Got myself a new FV..

[AdeDunn]

I needed a new one anyway, as my 2 good buckets (my 30L Love Brewing ones basically) are both full, and the Grisette is coming up on needing bottling. So I was in the market for another for bottling from (my old, original, bottling bucket the tap is WAY too high, and it's rubbish anyway) at least.

So anyway, was nosing around, and decided I didn't want yet another bucket. Read some reviews, and settled on..... a 30L Speidel with the massive airlock and tap add on.

Happy with what I see to be honest, and nothing but good feedback from other folks with them that I've spoken to on the internet. One day it'd be nice to have something like a Fermentasaurus, but for now this is a nice step up from a bucket for sure. That airlock! It's like something my kids would drink out of!!! I've been assured that I won't need to use my trusty blow of tube any more with that baby. abigt



Oh and yeah, I can get my arm in the top no problem. I have very long arms too, kinda like a certain librarian from a certain fictional university... lol

 

[Oneflewover]

I needed a new one anyway, as my 2 good buckets (my 30L Love Brewing ones basically) are both full, and the Grisette is coming up on needing bottling. So I was in the market for another for bottling from (my old, original, bottling bucket the tap is WAY too high, and it's rubbish anyway) at least.

So anyway, was nosing around, and decided I didn't want yet another bucket. Read some reviews, and settled on..... a 30L Speidel with the massive airlock and tap add on.

Happy with what I see to be honest, and nothing but good feedback from other folks with them that I've spoken to on the internet. One day it'd be nice to have something like a Fermentasaurus, but for now this is a nice step up from a bucket for sure. That airlock! It's like something my kids would drink out of!!! I've been assured that I won't need to use my trusty blow of tube any more with that baby. abigt

View attachment 14841

Oh and yeah, I can get my arm in the top no problem. I have very long arms too, kinda like a certain librarian from a certain fictional university... lol

Ook!

 

[Dutto]

I like the look of that so I looked at the brand on Amazon ...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=grocery&field-keywords=+Speidel+fermenter&ajr=0&ajr=0&ajr=0

Apparently, the 30 litre Cider Barrel with loads of attachments (including an air-lock) costs £52.89 (with delivery) ...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002QVOE1M/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

... whereas the 30 litre Beer Keg with a cap, tap and an air-lock costs £79.70 (free delivery) ... (1)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B017P0E0EO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

... and the 30 litre Beer Keg with a cap and an air-lock costs £64.70 (free delivery) ... (1)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B017P0E0EO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

... and TWO 30 litre fermenters for wine making with caps cost £93.15 [£46.58 each] (free delivery) ... (2)

IF they all use the same container, the Cider Barrel is the Best Buy - but at nearly £53?

(1) The Tap costs £15 and they don't sell them separately!
(2) They look 12% cheaper but they have ZERO accessories. So no Tap or Cap?

 

[AdeDunn]

Including shipping I paid £49.47 for the FV, tap and airlock. Amazon isn't always the cheapest place, especially for brewing stuff. I got it from Brew UK, after finding that it was more expensive on Home Brew Online (who are usually cheaper). Oh and no, the tap and airlock aren't included with the FV, they're optional extras. As standard the FV comes with a screw on cap thing on the bit where you can fit the tap, which will also happily screw on to the top bit where the bung for the air lock screws in. The bonus of this is that you can get a second tap and attach it up there if you decide you want to use a blow off tube, making it really easy to add a blow off tube (eg. the air lock makes it too tall for your fridge or something).

The tap costs £3.60, they sell them separately. The airlock with bung costs another £3.89 and is sold separately. The FV costs £35.99 on it's own (no tap, no airlock). Shipping was £4.99. Oh and if you feel really flush, there's a crazy thing that counts the bubbles in the airlock, and monitors temperature or something, with some fancy LEDs and a WiFi connection, for another £139.99 (at that price you'd think they'd bundle a free airlock... lmao)....

It's not a cheapo budget option for sure, for that you use a bucket, and I've made many a good brew with my Love Brewing buckets. But I wanted something just a little fancier, without going totally mental.

 

[Dutto]

.......... Oh and if you feel really flush, there's a crazy thing that counts the bubbles in the airlock, ..........

If it wasn't you I'd seriously think that you were taking the piss!

It's amazing how flush I feel at this time of night when SWMBO has gone to bed ... :thumb:

... but tomorrow she will wake up and I'll just have to content myself with kicking a spare £10 Wilco FV!

When I was working I used to say "She must go shoplifting to keep household costs so low!" but since we've retired I've discovered that she's just a very canny Scottish lady who now expects me to stop buying what she calls "Toys!"

e.g. Brewing gear, cars, caravans, motorhomes, cycles, motorbikes, quads, boats, guns, fishing gear, phones, computers, Kindles or anything else that lifts my soul. abigt

"Toys?" We all know that the word is "Essentials"!

