OnederBrew.....anyone try this?

[Seedly]

Subbed. Interested to see how it works for you mors

 

[RazorCatchPrey]

I just ordered mine (Christmas present from SWMBO). Really looking forward to trying it.

When I get mine, I will look for the ridge in the cone to see if the issue has been fixed. I was also very curious about the expansion to 20 gallons.

To the folks who have been asking what the point of a 5 gallon conical is- the point is the same as it is for those of you brewing 15-20 gallons. Having a unitank that doesn't require you to spend 30-60 minutes two weeks after brewing to rack to secondary, and a much easier process for harvesting yeast. Just because some of us can't afford to upgrade to a bigger system doesn't mean that we wouldn't like to streamline our process.

I am very hopeful for this product. It is possible that I will be horribly disappointed by an exploding fermenter or contaminated beer. But I am going to try the product before passing judgement.

 

[mors]

Well I kegged my beer from the onederbrew. I used 3/8 silicone tubing with a kwik clamp onto the picnic tap thing. The beer foamed quite a bit but was overall pretty good. Maybe I won't do it under pressure next time...

 

[stonebrewer]

mors can you toss up some pix or video next time? Interested in seeing this work. Ditto for you Razor...

Was the reason for the original being black to eliminate light? That seems reasonable to me. I kinda agree with daksin and was leaning that way myself on a DIY conical using a spray tank. Saw this product in Zymurgy and came on here to see if anyone had experience with it. Thanks for posting! In the end I may just spring for a SS conical from Stout as I have been pleased with their products, but it doesn't hurt to slow go it and do as much research as possible. Who knows, they may improve this product and reduce costs by building volume and it could be a hit down the road...

Cheers!

 

[mors]

Oh yeah sorry I did record a few short videos about 72 hours after fermentation started. The first one is me closing off the system to let it build up some pressure so I can adjust the pressure nut. The second one is after I have had it adjusted to 15psi and it's maintaining. I had no leaks during the entire process...beer came out good too...though dump alot more out the dump port than you would think... I had yeast bomb beer had to dump a few glasses out of the keg...

Video 1
[ame]http://youtu.be/BenfFxz2vX0[/ame]

Video 2
http://youtu.be/dn-ZgcrEa8c

 

[RazorCatchPrey]

Ok, so here is my preliminary review after my first brew with the OneDerBrew has been in the fermenter for about three weeks.


I am probably doing something wrong, but that is a byproduct of woefully inadequate instructions included with the fermenter.

Upon initial inspection, I saw the ridge that many posters have complained of, still there despite the manufacturer's claims to the contrary. I is midway down the cone in the inside, so right where the yeast will e sitting and breeding. Not particularly happy about that.

I sanitized with StarSan, assembled, and filled with chilled wort and pitched my yeast. Then I put the cone on top, pumped out the air, and sealed it up as instructed. Apparently I did not properly have the air out valve opened up like I was supposed to, as the next morning I found the bucket bulging and some minor leakage (cannot determine from where, but not the blowout grommet on top). I opened the valve and released that pressure, then leftist open for about five days before closing it back up. Since then, the pressure gauge has not moved one bit nor has the bucket bulged back out.

What is most frustrating is that when I attempt to dump the yeast trub from the bottom valve, nothing comes out, or only a drop or two. S rather than moving the yeast trub after one week, I have had to leave it in there for the full 21 days of my expected fermentation.

The next frustration is that after 21 days, my gravity is still at 1.034, no where near my target. This is a session stout and should be done by now.

Another issue with yeast dumping is that even if I were able to get a flow of yeast, where is it to go? The valve is on the very bottom, which rests about one millimeter off the floor. If you want to dump the yeast, you really need to Storie your fermenter off the floor so you can attach a tube to run the yeast into a receiving container.

I am going to have to transfer to a traditional bucket or better bucket to finish fermentation. At least the sampling spigot works.

So far I am very underwhelmed. I will keep y'all appraised when I watch some more instructional videos and try again on my next batch.

 

[mors]

Ok, so here is my preliminary review after my first brew with the OneDerBrew has been in the fermenter for about three weeks.


I am probably doing something wrong, but that is a byproduct of woefully inadequate instructions included with the fermenter.

Upon initial inspection, I saw the ridge that many posters have complained of, still there despite the manufacturer's claims to the contrary. I is midway down the cone in the inside, so right where the yeast will e sitting and breeding. Not particularly happy about that.

