Fermentasaurus, Fermzilla or Fast Ferment. Which to buy?

[Matt_W]

Isn't 2.2 bar about 30 psi? Whom would be so daft!

Yeah that’s very high around 2.2bar is around 32psi. Also makes me wonder how he knew what it was in the middle of the night.

It should hold tight at that pressure however. But then there are so many unknown factors. How old is it? What’s he been using to clean it?

It’ll be interesting to see what the fermentasaurus is like when it hits the UK market. It’s just that small opening that does it for me.

 

[phildo79]

I'll be quite happy to buy your products when they come online here, but the constant criticism of rival products is pretty wearing and not a great look. I have no problem with products/components made in China.

You pay for what you get. I am not saying everything made in China is rubbish but there is an awful lot of tat around with that printed on it. They also have a reputation for making inferior copies of things. I will gladly pay more for something I have more confidence in.

 

[foxy]

You pay for what you get. I am not saying everything made in China is rubbish but there is an awful lot of tat around with that printed on it. They also have a reputation for making inferior copies of things. I will gladly pay more for something I have more confidence in.

I have some fishing reels made in China which are real quality, unfortunately the FermZilla doesn't fall into that category.

 

[Brew_DD2]

You pay for what you get. I am not saying everything made in China is rubbish but there is an awful lot of tat around with that printed on it. They also have a reputation for making inferior copies of things. I will gladly pay more for something I have more confidence in.

Of course there is a lot of tat, but just about every product in your house will either be entirely made, or have components made in China.

I just think it's an easy generalisation. I also feel uneasy when companies seem to spend more time working about their competitors than their own products.

 

[phildo79]

I just think it's an easy generalisation

Very true but given the choice, would you buy a car that was made in China over a car that was made in Germany (if they were both the same price)? Would you buy a TV that was made in China over a TV that was made in Japan (if they were both the same price)?

 

[Brew_DD2]

Very true but given the choice, would you buy a car that was made in China over a car that was made in Germany (if they were both the same price)? Would you buy a TV that was made in China over a TV that was made in Japan (if they were both the same price)?

The car, Germany. The TV, pass. Thing is, both of those products will have many components made in China.

As for products made in Australia. I can honestly say I can't think I've ever had anything that is manufactured in Australia. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but I have no reference point to tell me it's a good thing either. I'm not entirely sure that's a big selling point in the UK.

 

[phildo79]

I think the selling point will be that it isn't made in China. Correct or not, a lot of people associate Chinese products with poor or lesser quality and, given the option, will veer towards something that's made elsewhere.

 

[Matt_W]

I have some fishing reels made in China which are real quality, unfortunately the FermZilla doesn't fall into that category.
View attachment 26514

I did this to mine. Cause, twisting the jar by the carb caps because I was tool lazy to look for the proper tool.

 

[Dave Parry]

It’s interesting to see how this thread has veered somewhat into a econo-political debate about globalisation and the relative merits of one country’s design and manufacturing skills compared to another.

I would tend to agree with @Brew_DD2 that it is too easy to generalise. In such a large country there is going to be a wide variation.

They make some excellent things, and some rubbish ones. If the design is to export standards and manufacturing is well controlled they can be the best (and cheapest) in the world. Look at the iPhone.

If they are designing to low cost and trying to compete on price, then caveat emptor.

 

[phildo79]

I used to use the ones with a stainless ball but have switched to CaskWidge

Do you use this inside the keg the beer is being transferred to or the fermenting keg?

 

[Session]

Do you use this inside the keg the beer is being transferred to or the fermenting keg?

I use it in my fermenting keg as I’m not sure the 10L kegs I transfer into are big enough for it to work! If I was transferring into a normal-sized corny keg to serve (for example if fermenting a larger batch on a fermentasaurus) I would certainly put one in there too.

 

[Justin Dean]

FermZilla, usual problems, doesn't seal well, lid gets stuck awkward to open, splits open, collection bottles tend to explode.
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Not seen any yet of the Fermentasaurus, Fermenter King etc
Buying Chinese get what you pay for.

