Fermentors.

[Bolsover Brewer]

I have enjoyed reading the replies on Pressure Fermenting and The new Fermzilla. What is it that you as home brewers ferment in? I ferment in a bucket, I do still collect yeast, I can see the advantages of the plastic cone shaped fermenters. But would be interested to learn what fermenters most folk use, why and what are the advantages, purely on a home brew scale.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Like you, I still use plastic buckets (30l). They are cheap, they do the job perfectly well, they’re compact, and they’re easy to clean.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I use 30L bucket with a tap on it. I have also bought a Fermizilla allrounder, though shall continue to use the bucket too. I got the allrounder less for pressure-fermenting and more for closed transfer/serving at BBQs when my other kegs are full. That said, the option to pressure ferment is one I am sure I shall take when I need a lager done quickly.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

25L buckets.

 

[Brewnaldo]

Primarily the Brew2Bottle buckets. Fermentasaurus gen 3 occasionally, although the perished hose found yesterday might indicate just how infrequently that gets used

 

[MickDundee]

I mainly use my Fermentasaurus Gen 1, which I’ll be looking to upgrade to either the Apollo or the Fermzilla Tri-Clamp later this year.

I also have one of the Spieldel fermenters which I mainly use for wheat beers and English Ales where I don’t necessarily want to pressure ferment.

 

[Braufather]

I have a spiedal fermenter too, as well as ss brewbucket and a junior king fermenter. The ss brew bucket is my favorite by far, 3 -4 years old and still as good as day one, They are pricey though and Next one I will get will be the king keg apollo to replace the junior king.

 

[DocAnna]

30litre plastic buckets (too many), of which two have adapted lids to take ball lock posts for oxygen free transfers. One snubnose which is my preferred fermenter as it gives me more control and easier pressure transfer, and I've a 60 litre all rounder arriving this week too. I'd love to go stainless steel but the price really is quite prohibitive and it doesn't really seem to make sense at a homebrew scale.

 

[Agentgonzo]

For 15 years I used a plastic bucket and a siphon.

Last year I upgraded all my kit to stainless steel. I got a 30l brew monk (same as klaratein, SS brew tech) stainless fermenter with bottom tap and a drain valve. Much nicer than the plastic one to clean and use (but far more expensive). It comes with an integrated thermometer and is MUCH easier to fill bottles with than the plastic bucket

 

[Braufather]

I'd love to go stainless steel but the price really is quite prohibitive

Initial outlay maybe but not in the long the long term, they pretty much last for ever,

 

[AJA]

Plastic buckets or Corny kegs for me. They both fit nicely in my brew fridge.

I can't see me upgrading any time soon, unless I move into a bigger house with a dedicated brewing room!

 

[Sadfield]

2x Plastic FV, corny with spunding valve and a shallow stainless open fv, with a heat mat underneath for temp control. All allowing experimentation with fermentations for different styles. The stainless open fv worked out relatively inexpensive buying from a catering supply shop. Avoiding the 'homebrewer's premium' that home brew stores apply to anything stainless.

 

[DocAnna]

Initial outlay maybe but not in the long the long term, they pretty much last for ever,

That's sort of my issue - I'm not quite sure what scale I'd like to eventually work at, and don't want to commit to a 'forever' size of fermenter for now 😀.

 

[dcbrookes]

30litre plastic buckets (too many), of which two have adapted lids to take ball lock posts for oxygen free transfers. One snubnose which is my preferred fermenter as it gives me more control and easier pressure transfer, and I've a 60 litre all rounder arriving this week too. I'd love to go stainless steel but the price really is quite prohibitive and it doesn't really seem to make sense at a homebrew scale.

I used a couple of GF stainless steel fermenters for some years; before that I had an SS Brewtech 7 (US) gallon brew bucket, which I did not like. I now have three 35L All Rounders, which are excellent: I don't miss stainless steel at all. I love being able to see what's going on and the pressure fermentation is great and allows me to transfer my beer to kegs already conditioned.

 

[AJA]

30litre plastic buckets (too many), of which two have adapted lids to take ball lock posts for oxygen free transfers. One snubnose which is my preferred fermenter as it gives me more control and easier pressure transfer, and I've a 60 litre all rounder arriving this week too. I'd love to go stainless steel but the price really is quite prohibitive and it doesn't really seem to make sense at a homebrew scale.

Ooh, how have you adapted the lids to fit ball locks?

 

[Donegal john]

Plastic buckets a couple of demijohns for small batch and a 30l stainless conical that is by far the easiest to use as it leaves all the turb behind Undisturbed due to the bottom tap and the pipe that can be positioned to avoidthe turb and it’s easy cleaned and tri clamps make it easy to swap bits

 

[DocAnna]

Ooh, how have you adapted the lids to fit ball locks?

There's a thread on various methods of closed transfer from plastic fermenters here Closed Transfer From Bucket to Corny Keg

Fairly simply, drilled another hole and enlarged the existing hole to take a pair of ball lock posts, and added a floating dip tube which also has a slightly longer tube from the post for the fitting. The gas fitting is a barb type to a vinyl tube used for blow off or CO2 balloon collection.
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/annas-brewdays.89471/post-1066976
They can't do a 'proper' pressure transfer but enough pressure can be used to start a syphon into a keg provided that there is sufficient height difference.

 

[Mayor of Simpleton]

SS Brewtech Brewbucket is my bomb proof go to FV. It's been dropped, dented etc over the 5 or so years I have had it and it's still going strong. I love it. For closed transfer NEIPAs I have a Fermzilla all rounder.

 

[dave_77]

I have two fermzilla all rounders. I generally got them for closed transfers into kegs. I do let pressure build up after 2-3 days of fermentation to a maximum of 10psi just to help with a positive pressure when cold crashing and get carbonation off to a good start. Also helps to have a little co2 in the headspace when a dry hop to limit the 02 getting in for the short time the lid is off. I usually pop the lid dry hop, then I'll let the pressure build up a few psi before purging incase any oxygen got in then I'll let it build up to 5-10 psi until it's time to keg.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

30litre plastic buckets (too many), of which two have adapted lids to take ball lock posts for oxygen free transfers. One snubnose which is my preferred fermenter as it gives me more control and easier pressure transfer, and I've a 60 litre all rounder arriving this week too. I'd love to go stainless steel but the price really is quite prohibitive and it doesn't really seem to make sense at a homebrew scale.

Funny you should mention this, because only just now I was on TMM looking at the SS Brutech conical fermenters.
I'm currently fermenting in white plastic (HDPE) buckets but thinking they are getting a little bit scratched up and maybe it's time for something a little more professional. But the price... ouch! Not sure - maybe it's worth it; but those plastic ones are quite conveniently light to chuck about while you're cleaning them; and they take very little room when stacked inside each other 🤔