The other type of fermentor

[Thirsty Boy]

So what makes that any better than a regular bucket? A screw on lid? OK I guess. I still would have to split my batches in two. As a ten gallon brewer I am more concerned with fermenting in one container. It seems my only option is a conical.

Mort

Well...

The screw on lids is "properly" airtight due to an O'ring, which not only means that nothing can get in, but that you can actually do a C02 transfer as well.

They have a spigot, which I know you can install on a bucket, but these have a proper built in port for the tap to fit into, it just screws in and out from the outside and is MUCH easier to keep sanitary. They also sell little sediment reducer widgets that fit into the back of the tap and make sure that it sucks only the beer from above and you get less yeast in your transfer. actually, I have never seen these gizmos for sale, they mostly come free with tap. New taps cost about $1.00 US

The bottom of the container is shaped and keeps the majority of the yeast at the edges, so you lose less beer to the yeast slurry

Something that is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Depending on how you look at it. Unlike a bucket, they aren't stackable. Which menas that they take up more space, but... you also have no risk of scratching the inside unless you put something hard in there. So dont. After all, you wouldn't drop a wrench into your carboy. I've had my one of these for years and there isn't a scratch in it.

And finally - This is actually your answer Mort. They come in sizes from 12-80 litres or in ancient American units: 3-21 gallons. And thats just in the ones specifically designed for homebrew or wine. I've seen drums that were exactly the same thing as big as 250litres (66 gallons)

A quick e-bay search for plastic drum, plastic barrel or plastic tank reveals many items that look remarkably similar to one of these.

It also reveals this



33 gallons. Which is an altogether different thing but just bursting with possibilities

Interestingly if you go to the e-bay site of the people selling this they have a bunch of Cone Bottomed tanks that are even MORE interesting...


15 gallons..

I'm sure you have a local supplier of this sort of stuff Mort. You could go the stainless conical, but you certanly dont have to.

Thirsty

[Bugeater]

I have been seriously considering the mix and fill tank you reference in your eBay link. However, if you buy the tank and stand directly from his supplier, U.S. Plastics, you can get the set for $136 plus shipping. That's about $40 less than the eBay guy. The U.S. Plastics link is http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/produc ... %5Fid=3863

In either case, you still need to come up with a valve for the bottom.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

[NumbSkull]

Thirsty Boy. OK glad to know there are more sizes. As far as the screw on lid goes I will go along with the airtight for pressure transfers being a good thing. My understanding is that gunk that could cause you an infection tends to fall straight down. Not up underneath a bucket lid. I might be wrong that was just my understanding.

Thanks

Mort

[Thirsty Boy]

Wayne,

I didn't actually pay tha much attention to the price, just thought it looked kind of cool and full of possibilities. I did notice that the e-bay guy included a 2 inch bottom valve in all his cone bottomed tanks, so maybe thats where he evens out a bit with the guys you found. Doesn't do me any good either way, the only similar thing I can find here in Oz is $300 + and doesn't even come with a stand!! Of course that said, a stainless conical here is going to cost me $750.00 for the smallest, no temp control model.

Mort, I tend to agree with you about the lid. I have only ever done a C02 transfer once and mostly a screw down lid is probably no advantage. But the fermentor is just a hell of a lot easier to use than buckets... I have buckets, 8 or 10 of them, but I only ever use them if my drum fermentor is already full and I just bought another drum fermentor so that isn't going to happen much anymore.

Anyway, just offering them up for consideration as another alternative, because they are so commonly used here in Aus.

Thirsty

[teamtom]

Actually, I think I've seen them at one of my LHBS. It was in a starter kit from...Cooper's. Imagine that, and they included plastic bottles for bottling as well. Interesting side note, they did not include a "secondary" in the kit, just primary to the bottle (Maybe Jamil has gotten to Australia).

[Thirsty Boy]

Yep, my very first homebrew experience when I was only 19years old (far too long ago, was with that very same coopers starter kit. It got lost in the distant past, but about 5 years ago I bought another one exactly the same.

Came with the fermetor, 30 (i think) brown pet bottles, a hydrometer, bottle brush, container of sodium met a stick on thermometer a bottling wand, a packet of carbonation drops, a tin of no boil pre hopped extract and a kilo of "brewing" sugar.

Add extract to 3litres of boiling water, dump into fermentor, dump in the kilo of sugar and stir till dissolved. Top up to 23 litres with cold tap water. As long as its below 30 degrees C. Sprinkle on the tiny packet of yeast that comes with the extract tin. After a week, or when the air lock activity stops, take a gravity - if it doesn't change for three days. Bottle. Wait 2 weeks for it to carbonate and drink.

They do suggest that if you can wait a bit longer, it will taste better!

It might sound terrible to the more advanced brewers here, but if you are a bit careful and actually follow the instructions, well, its not that great, but its better than most mega swills!! and less than half the price. Which is why most Aussies take up homebrewing. Its not about better beer, its about cheaper beer.

I still have the fermentor, the bottling wand and some of the PET bottles. As for a secondary, unless you have progressed to AG, no one here would even know what you were talking about. BTW, probably the least common form of homebrewing in australia is what you guys call extract brewing. The VAST majority is Pre-hopped no boil kits with a kilo of table sugar.

Thats why guys like Graham Sanders (and myself) like to call ourselves craft brewers rather than homebrewers. Differentiates us from those who are simply taking the quickest and easiest route to the cheapest beer.
Also helps that the small brewers who would be called craft brewers in the US, are called Micro Brewers here in Aus. No confusion.

that kit you saw is worth buying. the fermentor is good and the PET bottles are really handy if you want to ship. Of course thts if it isn't too expensive.

Thirsty