People over pressuring them?

 

[foxy]

People over pressuring them?

One Swedish guy had his tank burst at 10 PSI.

The car, Germany. The TV, pass. Thing is, both of those products will have many components made in China.

As for products made in Australia. I can honestly say I can't think I've ever had anything that is manufactured in Australia. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but I have no reference point to tell me it's a good thing either. I'm not entirely sure that's a big selling point in the UK.

Most TV's are made in China. Any components made for overseas companies have a strict quality control in place. Where quality control is none existent then the company importing those goods can expect to have problems, as is the case with the FermZilla.

I would say the Australian made products speak for themselves, I have yet to see any posts of Fermentasaurus with any of the problems being encountered with the FermZilla.

 

[Newerbrewer]

The thing that makes me uneasy is the continual generalising about a whole country. It's lazy and wrong to suggest you shouldn't buy a product because it is from a specific country

The Fermzilla may well be flawed, but not because it is Chinese. But because the company that makes it hasn't produced a quality product.

Interestingly in my sector, the general consensus is that Chinese products are at the top range of quality, since they can no longer compete at the lower end of the market due to the economic development driving up wages and therefore being undercut by less economically mature countries with cheaper workforces. They've instead had to focus on innovation and quality to compete.
In contrast, Australia's focus on mining and natural resources is meant to have led to them being left behind in a lot of the innovation and process improvements of manufacturing compared to countries where it has been a focus sector.

Neither means I would buy or not buy simply because it is from a specific country - and no one else should either.

 

[foxy]

The Fermzilla may well be flawed, but not because it is Chinese. But because the company that makes it hasn't produced a quality product.

Interestingly in my sector, the general consensus is that Chinese products are at the top range of quality, since they can no longer compete at the lower end of the market due to the economic development driving up wages and therefore being undercut by less economically mature countries with cheaper workforces. They've instead had to focus on innovation and quality to compete.

I agree, it is the company that makes/sells it. Their integrity does come to question, not only over the FermZilla but other products, and patent infringements.

I will also agree there are a lot of goods coming out of China which are first class, a mistake often made by those wishing to do business there is asking if they can make the product cheaper. The Chinese take that literally as making the manufacturing cheaper, not the price.

 

[pottsworth]

I used to have a 7G fast ferment, and got rid of it when I ran out of other things to try to stop my hoppy beers oxidising (I was hugely sceptical that plastic permeability could be the issue, but I ran out of their suggestions).

I still have the 3G one which is OK for half batches, but the trub dump valve is rubbish - is normally sticks solid so you can’t remove the mason jar, and one time removing the jar also unscrewed the valve inner so beer just poured out. I remained fastferment with quite a detailed breakdown of the issue and they just said “it must be adjusted wrong”.

For full size batches I now use an SS brewtexh bucket. I’d been looking at one for at least a year, and wish I’d just gone for it earlier, as I wasted a decent chunk of the price of it in wasted beer.

You can’t do a pressure transfer, but you can do closed transfers by purging the corny with CO2 (which I do by pushing Starsan out with CO2 from fermentation), then running a line from the corny gas out to the bung to backfill the fermenter with CO2 as the beer drains. I’ve seen somewhere that the brewbucket only holds 1PSI or something, but it seems to be enough for pushing starsan out of a corny, and when you pull the bung there is a reasonable his. Touch wood I’ve had no issues with oxidation yet.

 

[rolando]

For what it's worth I'm on a fermzilla Facebook group, and there is near constant complaining about leaks and cracks.


All irrelevant if keg king don't exist in the UK.


So we'll have to stick to fermzilla for now.

 

[phildo79]

Eff that then. No point in buying something riddled with faults. I will hold out for a Keg King.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

All irrelevant if keg king don't exist in the UK.

We are fairly confident Keg King will soon be an advertising sponsor here so fingers crossed there may be an option soon.

 

[Brew_DD2]

We are fairly confident Keg King will soon be an advertising sponsor here so fingers crossed there may be an option soon.

I'd hope so given the amount of advertising there has been from various sources.