Fermzilla

[RoomWithABrew]

Four fermentasaurus and trouble free, drop the yeast and trub out via the bottle and dry hop using bags and magnets. Works brilliant. But taller than snub nose so limited to one per fridge.

 

[stripeyjoe]

Get Er Brewed are selling the All Rounder for £49 if you’re after one. Sounds like something is up with your fermziller, it shouldn’t be that difficult to get the bottom bottle off.

 

[foxy]

I would be waiting for the Apollo to hit your shores. A lesson should be learned here with the FermZilla market crap well enough and it will sell. Mr Heath is selling them, he is hardly going to call them a white elephant.

 

[stripeyjoe]

A lesson should be learned here with the FermZilla market crap

Can't say I've had any issues with my All Rounder and, at £49, is pretty good value for money, especially if you get the pressure kit and other bits and bobs via China.

@foxy Please don't start your usual KegLand bashing it's tiresome and predictable, try and remember there is only one store in the UK who sell Fermenter King products and they are rarely in stock.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

I would be waiting for the Apollo to hit your shores.

Never heard of it. What is it?

 

[BlackRegent]

Never heard of it. What is it?

It's a smaller version of the fermentasaurus snubnose. The current snubnose is 35L and I think the Apollo is 30L or maybe even less, so easier to fit in a ferm fridge. The problem is that Keg King stuff seems to take an age to appear in the UK. Brew2Bottle seems to be the main (only?) UK distributor and they have been out of stock of much of the Keg King stuff for ages.

EDIT - I can see B2B have updated their website with new items (although currently out of stock) probably in anticipation of their next shipment arriving. The Apollo isn't on there so I think it will be some time yet before it is available in the UK.

 

[Neil Whittaker]

@Neil Whittaker how do you get the dry hops out when they're spent? I thought about putting them in a hop bag but not sure if the oils will get circulated very well like that.

I leave the hops in there till i keg the beer.
I've been leaning more towards a colder, shorter dry hop. Then cold crash the beer for a 2 days.
Also, i do not move the fermenter once chilled and I leave a small amount of beer 1/4".
Not had any grassy flavours so far. :-)
Hop utilization i feel could be better.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Ok thanks - as you've probably seen I'm not gonna use it now . Bloody thing

 

[Neil Whittaker]

I used to hate mine, the amount of stress it had brought is just daft.
Top seal was rubbish leaking co2, bottom seal/s leaked when beer was in. Mega stress.
However now, with a new o-ring (top), two tools and some experience it works.

Just make sure you fill it with water, pressurise it and test it's leak free before the wort goes in.
:-)

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Glad it's not just me then!

We pressure tested it with water yesterday. Leaked from everywhere, same as you. Piece of BLEEP BLEEP BLEEEEEEEEP!!!

 

[stripeyjoe]

Piece of BLEEP BLEEP BLEEEEEEEEP!!!

You should contact Angel (IIRC that's where you got it from) does sound like yours is either defective or needs replacement seals. It should not need to be much more than hand tightened to seal properly.

 

[Buffers brewery]

Notwithstanding the suggestion that your Fermzilla might be defective, I’d be tempted to make a “C” spanner to locate on the screw heads of the valve body with a nice long(ish) handle to help with the unscrewing. Yes, it should work out of the box, but from my experience of unscrewing PB caps, getting a good grip of the appropriate bits is more than half the problem! Good luck @LisaMC

P.S. I wouldn’t be tempted, I’d just do it!

 

[eyuptm]

My two penn'orth. I've had my Fermzilla for 18 months, and lots of brews, and I haven't had any issues, except depressurisation of the collection bottle.
ALL of the screw threads will be stupid tight to remove if they're under pressure, so depressurisation after closing the valve (for trub removal and adding dry hops) requires you to depressurise the collection bottle.
This can be a faff. Releasing the "bottle top" caps a tiny bit at a time, with a saucer or bowl underneath to collect the drips, is the way to go. DO THIS UNTIL THE LEVEL IN THE COLLECTION BOTTLE IS BELOW THE SIDE PORTS, otherwise the thing will be explosively hop-bombing, and make a right mess!!
Only takes 5 minutes, and several trips to the sink, to release the pressure and you're good to go.
No need for anything tighter than hand-tight for the lid or bottle- the seals are in the sides of the bore, so wrenching them super tight achieves nothing other than distortion, which will lead to leaks.
I'm very happy with mine, and am considering buying another, as oxygen free transfers have been as much of a game changer as my ferm fridge.
Keep at it- unless yours is faulty, they're a great piece of kit;!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

You should contact Angel (IIRC that's where you got it from) does sound like yours is either defective or needs replacement seals. It should not need to be much more than hand tightened to seal properly.

I have asked AHB to have a look at the thread with luck they may be able to help.
(I did explain that i am not sure if Lisa bought it off them)

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

@Chippy_Tea I didn’t buy that particular item from there no but I bought loads of other stuff from there.

The shop where I got it is sending me a prepaid label so I can send it in for assessment. But to be honest if I can manage to get the bottle off, I won’t bother.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Thanks Lisa, i hope you get sorted out it sounds like a faulty unit.

 

[AngelHomebrew.]

Hi Lisa

ChippyTea bought this to my attention

I think the bottom fittings have got cross threaded by the sound of it which probably will stop you both tightening and also removing it

Sounds like your supplier is already sorting for you which is good

Not saying this is the case here, but I have known this happen due to the reverse threads. Have seen this posted online before which someone taped up on the screwed fittings

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

It’s getting replaced with an all-rounder anyway so all is good. I’m not gonna waste any more of my life stressing over this lol

 

[foxy]

Never heard of it. What is it?

I had a different problem with my FermZilla straight out of the box had a huge dent in it would not push out read up why it is because air was trapped between the mould and the preform, took it back the second one had stress fractures from the manufacturing process around the neck. Took that back for a refund. Purchased the snub nose with no problem now have moved on to the Apollo's twice the thickness of all the other PET fermenters.
Keg King make theirs here on site in Australia. they have just commissioned a second machine to keep up with demand.
Keg Land on the other hand don't produce theirs, they buy them from China, they have had no end of problems. Stress fractures, bursting, can't get the top lid off, can't get the bottle off, leaks etc etc. Buy well and buy once.

 

[AngelHomebrew.]

oh here we go