Switching from glass carboy to Stainless Fermenter for < $50

[arnobg]

Another tip.. once you slit the tubing and place it on the lip of your kettle / fermenter, overlap the ends, then take a new razor blade and cut through both layers at the same time. This ensures they'll be as seamless as possible even if your cut is not exactly squared up. I also made sure the tubing was not being stretched before making the cut. The result is a really tight seam. I still bridge the seam with a narrow strip of saran wrap for added protection.

That all said, once fermentation kicks off the beer should be protected by a layer of CO2, so the seal really just needs to keep stuff out vs. being airtight. You'll know you have a good seal if there is activity in the airlock.

Let me know how it goes. I have 2 running right now. One with BierMuncher's Centennial Blonde and the other with a variant of EdWort's Pale Ale. Here's a picture of my "Laurel and Hardy" fermenters with a total investment of $65 for both.

View attachment 562042

Curious about your brew sheet. Happen to have a PDF or DOC you could share?

 

[HopSing]

Curious about your brew sheet. Happen to have a PDF or DOC you could share?

It has continued to evolve, but I rarely fill out all the fields anymore. It was useful for dialing in a recipe or a process. I was unable to post the .docx file, so I uploaded the .pdf. PM me and I'll email the .docx to you if you would like to make changes to it. The stars on the left side line up for a 3 ring binder.

~HopSing

 

[homebrewer_99]

Still, I worry about the milk crates even if they're sturdy enough to lug a 5 gallon glass carboy. At some point I'd like to get a stainless fermenter with a yeast dump valve. Already have most of the kegging gear, minus the CO2 canister, but it would be nice to eliminate glass altogether.

Why worry about milk crates? I've never heard of one breaking.

I have 4 CO canisters, 20 kegs, about 20 carboys, 7 buckets, kegerator, keezer, SOFC, Bayou burner, etc.

 

[thepicklebrewer]

I was considering making a few of these primarily for beer, but also for doing wine. Are they air tight enough to prevent oxidation over a long period of time?

 

[Miraculix]

I am fermenting my third beer now in my ultra budget solution

I reduced the boil to 15min, cool it in the sink and then pitch directly into the kettle and seal it with duct tape afterwards

Looks sh itty, but first of all, MC Gyver would be proud of me, and second, the beer turns out great! I love it! So little cleaning to be done

 

[HopSing]

I was considering making a few of these primarily for beer, but also for doing wine. Are they air tight enough to prevent oxidation over a long period of time?

The easiest way to determine if the seal is truly airtight is to use a 3 piece airlock. If the bell of the airlock stays elevated off of the stem after fermentation has completed, you have an airtight seal. If you see the bell resting on the stem after fermentation is complete, then air has leaked out. Even without a perfect seal, there is a blanket of CO2 protecting your beer so the risk of oxidation is pretty small if you don't move the fermenter around too much. Not sure about wine, but I would assume that same layer of CO2 is present as well.

~HopSing.

 

[HopSing]

I am fermenting my third beer now in my ultra budget solution

I reduced the boil to 15min, cool it in the sink and then pitch directly into the kettle and seal it with duct tape afterwards

Looks sh itty, but first of all, MC Gyver would be proud of me, and second, the beer turns out great! I love it! So little cleaning to be done

Instead of duct tape, get one of those exercise bands. Wrap it around and stretch the band as you wrap. Use a few clips to keep it in place. It definitely helped, it's reusable, and won't leave any glue residue on your pot. That said, I just use the makeshift gasket from silicon hose. I found making the fermenter perfectly airtight was not needed. Just want to keep other visitors out of my beer before I get to drink it.

Like these:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M053Q3B/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

~HopSing.

P.S. I am doing single vessel mash, boil, cool, and ferment exclusively now. It's great washing 1 pot once! Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[thepicklebrewer]

Alright I'm ordering everything I need. I'll update everyone on how the build goes and how air tight I got it. Thanks!

 

[Miraculix]

Instead of duct tape, get one of those exercise bands. Wrap it around and stretch the band as you wrap. Use a few clips to keep it in place. It definitely helped, it's reusable, and won't leave any glue residue on your pot. That said, I just use the makeshift gasket from silicon hose. I found making the fermenter perfectly airtight was not needed. Just want to keep other visitors out of my beer before I get to drink it.