I sanitized with StarSan, assembled, and filled with chilled wort and pitched my yeast. Then I put the cone on top, pumped out the air, and sealed it up as instructed. Apparently I did not properly have the air out valve opened up like I was supposed to, as the next morning I found the bucket bulging and some minor leakage (cannot determine from where, but not the blowout grommet on top). I opened the valve and released that pressure, then leftist open for about five days before closing it back up. Since then, the pressure gauge has not moved one bit nor has the bucket bulged back out.

What is most frustrating is that when I attempt to dump the yeast trub from the bottom valve, nothing comes out, or only a drop or two. S rather than moving the yeast trub after one week, I have had to leave it in there for the full 21 days of my expected fermentation.

The next frustration is that after 21 days, my gravity is still at 1.034, no where near my target. This is a session stout and should be done by now.

Another issue with yeast dumping is that even if I were able to get a flow of yeast, where is it to go? The valve is on the very bottom, which rests about one millimeter off the floor. If you want to dump the yeast, you really need to Storie your fermenter off the floor so you can attach a tube to run the yeast into a receiving container.

I am going to have to transfer to a traditional bucket or better bucket to finish fermentation. At least the sampling spigot works.

So far I am very underwhelmed. I will keep y'all appraised when I watch some more instructional videos and try again on my next batch.

Well having used it a few times now I can tell you why some of these thing happened. The leaking (if not from not tightening the band enough) is most likely from the pressure relief valve. If the krausen gets high it pumps out that small red tube and down onto the floor/table. I set it in my laundry sink for the first couple days. Never really get that much coming out.

Most my ale fermentations are over by day 5. You should leave the pressure valve all the way open for the first 2 days then seal it up and maintain roughly 15psi for the remainder of the fermentation. It also seems like you got a stuck fermentation.. this can be many factors but doubtful any of the factors were caused by the fermentor.

The bottom valve not having any yeast coming out is common with conical fermenters. It's a thick slurry down there...open the valve and have patience. Even my 1.5" inner diameter port on my stainless conical takes considerable time sometimes. I do agree the port being close to the bottom feet makes harvesting alittle bit of a pain. I usually set the fermenter on a table and let the front 2 feel dangle off...while holding the fermenter in place. This puts most the weight on the back legs and you don't really have to hold it...you may still want to open the dump valve and wait for a few in the sink though. Until the dirty trub and early flocc yeast starts coming out.

if you flip the fermenter back so the bucket is right side up you can remove the cone and try and get the fermentation unstuck...no need for a separate fermentor.

 

[Mirabotz]

I like it but there are a few things I need to figure out yet.
first batch is still in it as I don't have my kegs or bottle capper with me yet.
But here's the rundown so far.
used the Ferocious IPA recipe kit from Midwest supplies with the Headwaters Ale yeast by wyeast activator pack.
I don't think I like this yeast-very cloudy final product, although I could have goofed somewhere else to create that effect I suppose...

started O/A 22 dec, and felt the ferm got stuck about day 3 there was very little activity - nice thing is you can seal the onderbrew and give it a massive shaking to get things back into suspension and this seemed to get it all working again...

although i thought it had finished off after 12 days, it continued to build pressure after I tried to dump the yeast - it wouldn't drain.

So after another week or so I pumped some air into it( i know--bad bad bad) but it worked I got a good dump of trub, hops and yeast.
shook the hell out of it again and it picked back up and built to about 4 psi where i let it sit for almost a month while I had to travel for work.

when i got back I test bottled 3each, 1/2 liter bottles with 1/4 tsp of white table sugar and let them sit for about 10 days...very little carbonation - want to try 1/2 tsp corn sugar per bottle and try it again.

I added an extension tube that came with the onderbrew to get the dump port out to the front feet - it makes it easier to get my big mitts on the valve and control the flow - once it starts to flow that is...the port is so small at about 1/4 inch ID - I worry I might have major issues if I ever use leaf hops instead of pellets. but as long as you have a good 10-15 psi built up - it ought to break loose and dump without too much trouble.

the other major concern for me is priming if I've bled off all the co2 - which I did out of concern for over pressurizing while i travelled...there's no way to get the sugar into the unit easily...I'm thinking of using a sanitized solution in a mason jar, and the airpump with tubing rigged to force the solution to backflow from the jar through the red blowoff tube to the top of the fermenter...we'll see...