 

[AdeDunn]

Out of Speidel for thinking that that's something they should be selling at that price point bud.... I mean, sure these have the reputation of excellent seals, so NO CO2 goes anywhere but through the airlock, but you still don't go by the airlock as any more than a rough indication of when to do your first "Is it about finished?" SG measurement? I meant, I'm a total tech geek, and love gadgets, but I'm really not in to things like this and the Tilt, not at those prices anyway...

I have some extra luck with my wife. Not only has she embraced my brewing hobby as the best (and probably least expensive) of all of my hobbies so far, as she REALLY enjoys the end product, but also I finally got her to take up hobbies herself last year, in the form of crochet, and then this year she got into crafting with para cord (she makes bracelets along with cat and dog collars). All of which require constant little purchases here and there. She did however start to get twitchy whilst I was engaged in my boiler build, but that was because it became a bit of an endless loop of dis-satisfaction on my part. Once I was happy with the controller, she was much happier. She was the one who finally put her foot down though and told me "Enough is enough, just drop the hammer and buy a properly made false bottom!", as the simple truth was that the cost of trying to DIY one often ends up higher, especially when things go wrong or don't work.... It was also her decision that eventually I am to get a 50 litre Brew Devil/Hopcat type all in one machine, that's how much she likes the beer! She fully recognises that she loves craft beer, and that 1) buying beer as good would cost far more than my brewing hobby does, and 2) we'd struggle to find the same variety (she LOVES the different Saisons that I brew, along with the Patersbier I've now brewed twice).

All of this said, I've not actually told her how much this cost... Only that it was more expensive than my buckets were, but a lot cheaper than a Fermentasaurus........ I ordered it at about 2am whilst she was fast asleep in bed....:hat: I have no plans of been any clearer on the price, and one day I'd like something like a Fermentasauraus, or maybe a stainless conical type doodad.... Long before that happens though I want a nice tall fermentation fridge.... Which has had approval for ages from her, I just need to get rid of the empty 40 gallon octagonal aquarium and stand currently taking up space that I need to move things into to free up space for the fridge I want (I've mentioned my past hobbies right? In my defence, she chose the tank, and our current one.... lol).... She did, half jokingly, suggest converting that into a fermenter once..... If it wasn't so tall, I'd maybe try to convert it into a temperature controlled chamber, but I need a ladder to reach more than half way down it (I'm 6'5" tall!!!)!

 

[110ben]

I have 2 of these that came with the airlock and tap. They are great quality and work well but mine were a lot cheaper from here
https://www.brewuk.co.uk/brupak-30-fermenter.html
The only downside fro me was the lack of level markings but to be honest it did not take t
long to sort that out. They also fit nicely in my brew fridge.

Oops just realised not the same as the speidel but does have a screw down ring to clamp the lid as well as a giant airlock and tap

 

[Dutto]

...............

All of this said, I've not actually told her how much this cost... ........

BEWARE! My mate is currently mumping about his wife selling his Meccano after his second stroke. According to Mike it was worth many thousands of pounds and his wife sold it for just a few hundred.

My own SWMBO promptly pointed out that it was probably his own fault because "Since when has a husband ever told his wife what his hobby actually costs?"

I'm pretty sure that my mate wished he was back in a post-stroke coma because she then went on to recall the fact that many years ago he left his wife to look after five kids whilst he swanned off to Las Vegas to pursue his other hobby!

I hope I die before I get to see my own wife virtually give away my "toys"! abigt abigt

 

[AdeDunn]

I have 2 of these that came with the airlock and tap. They are great quality and work well but mine were a lot cheaper from here
https://www.brewuk.co.uk/brupak-30-fermenter.html
The only downside fro me was the lack of level markings but to be honest it did not take t
long to sort that out. They also fit nicely in my brew fridge.

Oops just realised not the same as the speidel but does have a screw down ring to clamp the lid as well as a giant airlock and tap

Yeah, that's where I got my Speidel from. I looked at the Brupaks one first, a few folks though reckon that the taps are too high in them? A pet hate of mine. I can't see any handles on the Brupak one either? The photos on there probably just don't do the Brupaks one justice or something though, maybe they'd rather sell more Speidel ones?

BEWARE! My mate is currently mumping about his wife selling his Meccano after his second stroke. According to Mike it was worth many thousands of pounds and his wife sold it for just a few hundred.

My own SWMBO promptly pointed out that it was probably his own fault because "Since when has a husband ever told his wife what his hobby actually costs?"

I'm pretty sure that my mate wished he was back in a post-stroke coma because she then went on to recall the fact that many years ago he left his wife to look after five kids whilst he swanned off to Las Vegas to pursue his other hobby!

I hope I die before I get to see my own wife virtually give away my "toys"! abigt abigt

My wife is a hoarder bud, so I'm 100% safe from this ever happening. A strange positive to an otherwise quite debilitating mental health problem. She went mad at me when I first moved in with her all of those years ago, and binned all of my issues of Tropical Fish Hobbyist magazine (a US magazine not widely available here in the UK) so that she could keep her stuff in the cabinet of my aquarium (that I moved in with). To me it seemed only fair, seeing as how it was my aquarium now taking up space that it hadn't been before we met. Turned out she loved tropical fish nearly as much as me and had wanted an aquarium for years but couldn't afford or justify one as a single mother.

