Sovereign Stainless Fermentor????

[bigdawg86]

I just came across this new bucket style fermenter on Northern Brewer and it seems nice for the price point, but there is only one stock photo...

8.4 gallons and has what appears to be a proper 1/2" ball valve as opposed to the small valve the SS Brewtech Brewbucket has. Any thoughts?

https://www.northernbrewer.com/sovereign

 

[rightthumbbc]

I'm intrigued by this as well. I live pretty close to a NB store, if I stop by maybe I'll take some pictures.

 

[bigdawg86]

>>>>> EDIT <<<<<<

 

[singybrue]

Saw one in the store the other day. Biggest problem is the hole in the lid is just a hole with sharp edges. Their rubber stopper was already all cut up. The 1st generation brew buckets had the same issue, until they changed to a dimpled hole.
It has a flat bottom, but I didn't check to see if you could rotate the racking arm.
It's basically a stainless bucket with a valve. The valve seemed decent though.

 

[jekeane]

So basically it looks like the anvil fermenter and a chapman fermenter had a baby together and InBev adopted it from china?

This in my opinion was the plan when InBev bought Northern brewer and midwest. Use InBev's deep pockets to manufacture knock of versions of products on the market and then stop carrying the original products so people buy their stuff.

At $149 with a flat bottom there is nothing that puts this ahead of the $129 Anvil with a slight cone bottom from what I can tell.

 

[Markd27]

So basically it looks like the anvil fermenter and a chapman fermenter had a baby together and InBev adopted it from china?

This in my opinion was the plan when InBev bought Northern brewer and midwest. Use InBev's deep pockets to manufacture knock of versions of products on the market and then stop carrying the original products so people buy their stuff.

At $149 with a flat bottom there is nothing that puts this ahead of the $129 Anvil with a slight cone bottom from what I can tell.

I think you nailed it.

 

[reefman]

thanks, I just bought an Anvil instead of the sovereign. its a gallon smaller, but it saved me money.

 

[bigdawg86]

I finally have my first brew fermenting in the Sovereign as we speak... a big stout. The construction is very nice, maybe a tad on the thin side as far as the metal gauge. The bulkhead / valve design is nice as there are no internal threads. The racking arm does indeed rotate. I will have to measure the clearance from the tube to fermenter bottom. I think what I like about this most, is the massive amount of headspace. Looking into the fermenter high krausen was probably 6-8 inches tall, yet it never reached the lid or needed a blowoff tube. The flat bottom doesn't bother me.

As previously mentioned, the lid bung is very sharp and chews up the stopper. The lid where the stopper goes is stamped flat, which makes for adding a weldless TC bulkhead very easy. There is room for a up to a 2" weldless bulkhead.. I will post when I add that.

Also unlike SSbrewtech, these fermenters can and do go on sale. I got mine for about 130 shipped. So even when I factor in the money to add my TC port, I am still (in my opinion) ahead of the brew bucket features... as in order to get a TC domed lid on the brew bucket you are adding 50-70 bucks to the 199 base price.

I also can add this to the Sovereign...
http://www.norcalbrewingsolutions.com/store/1.5-Inch-Tri-Clover-Blow-Off-Tube-with-Thermowell.html

 

[Lunkerking]

I finally have my first brew fermenting in the Sovereign as we speak... a big stout. The construction is very nice, maybe a tad on the thin side as far as the metal gauge. The bulkhead / valve design is nice as there are no internal threads. The racking arm does indeed rotate. I will have to measure the clearance from the tube to fermenter bottom. I think what I like about this most, is the massive amount of headspace. Looking into the fermenter high krausen was probably 6-8 inches tall, yet it never reached the lid or needed a blowoff tube. The flat bottom doesn't bother me.

As previously mentioned, the lid bung is very sharp and chews up the stopper. The lid where the stopper goes is stamped flat, which makes for adding a weldless TC bulkhead very easy. There is room for a up to a 2" weldless bulkhead.. I will post when I add that.

Also unlike SSbrewtech, these fermenters can and do go on sale. I got mine for about 130 shipped. So even when I factor in the money to add my TC port, I am still (in my opinion) ahead of the brew bucket features... as in order to get a TC domed lid on the brew bucket you are adding 50-70 bucks to the 199 base price.

I also can add this to the Sovereign...
http://www.norcalbrewingsolutions.com/store/1.5-Inch-Tri-Clover-Blow-Off-Tube-with-Thermowell.html

Did you come up with a solution for the stopper getting chewed up? Very interested as I bought one of these myself. What’s a weldless bulkhead you spoke of adding ?

 

[bigdawg86]

Did you come up with a solution for the stopper getting chewed up? Very interested as I bought one of these myself. What’s a weldless bulkhead you spoke of adding ?

Yes... I purchased a weldless TC bulkhead and carbide drill. Gonna borrow my neighbors drill press this weekend.

 

[Lunkerking]

View attachment 561082

Yes... I purchased a weldless TC bulkhead and carbide drill. Gonna borrow my neighbors drill press this weekend.

