MrBeer Fermentor vs. 3-gallon Better Bottle

[Chupa LaHomebrew]

2 things:

I'd keep sampling of beer down to a minimum from any homebrew spigot. But if you do, just hit it with a spray of star-san before & after.

I do a 7 gallon boil inside on a gas stove. The pot sits over 2 burners. It works really well for me. If you're interested in trying it, try and borrow someone else's pot and see if you can get a good boil using your stove. It beats having to return a used pot if it doesn't work.

[ColdBraue]

That's a very interesting point. Do you know of any places where I can read up on how fermentor geometry affects the beer's flavor? Why does open fermentation increase the fruitiness of the brew? How does the airlock type change the esters of the beer?

Which beer styles are more suited for open fermentation? I know Anchor uses open fermentors for their Steam beer.

I know Jamil has mentioned it a number of times, and in Brew Like A Monk, Stan H. talks about how the flavors changed for a number of breweries in Belgium when they switched to cylindral/conical fermenters because there was less surface area. They had to get bigger fermenters and fill them up with less wort to get the right ratio of surface area to beer volume that they had in the past.
Esters are affected by the ratio of surface area to volume (the greater, the more esters), and that is because (I think) of pressure. Using an airlock creates some pressure inside the fermenter, which restricts ester production.
There are some breweries who have fermented lager strains in the 60's under high head-space pressure and have had some success.
So the more pressure in you fermenter, and the deeper and taller the fermenter, the fewer esters you will have.
Anchor's yeast is a lager strain that ferments warmer and is fairly fruity. Not overly so, but their fermentation "boats" are part of that flavor. Plus, it's tradition from back in the day.
Hope that helps, and hope I was accurate...
Cheers!

[natmartin]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I think I'm going to go for another MrBeer Fermentor for now, while I slowly build up what I need for 5 gallon batches someday.