It's my dad you have to watch... He borrowed my fishing tackle (not a euphemism) once, said he wanted to go fishing.... Few months later I found out he'd sold it all at a car boot sale and pocketed the cash......

I did actually broach the subject of the price of the FV with my wife. She started at £75 with a frown on her face, got down to £65 with me saying lower, then decided she didn't want to know after all. :hat:

She's quite safe from me going to Vegas, I find the place kinda repulsive to be honest. I have a serious aversion to gambling on games of chance, I won't even "play" the lottery.

 

[BeerCat]

Looks cool. I need a 50l fermentor. I dont think my fridge will take a 60l unless i carve up the door. Seem to be short on the ground.

 

[Dutto]

........

It's my dad you have to watch... He borrowed my fishing tackle (not a euphemism) once, said he wanted to go fishing.... Few months later I found out he'd sold it all at a car boot sale and pocketed the cash......

..........

I went to sea when I just turned seventeen. I owned a BSA Three-Wheeler motor-car (in those days you could drive it alone and on "L" plates if you blocked off the reverse gear) when I left, but when I returned from my first trip it was missing from the back garden. I pointed this out to my Mum who said "What do you need a car for now that you're at sea?" and handed me a fiver! (It had cost me £15!)

Subsequent returns from trips to sea saw me missing my bike and my guns with the same question when I queried there whereabouts.

I got the impression that my Mum didn't want me to go to sea!

 

[F00b4r]

By the way those Speidel "30L" fermenters actually hold 35L, useful if you actually want to actually brew 30L.

 

[MickDundee]

I fancied buying one of these with my birthday money after giving up on the idea of a Fermentasaurus so will watch this thread with interest.

About to get some cash from my dad sticking my old Super Nintendo on eBay as part of his Pre-housemove clearout, so between that and my birthday money I should be able to get a grain mill, one of these, new scales and a bottle rinser.

 

[Wilfy]

I fancied buying one of these with my birthday money after giving up on the idea of a Fermentasaurus so will watch this thread with interest.

About to get some cash from my dad sticking my old Super Nintendo on eBay as part of his Pre-housemove clearout, so between that and my birthday money I should be able to get a grain mill, one of these, new scales and a bottle rinser.

Which grain mill you going for? I'm going to ask for a Bulldog for me birthday in December.

 

[MickDundee]

Which grain mill you going for? I'm going to ask for a Bulldog for me birthday in December.

It’s the Bulldog I’m going for - £83 on Home-Brew-Online and seems to get good reviews.

 

[Wilfy]

It’s the Bulldog I’m going for - £83 on Home-Brew-Online and seems to get good reviews.

Decent price. Might ask for some uncrushed grain to go with it as well.

 

[AdeDunn]

My wife has started to resist my buying my malt in bulk, she'd rather I paid more, purely so we don't have to find space to store it in any more.

I can see her point to be honest, and at least my crush should be fresh in the future.... So no mill for me any time soon.

 

[Dutto]

It’s the Bulldog I’m going for - £83 on Home-Brew-Online and seems to get good reviews.

Decent price. Might ask for some uncrushed grain to go with it as well.

Ouch! My own Mill cost £19 (thanks to the GBP plummeting against other currencies it now costs £22.80) ...

https://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Basic_Malt_Grain_Mill.html

It takes a bit of ingenuity and firkling about but using an old FV, a few bits of wood, a drill I had available and a few nuts and bolts, I knocked up what's in the photographs for no extra cost.

The last photograph shows the milled grain at three different settings. Although I normally set the mill up to 2mm, by reducing the gap and passing the grain through the mill a couple of times, I can mill my own malted grain flour to make a Malt Loaf that beats anything you can buy in a shop.

Enjoy! :thumb:

 

[MickDundee]

Ouch! My own Mill cost £19 (thanks to the GBP plummeting against other currencies it now costs £22.80) ...

https://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Basic_Malt_Grain_Mill.html

It takes a bit of ingenuity and firkling about but using an old FV, a few bits of wood, a drill I had available and a few nuts and bolts, I knocked up what's in the photographs for no extra cost.

It looks good but the ingenuity and “firkling about” are the things that put me off a cheaper mill. I don’t have a lot of time for brewing so anything that lets me take “the next step” without taking up too much more of my time is worth paying more for, for me anyway.

The advantage of the Bulldog for me is that it has a massive hopper on the top so I can easily crush an entire brew worth of grain without having to top it up. It already has a wood base that will sit over an old FV and comes ready for attaching a drill.

 

[Oneflewover]

I got the barley crusher in a half price deal beerhawk did last year. About the same money as the bulldog if memory serves. It is a fantastic bit of kit, one of my best buys. Might be worth holding out to see if they do it again?