon gaskets and SS washers aren't working for me at all.

My other issue is that one unit clamps/seals very nicely amd the other one absolutely does not. The clamps move around freely on the lid in the "clamped" position. Assuming the welds are off or something. I've emailed Mr. Chapman through the kickstarter page so I'm sure he'll get around to addressing it but since you guys were sharing your thoughts i figured i would too.
 
Received my 20g thermobarrel this morning. It's awesome. Can't wait to brew with it. The instructions it came with are simple but well done (cleaning, assembly, etc) They even included plumbers tape!

Only issue I had was that one of the metal pieces that fits over the latches was bent (bottom picture). I bent it back with pliers and I'm in business. Might make sense to put styrafoam around those in the future, the box had a tear from shipping where that latch was.

Planning on cleaning it and brewing this weekend, will post more pics after a trial run.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1439302346.561807.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1439302365.908362.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1439302383.876381.jpg
 
I received the 15 gallon thermobarrel. i dont see how its possible for the diptube to work properly.

The diptube itself is flared and it attaches to a regular npt fitting. this looks like it needs to be a compression or flare fitting to actually work.
 
It seems a little unconventional, but the flared diptube is held tight against the fitting with a nut. In the picture below, there's a nut just out of the picture on the right that will slide down and screw onto the threads.

With a few turns of the hand, it seems pretty tight and it's not moving. Haven't put any water through it yet, but I think it will work.

IMG_3350.jpg
 
definitely unconventional and in my case it does not work. i was able to get it to seal by putting a corney keg dip tube oring between the diptube and the npt fitting but this is a work around i dont expect to last very long.
 
I'll try and put water in mine tonight and see how mine works. Before you added the o-ring, was the dip-tube noticeably loose? Or did it appear tight but it's just not water tight? (Trying to figure out if i'll have the same problem)
 
Uh oh, well this is starting to sound concerning. I'm assuming from the notes that Chapman sent out that it works, as they said they brewed with a full set of gear as soon as it arrives, but mine doesn't get here until later today to have a look myself. Was planning on doing a water test one night this evening and trying to brew with it on Saturday morning.
 
i tightened the nut until it was as far as it would go, the diptube seemed tight but would not seal.
 
on the 15 gallon thermo barrel there is about 1 quart of liquid left in the tun based on my water test ( this is with the diptube working correctly). I never measured with my previous setup (cooler mashtun) but i assume that was closer to 1-2cups.

This is due to the flat bottom, a concave or conical bottom would allow more wort to be picked up (but also increase cost).


FYI. i emailed Chapman about the diptube seal issue and will post back should i get a response.
 
I didn't measure how much water was left behind, but I filled it tonight and didn't have any issues getting the dip tube to drain. When I got it in better light, I did notice a scratch under the latch that was bent, so some styrofoam around the sides seems necessary during shipping.

Overall, these issues don't sour me on the great deal that we got on kickstarter. But if I paid retail price, I'd probably have higher expectations.
 

Similar threads

I
SS Brewtech Infusion Mash Tun - Recirculation Bulkhead Fittings?
Replies
6
Views
562
IPAddiction
I
G
For Sale DFW Getting Out (SS Brewtech, Digiboil, Riptide, etc)
Replies
2
Views
651
ale_man
ale_man
M
Sold Ss Brewtech BME Kettle, KAB 6 burner, and CuS.S Tri-Coil 1.2 chiller and more - Portland, OR
Replies
2
Views
607
mantaray
M
R
For Sale SS Brewtech Mash Tun and Spike Brew Kettle BOTH 10 GAL
Replies
4
Views
1K
Rileymello108
R
N
My Experience with SS Brewtech
2
Replies
41
Views
2K
ninkwood
N
InkBird 300

Latest posts

Back
Top