Fermentasaurus, Fermzilla or Fast Ferment. Which to buy?

[phildo79]

I have attached the spunding to an empty pressurised corny. This will tell me if it's a dud or not.

Could the disconnect be the issue?

 

[foxy]

A number of points to check. The posts have two 'O' rings, one small and a larger one, get some Haynes Lubrifilm Plus, give them a smear and make sure they are seated properly. Check that the units PRV is tightened down. Smear the gasket of the lid with Lubrifilm.
They are the only points of any leakage on the unit.

 

[phildo79]

Wasn't all this already checked during the pressure test though? I mean, I know the thing has travelled a long way from Australia to Ireland but shouldn't those suckers be tightened down good and proper? Have you ever had any issues straight out of the box?

 

[foxy]

Wasn't all this already checked during the pressure test though? I mean, I know the thing has travelled a long way from Australia to Ireland but shouldn't those suckers be tightened down good and proper? Have you ever had any issues straight out of the box?

Yes usually its the posts 'O' rings.

 

[phildo79]

Well the gauge on the spunding valve hasn't moved since I attached it to the corny half an hour ago. Looks like it is working ok. So the issue is the fermenter. I don't have any of that lubricant you mentioned. Never heard of it, tbh. I've got petroleum jelly though. Are the posts a quick enough fix?

 

[foxy]

Very quick. When they are tested they aren't put together to test, they come off the blow moulder and clamped onto the pressure tester.

 

[phildo79]

Right, lubed up the post o rings, gasket head and tightened the prv. Set it to 10 psi. Wonder what I will wake up to in the morning. Thanks for the speedy reply with advice. Otherwise I'd be getting grief from the missus in the morning about it. Still might, of course.

 

[Doive]

Giving serious thought to upgrading my fermenting setup with Fermetasaurus. Reviews I have read & seen have been good, but will be interested to see your findings Phildo. Would love to get a corny for dispensing as well, although the fermentasaurus would be a good interim setup for pressure dispensing too.

 

[phildo79]

Well I woke up this morning to a pleasant surprise. The pressure had actually risen. Dialled it back down to 10psi and hopefully that is where it will stay. Will find out on Monday or Tuesday. Thanks again to @foxy for the help last night. Wouldn't have thought to grease the poppets without you, bud. Appreciate it

 

[foxy]

I think its best to stick with the quality, some more disasters with the FermZilla.

Only 2 brews and the stress fractures showing already, wouldn't want a toddler near one of these under any pressure!

 

[phildo79]

Definitely. The fermzilla seems well dodgy. I'd be cheesed off if one broke on me. Beer and money down the drain.

 

[Brew_DD2]

Definitely. The fermzilla seems well dodgy. I'd be cheesed off if one broke on me. Beer and money down the drain.

Not sure I'd agree. They appear to have sold thousands of units in Europe and whilst the number of failures you see online is a concern, you don't hear about all of the happy customers. The majority of the failures I've seen on the Fermzilla user's Facebook group appear to be user error. (People closing the dump valve whilst fermentation incomplete, overtightening the seals, filling the vessel with hot liquid etc.)

There are clearly weaknesses to the unit, but they continue to be very popular for a reason.

 

[Matt_W]

Not sure I'd agree. They appear to have sold thousands of units in Europe and whilst the number of failures you see online is a concern, you don't hear about all of the happy customers. The majority of the failures I've seen on the Fermzilla user's Facebook group appear to be user error. (People closing the dump valve whilst fermentation incomplete, overtightening the seals, filling the vessel with hot liquid etc.)

There are clearly weaknesses to the unit, but they continue to be very popular for a reason.

Agree, not had any issues with mine. The one above with the chunk taken out of the dump valve assembly hasn’t been caused by pressure, someone has given it a whack with a hammer. Rubber mallet and a gentle tap will undo it first time.
I don’t even have to lube the collection bottle, hand tight is fine.

It will be interesting to see how the fermentasaurus holds up when it gets into the hands of those people who insist at fermenting at 40psi. I wonder how the sales figures compare.

also heard that Keg King will only support paid reviews.

 

[Snoop]

Interesting this thread. Which fermzilla models are exploding? I don't a have a fb account so cant check that group. I've got the original fermentaurus but also just got a fermzilla all rounder. Prefer the all rounder by a mile and not had any issues with it. I'll change my mind quite rapidly if it explodes tho.