I think I'll just prime bottles for this batch and see how it goes - just hate measuring every single bottle - I prefer to evenly distribute the sugar by stirring into the entire batch.

but overall - it makes good beer, it's a relatively small footprint.
easy to clean
relatively easy to recover yeast
I will eventually serve from it once I get the hang of co2 control and then a cooler to hold it for serving...

 

[mors]

Hmm yeah I never thought about bottling out of the unit. 2 things would come to mind for me. 1) Use carb tabs so you don't have to measure out sugar for each bottle. 2) If you ferment under pressure the beer should already be carbonated... just put it in the bottles. When I go to keg from the Onederbrew the beer is carbonated. Just use an online calculator to see what level of pressure you need to get the level of carbonation desired at whatever temp you're keeping the Onederbrew.

 

[mors]

Had to harvest yeast from the Onederbrew today...while I was waiting for the yeast to "poop" out I figured I would make a quick video with my phone to show you what I mean.

 

[JoeyChopps]

That video made me need to take a dump thanks

 

[mors]

yeah and when you're doing it you need to literally sit there and watch it...because all of a sudden it's like spraying liquid...kind of like the next morning if you drink too much yeast...

 

[mors]

One thing I will note about the Onederbrew vs my Stout 14.5 stainless conical is that the yeast seems to stick to the sides of the cone alot more in the Onederbrew. Like I did that yeast dump I recorded...until it ran clean. Then I did another yeast dump on my lunch break and there was a **** ton of yeast that still came out. So I recommend sliding it around on it's legs so it vibrates between yeast dumps... so the 'center' of the code fills back up with yeast and you knock it off the walls.

In my stainless conical I do do a second yeast dump...but usually I get next to nothing.

 

[Doomsday]

Saw the add in BYO a few times....checked it out online finally.

I kinda lost it when he started pouring orange juice into his beer lol.

That and seeing a 5 gallon bucket looking like a balloon ready to bust...... yea not sure about this one.

 

[nianticcardplayer]

I went to the onederbrew web site says out of stock have not seen any updated posts from the manufacturer of the device. For those who have used it, is the cone set up worth the purchase? Have they fixed the "line" in the middle of the cone? Are you happy with the way this thing works? Any failures due to device defects, or has it been more user error.

Peace Out.

 

[noiz2]

Brew Demon
May be the new better choice.

 

[mors]

I have a Brew Demon and a Onederbrew. They really cannot be compared with one another. The Brew Demon 'conical' is really nothing more than a Mr. Beer barrel lol. No dump etc... fine as a primary fermenter of a small batch of beer...but if you plan on aging for an extended period of time... it will not do. There is also 0 yeast harvesting in the Brew Demon.

 

[mycuff]

Mors (or anyone who has used this thing) I just bought a onederbrew. Seemed like a good idea at the time, after perhaps a few too many home made Belgian trippels. I still want to bottle after brewing a batch, should I do it with or without priming sugar? Supposedly it is already carbonated but what if I left it at really low pressure? I am guessing I could keep the pressure down and there would still be yeast in the beer to convert the sugar to carbonation? I would just measure the priming sucrose right into the bottle, say 3/4 tsp per bottle. Thanks for any help.

By way of introduction:
I am a newbie to the forum, which I found after buying a onederbrew. I grew up on Mr. Beer, but have been buying my own DME, hops, steeping grains and yeast for a while, and capping 12 oz bottles. I usually brew 4.5 gallon batches into two Mr. Beer containers, yielding about 44 bottles. Essentially 5 gallon recipes but maybe just a little "stronger". I am ready and understand how to do partial mashing. I am also OK with the tedious process of putting priming sugar into each bottle. Appreciate any advice or tips any of you care to share.

Mike


Mike

 

[mors]

In theory if you could get onederbrew fermenter down to 57F and 20psi you would have about 2.4 vols of co2. I wouldn't recommend this. I think 20psi is roughly when that plug in the top is suppose to blow so I would still be bottling conditioning. As for how to do it... I would release most the pressure from the onederbrew and then fill up a bottling bucket with your priming sugar melted and in the bottom of it. Then bottle from there. You can calculate how many vols of co2 you have in the onederbrew but you will lose co2 during the transfer and bottling... so I think there might be some trial and error in figuring out how much priming sugar to use to get appropriate carbonation levels. I've only ever kegged from the Onederbrew.

 

[bxtzd3]

after reading this i still dont see where the up to 20 gal fermenter question has been answered. i think i may go with the spraysmarter conical diy thing. i guess you can get a 10-15 gallon bucket but theres no relief valve, and will the legs support the 15 gallon of wort.