Nice idea! That bulkhead cost about $25?

 

[bigdawg86]

Nice idea! That bulkhead cost about $25?

Yes... the bulkhead is 25 bucks and the carbide drill is 17 bucks, both can be had from SSbrewtech

Another option is to get a weld on TC ferrule and "silver" solder the fitting... then you wouldn't be required to drill anything as the hole is the correct size for a soldered fitting.

 

[Lunkerking]

Yes... the bulkhead is 25 bucks and the carbide drill is 17 bucks, both can be had from SSbrewtech

Another option is to get a weld on TC ferrule and "silver" solder the fitting... then you wouldn't be required to drill anything as the hole is the correct size for a soldered fitting.

Thanks. You need to drill just to widen the hole a bit?

 

[bigdawg86]

Thanks. You need to drill just to widen the hole a bit?

if you go weldless yes it needs to be a 40-41mm hole, if you solder its perfect as is...

 

[bigdawg86]

I finally got around to adding a weldless bulkhead to the lid... was a snap with the carbide hole drill. I didn't quite get it as centered as I would have liked, but its done. Now I can add any 1.5TC accessory to the lid!

 

[Neilyboy]

Nice looking modification buddy! Thanks for the ideas
Neil

 

[bigdawg86]

For those who are interested in this fermentator or already have it.. I finally have mine in its final form. 1.5 TC lid with 1/2" blowoff and thermowell combo from Norcal Brewing. Gonna be putting a sour saison in it this weekend!

 

[VVbrewery]

For those who are interested in this fermentator or already have it.. I finally have mine in its final form. 1.5 TC lid with 1/2" blowoff and thermowell combo from Norcal Brewing. Gonna be putting a sour saison in it this weekend!

Maybe you should send those pics to NB. Might give them an idea for an upgrade.

 

[augiedoggy]

Maybe you should send those pics to NB. Might give them an idea for an upgrade.

they may sell well too. Just my thoughts but I dont know how many budget minded people would pay for such upgrades vs the tried and true airlock and stopper on what is supposed to be a simple economical alternative to a conical. Also in this application, the weldess tc fitting and stainless blow off tube looks cool but are actually less sanitary and require more disassembly/ reassembly work vs a stopper and airlock to keep clean and sanitized this would actually negate the normal point of using TC fittings in this case.

 

[hankinsonk]

For those who are interested in this fermentator or already have it.. I finally have mine in its final form. 1.5 TC lid with 1/2" blowoff and thermowell combo from Norcal Brewing.

Have you tried low O2 transfers? I wonder whether the clamps and gasket around the lid will hold a little pressure to export through the ball valve.

 

[bigdawg86]

Have you tried low O2 transfers? I wonder whether the clamps and gasket around the lid will hold a little pressure to export through the ball valve.

You can do them, but they fermentor doesn't hold much pressure. It wouldn't hold a uphill transfer without wasting a ton of co2, but if it were essentially a gravity transfer you can purge co2 during the process.

 

[hankinsonk]

You can do them, but they fermentor doesn't hold much pressure. It wouldn't hold a uphill transfer without wasting a ton of co2, but if it were essentially a gravity transfer you can purge co2 during the process.

Cool - that's all I needed. What you describe is kind of what I imagine to be the case with the SS Brewtech Brew Bucket. I found a local guy selling a Sovereign at a good price, and I think I am going to say good bye to glass. How's it holding up? Still enjoying it? There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of feedback out there regarding this unit outside the NB website.

 

[bigdawg86]

There isn't much to say about it other than it works! Having the over 8 gallon capacity though is what I like most about it... blowoff is a thing of the past. I have no complaints about this fermentor. As with many, temp control is what takes creativity. I love this one for doing sours, kvieks, and saisons because the walls of the fermentor are not tapered and a seedling heat mat wraps around perfectly for hot ferments including kombucha. For colder ferments you still need something like a ferm chamber or submersible.

 

[smartjonnyt]

Picked one up at NB...they are on clearance and being discontinued, in favor of the conical stainless steel offerings.

The main features I was looking for was larger volume and valve transfer. I went back and forth a bit between this one and conical...I like it, but might as well have flipped a coin.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Picked one up at NB...they are on clearance and being discontinued, in favor of the conical stainless steel offerings.

Bump for any other Sovereign fermenter owners...Any tips on the massive bulkhead and ball valve on this fermenter?

First off, it seems a bit hard to get it fully tightened to the point I am confident I won't get any leaks during fermentation. It would be nice if the internal bulkhead disk had some flat spots so you could hold it still with a wrench while tightening the other pieces.

What are you doing to clean an sanitize the bulkhead and ball valve? The ball valve comes apart easy enough to clean and sanitize. Are you removing the ball valve from the threads and then retaping the threads each time? Otherwise it seems rather hard to ensure it is clean and sanitized.

I have debated if it is worth spending $30 for something like the Anvil Foundry spigot, or this one for $20 off Amazon (Amazon.com), or if that is just spending money for a very minor upgrade, or maybe just trading one complaint for another.