 

[Matt_W]

Interesting this thread. Which fermzilla models are exploding? I don't a have a fb account so cant check that group. I've got the original fermentaurus but also just got a fermzilla all rounder. Prefer the all rounder by a mile and not had any issues with it. I'll change my mind quite rapidly if it explodes tho.

I think it’s the 27L one I have. Haven’t seen any complains about the all rounder but I’m sure it won’t be long before someone pours boiling wort in or doesn’t put a spunding valve on and it goes boom! in the night.
Tempted with the all rounder as I don’t dry hop that much, but I use a lot ok kveik so I like to be able to harvest it.

 

[foxy]

Agree, not had any issues with mine. The one above with the chunk taken out of the dump valve assembly hasn’t been caused by pressure, someone has given it a whack with a hammer. Rubber mallet and a gentle tap will undo it first time.
I don’t even have to lube the collection bottle, hand tight is fine.

It will be interesting to see how the fermentasaurus holds up when it gets into the hands of those people who insist at fermenting at 40psi. I wonder how the sales figures compare.

also heard that Keg King will only support paid reviews.

The collection bottles exploding are generally user error, keeping the valve closed with still fermenting yeast, something has got to give.

As you can see the valve is closed.

Considering the Fermentasaurus has been around for 3 1/2 years now, compared to 1 year for the FermZilla and the amount sold of the Fermentasaurus is way more than the FermZilla I have never seen or heard complaints apart from some leaking seals as to the amount of complaints FermZilla has accumulated.
I agree that doing away with the dump valve is a good option, I can still save yeast using the Snubby, just by tipping it out.

 

[Matt_W]

The collection bottles exploding are generally user error, keeping the valve closed with still fermenting yeast, something has got to give.
View attachment 29220 As you can see the valve is closed.

Considering the Fermentasaurus has been around for 3 1/2 years now, compared to 1 year for the FermZilla and the amount sold of the Fermentasaurus is way more than the FermZilla I have never seen or heard complaints apart from some leaking seals as to the amount of complaints FermZilla has accumulated.
I agree that doing away with the dump valve is a good option, I can still save yeast using the Snubby, just by tipping it out.

Is it wrong that I wish this hadn’t exploaded just so we would have seen a photo of the hop shower he would have received when he tried to undo it?

 

[Petrolhead]

I have been reading this thread with interest as I am in the market for a fermenter and I am going to give my thoughts as a prospective purchaser, in all honesty to see how these thoughts are shot down by the forums collective knowledge.

I originally wanted a conical with a yeast/trub bottle as I liked the idea of dumping my cooled wort straight in and removing the trub a few hours later or the next day, even though opinion seems to slightly favour the argument that leaving the beer on the trub doesn't effect the quality of the finished article.

However, I really like my fermentation fridge and I think it is really poor design that nobody makes the fermenters a little wider and able to fit in a standard fridge which are all about 720mm high internally. I have also recently got into recycling my yeast but I just overbuild my starters so I don't have a need to harvest the yeast from a fermenter. This really means my only real choice is the Snub Nose or All Rounder.

I want to ferment under pressure which they both do and I love my iSpindel so fermenting in a corny, my original plan, is out and I intend moving my beer, under pressure, into a corny when it is ready as I have my keezer all set up.

There are a lot of complaints about the quality of the Fermzilla products but only some minor ones on the Fermentasaurus which is a real concern but also the complaints appear to be mainly about fermenters with the yeast/trub bottle.

So taking in the above I don't think I can pass up on saving a few quid and buying the Fermzilla. I will probably end up with two which makes the saving even greater.

 

[Braufather]

Tempted to go for one of these myself. I have a ss brewbucket that i am very happy with Like the idea of pressure transfer and yeast harvesting, adding Purged hops with minimal oxygen pick up also appeals.

i am a bit confused though. As far as I can make out fermzilla is problematic and the snub nosed fermentersauruas seemed the consensus here. I haveNot seen any mention of the fermentasaura second gen, though? This lets you harvest yeast etc but does it suffer the same issues as the fermzilla, because of this?

 

[Braufather]

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.

how does that work? Do you cone the blow of tube to an empty corny keg?