Like these:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M053Q3B/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

~HopSing.

P.S. I am doing single vessel mash, boil, cool, and ferment exclusively now. It's great washing 1 pot once! Thanks for the suggestion.

That sounds like a good idea but my pot is so dirt cheap, the lid is uneven and does not close properly. I tried to create a seal out of a Silicon hose but the handles of the pot are far too close to the rim, so the seal cannot be properly placed. Duct tape really seems to be the best solution. It is not air tight, but as you already mentioned, it is not necessary to be air tight.

 

[Soulshine2]

I am fermenting my third beer now in my ultra budget solution

I reduced the boil to 15min, cool it in the sink and then pitch directly into the kettle and seal it with duct tape afterwards

Looks sh itty, but first of all, MC Gyver would be proud of me, and second, the beer turns out great! I love it! So little cleaning to be done

why only a 15 minute boil?

 

[Miraculix]

why only a 15 minute boil?

Because it works and I don't have a reason to extend it!

 

[Soulshine2]

Because it works and I don't have a reason to extend it!

so how have you adjusted your short boil time to include your hops additions?

 

[Miraculix]

so how have you adjusted your short boil time to include your hops additions?

I brew a hop tea on the side during the mash. I use plain water for the tea and get even better isomerization rates than with wort this way.

Works really well!

 

[Soulshine2]

ok, so im a little confused,yet intrigued . Can you explain that more? Im sure your (filtered?)side hop tea results in a cleaner wort . How do you use the same amount of hop tea you would if the addition was in the same boil as wort? I'm thinking in volume here. It must be just a super-concentration.

 

[Miraculix]

Yes, you are asking the right questions. In general, wort can hold about 100ibus max, depending on sugar and protein content of the wort. The more sugar and protein in solution, the less isomerization can take place.

I use plain water, and this can dissolve way more alpha acid than wort. I use for example 4 l of water for the tea, while using 12 liter for the biab mash. But I guess even two or three liters would do for the tea. After boiling the hops I just pour it through a sieve into the wort.

The brewers friend online calculator seems to be fairly accurate, but make sure that you put in 1.0 as your wort gravity and the correct boil volume and final volume.

 

[Soulshine2]

awesome. Did you do this as an experiment or read it beforehand somewhere? I like the idea .

 

[Miraculix]

awesome. Did you do this as an experiment or read it beforehand somewhere? I like the idea .

I used to experiment a lot with raw ales and as the wort does not get boiled there, workarounds needed to be found. @Ninoid pointed me to a link somewhere describing that the 100ibu limitation does not apply to plain water and that's how this idea came up. Did this at many batches now. At first with one third of the total volume as hop tea, reducing the tea volume more and more and still getting the same amount of ibus. Works pretty well. The only thing I am not completely sure about is if hop flavour and aroma will suffer a bit when lowering the tea volume further. The bittering certainly does not and for now, it looks like the 4l tea also delivers the expected flavour and aroma in my last batches.

 

[Ninoid]

I confirm what Miraculix says. I cook hop tea in 3L water and get good bitterness, but not exactly the same as boil in wort. It has a slightly sour taste, but it certainly does not spoil the taste of beer.

 

[Samudell]

Has anyone used the binder clips to do pressurized frementation? I'm talking under 13 psi

 

[shoengine]

I haven't tried binder clips, but I can do just over 1psi with the four clips built into a Ss BrewBucket. Any more than that and it blows the seal. Unless the lid is very small, psi starts adding up really quickly.

 

[Jim R]

I also do pressure transfers easily with the SS Brewbucket at very low pressures especially if I just set the fermenter on a countertop and the keg on the floor. I don't need more than 1-2 psi for rapid transfers although this is with the bottom valve of the Brewbucket so I don't need to go over the lid.

Some stronger woodworking clamps would work better than those large paper clips.

 

[cgriffith]

I don't think the binder clips can hold more than 1 or 2 psi. I did a leak check on my system using lung air pressure. If I really put some effort the seal would leak. I surmised it was good enough for fermentation, but not for pressurizing.