What fermenter are you using?

[Blazinlow86]

That makes my back hurt just reading it.

Lifting 5 gallons a few inches? Alot of brewers regularly lift a 5 gallon glass carboy into a chest freezer as did I for several years.

 

[Tbagger]

Lifting 5 gallons a few inches? Alot of brewers regularly lift a 5 gallon glass carboy into a chest freezer as did I for several years.

That's what I do until the day I can talk the wife into letting me buy a conical and chiller (I think it may be a while). The thought of only having to lift something a few inches sounds like heaven! lol

 

[mongoose33]

Unfortunately, I am. It is only a few inches and 5 gallons. If I had a pump, I could pump in to it.

That makes my back hurt just reading it.

Lifting 5 gallons a few inches? Alot of brewers regularly lift a 5 gallon glass carboy into a chest freezer as did I for several years.

There are two issues. One is that lifting straight up with my legs isn't all that difficult--it's lifting with my arms partially outstretched in front of me that is difficult, and putting a fermenter in a refrigerator requires just that. I have a fermentation chamber refrigerator in which I place full plastic fermenters with lifting straps. Fortunately I can get them in there most of the way and push them the remainder.

The second issue is that I have had two back surgeries. I used to carry full fermenters in a milk crate down to my basement, and even holding the weight that far from my center of mass was painful. Some of my post-surgery pain is chronic and will never go away, and it's exacerbated by trying to hold heavy weight away from my body. I just deal with it, because.......beer!

 

[BrewZer]

I have 3 fermenters... a bucket, a Mr Beer legacy 6.5 gal clear plastic, and a 8 gal HDPE conical.

Guess which one I use most often...

Spoiler: it's not the one you think

the Mr Beer

 

[RPh_Guy]

Like the other people that mentioned Fermonsters, I love mine (wide mouth PET with spigots) and will keep buying them as I expand.
I do need to get a bucket for mead at some point.

@mongoose33 sounds rough man. I'd be making smaller batches or setting up everything in one area and using a pump so I wouldn't have to lift 5+ gallons ever.

 

[mongoose33]

Like the other people that mentioned Fermonsters, I love mine (wide mouth PET with spigots) and will keep buying them as I expand.
I do need to get a bucket for mead at some point.

@mongoose33 sounds rough man. I'd be making smaller batches or setting up everything in one area and using a pump so I wouldn't have to lift 5+ gallons ever.

It is what it is. Lots of people have issues, this just happens to be mine. I can actually do a lot more than some people who have other kinds of back issues. I do have a pump I use for some things. Just kind of depends on the day as to how much lifting I can do without major consequence.

And I don't have any difficulty whatsoever with 16-ounce curls.

 

[hawkbox]

Ooh slick. I'm just using PET carboys right now. Moving to Fermonsters, might go to SS buckets someday but damn they're expensive.

 

[beernutz]

My Speidel 60L fermenter is awesome for 10G batches. I added a SS dip tube and ball valve from norcalbrewingsolutions and I would not trade this for a conical costing 5x as much.

 

[mcgimpkins]

I have 2 of these: 10 Gallon Black Lock Keg that I ferment 5.5 gallons at the time in.
I've been eyeballing one of these: Kegmenter Fermentation Keg - 13.2 gal

 

[hawkbox]

A 60L Speidel in Canada appears to be worth 2 SS Anvil brew buckets.

 

[Eric Tepe]

For those that have the Speidel fermentors with the NorCal dip tubes, what is the volume left in the carboy? I have 2x16 gal and still use a racking cane as using just the spigot leaves at least a gallon behind.

 

[z-bob]

I mostly use 4 gallon disposable plastic carboys. Like this: https://www.menards.com/main/grocer...-gallon-jug/200000/p-1444433847115-c-6646.htm I have some 3, 5, and 6 gallon glass carboys that I sometimes use for wine, but I've mostly stopped using them for beer after I dropped a full 3-gallon going down stairs.

 

[4of7]

13 gallon keg and yes i can move it

 

[SanPancho]

I mostly use 4 gallon disposable plastic carboys. Like this: https://www.menards.com/main/grocer...-gallon-jug/200000/p-1444433847115-c-6646.htm I have some 3, 5, and 6 gallon glass carboys that I sometimes use for wine, but I've mostly stopped using them for beer after I dropped a full 3-gallon going down stairs.

Man. Thatd be awesome to fill my 3 gal,kegs. Is that the only place you’v seen them? No presence here on west coast unfortunately

 

[_HH_]

I’m using a corney keg with floating dip tube and it works beautifully.
So much easier than the plastic bucket I was using previously.

I made the switch so I can exclude oxygen from my brewing process. I ferment in the keg, dry hop at day 4 by suspending a bag of hops above my fermenting wort from the PRV when I initially pitch the yeast, then sanitise the string and lower this in when the dryhop is needed. I spund in this as well so it saves CO2, and carbonates naturally.
After 7-10 days once I’ve taken a couple of gravity reading from the tap I install on the beer out post (which picks beer up from my floating dip tube) I transfer to the serving keg under the residual pressure in the fermenting keg - no extra C02 needed.
It’s a super economical way to do a whole lot more than is possible with plastic buckets - or even a lot of SS conicals, many of which do not allow fermenting under pressure.