 

[mors]

No you couldn't use that much wort. Anything more than 6-7 gallons in a bucket on this thing would be a bad idea.

 

[mycuff]

I now have a onederbrew with the first batch underway. I will start sampling after a week. I guess I will bottle and use less priming sugar, depending how carbonated it seems when it comes out. Satisfied with the product so far. Seems well made for the price.

 

[mycuff]

Update and question. Had a party and basically served it after just one week of fermentation. So it had cold crashed for a day prior to the party, and we drank maybe 40% of it last night. It was a "northern brewer" brown ale kit, very good but probably would have been better with more time. I did not take an initial or final gravity. Today, one day after the party, pressure has dropped from 12 psi to just under 5. I can easily bottle the rest as it is lightly carbonated at this point. I have not harvested any yeast and it remains with the other sediment in the tip of the cone.

My questions: Should I add priming sugar to the bottles? I would think yes otherwise the beer will likely be flat. Do I need to (and can I) wake the yeast back up by bringing the onderbrew back to room temp? Should I shake the container to get some of it back in suspension, then bottle it and leave at room temp for another two weeks?

Failing any advice, my plan is:

1. Remove from fridge, gently flip and rotate the container to get the yeast out of the bottom tip of the cone.
2. Allow the sediment to mostly re-settle, but just for a couple hours. Beer will no longer be in the fridge and getting warmer, but will still be cold.
3. Add 1/2 teaspoon of priming sugar to each bottle (and this is less than then the 3/4 tsp I have used in the past)
4. Cap the bottles and give it a try in 2 weeks.

I am thinking the yeast will wake up when it gets warmer and will then have new sugars in the bottle to eat for carbonation. I am worried that without getting the yeast off the bottom of the cone it will not be present in sufficient quantity to convert the sugar in the bottle.

Any advice/opinions greatly appreciated!
Mike

 

[mors]

You're def going to need to prime the bottles to further carbonate your beers. I would use those priming tablets you can buy. They usually say to add 3 or 4 per bottle so I would add 1 less. The beer is only 1 week old. The fact that it was cold crashed does not take all the yeast out. There will still be plenty of yeast in solution to carbonate your beers. So in your outlined process I would drop steps 1 and 2.

 

[Rhumbline]

Had to harvest yeast from the Onederbrew today...while I was waiting for the yeast to "poop" out I figured I would make a quick video with my phone to show you what I mean.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32JG83SKSF0

OK, I don't know if I'm alone here, but based on the linked youtube videos that came up after your video I'd just like to make one request.

Please, I'm begging you, Check the linked vid's that come up after the link in your post. I can only guess that including "yeast Infection" in the description is NOT a good thing.

Seriously, I'm on my knees begging you, kill that post!

 

[mors]

Heh that is pretty disturbing but the videos displayed after the video are out of my control. I assure you 'yeast infection' is not a tag though 'yeast' certainly is.

 

[mycuff]

Had great success with carbonating my beers. They came out great after two weeks of bottle conditioning. I used a standard 3/4 teaspoon of dextrose per bottle and all was fine. It was a complete success. So to recap (no pun intended) I drank half of it on day 9 with some buddies and it was good. I bottled the rest on day 11 and two weeks later it was even better, very much like a Newcastle brown ale. Very happy with my new toy.

By the way I had a problem with one of the attachments on the onederbrew and contacted the owner. He sent me a replacement right away. Great customer service.
Regards,
Mike

 

[Jaimez]

I would really like to see a "cone" only version. No Pressure valve. But drilled and ready to go. No "carbing". Basiclly a "convert your 5 gallon bucket to conical" only. Legs too. So...
The cone + legs + 2 spigots + Valve and stem for CO2 release + gasket and clamp ring.

How much?

Edit:

And not to be rude. But the website really needs to be updated. Each product or "kit" needs its own page.
Like in this thread people assumed that "We do not recommend pressurizing and do not guarantee your bucket " meant YOUR bucket as well. since both products are on the same page. The website needs to be brought into 2013. It looks like it was made in 2001 to be honest.

 

[mors]

It wouldn't be hard at all to do that... all you need to do it take the rubber plug out of the bottom of the bucket and stick an airlock in. Done.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

I ran across this...update.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1131586455/onederbrewtm-brew-ferment-chill-and-serve-all-in-o