Ritchie 5 Gallon Wine Fermenter Bin Problem

[springtime]

Hi
I've just got a new fermenter bin, you know, the one with 2 handles and as screw top to take a demijohn bung & bubbler.
Anyway, I am going to use it for beer so I want to put a tap at the bottom.
Ritchie have very kindly made an indentation for this purpose but I am at a loss to understand why it is 2 to 3 inches from the bottom, probably leaving at least 3 to 4 pints that I will not be able to drain.
Has anybody come across this before & have they come up with a solution.

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[johnnyboy1965]

Ive just been given one of these. The idea of the tap so far up is to allow for trub. If I was you (and what Im going to do is) drill it out to take a "Little Bottler". This means you can ferment in this and just transfer to bottles without having to rack.

 

[springtime]

Yeah,
I thought it was that but in my other fermenting bin Ive put the tap (little bottler) about an inch from the bottom and this seems to work ok. 3 inches is excessive for trub and wasteful.

 

[bobsbeer]

You could put a short length of flexible tube on the back of the valve and another short length on the tap (or a little bottler) then it would syphon out the last bit.

 

[klaus]

I have still got one of those from Boots and it has the space for a tap pre-moulded during manufacture and it would only need to be cut through, it's about an inch from the bottom. If they have just marked it (i.e. it's not pre-moulded) I would just put the hole lower than indicated.

 

[StrangeBrew]

Like most fermentation vessels they're not specifically made for brewing. Most often they're bins / drums made for chemical or industrial storage uses and have simply been printed on by the home brew companies as a fermenter.

So trying to figure design parameters as a fermenting vessel is pretty pointless as it was never intended as such...

I do like the idea of a short turn down tube behind the tap from bobsbeer :thumb:


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[springtime]

That sounds like a solution - I'm just trying to work out how to attach a tube to the back of the tap. :whistle:

 

[johnnyboy1965]

You really dont need to attach a pipe to the back of the tap just drill the whole lower.

 

[shearclass]

Ive just been given one of these. The idea of the tap so far up is to allow for trub. If I was you (and what Im going to do is) drill it out to take a "Little Bottler". This means you can ferment in this and just transfer to bottles without having to rack.

Wouldn't it be better to siphon it to a new fv? That way you will have minimal loss from trub, and won't get so much crap in your bottles as you will if you bottle straight from primary FV.

 

[Moley]

Like most fermentation vessels they're not specifically made for brewing. Most often they're bins / drums made for chemical or industrial storage uses and have simply been printed on by the home brew companies as a fermenter.

I believe these have been designed and manufactured specifically as fermenters, they have been around for years, I've got a couple bought from Wilkinson's and mine have Young's overprinting.

The tap position is moulded in, not printed on, and is 3" (75mm) from base to drill centre. You can just about make it out in this picture, and if you fit one at that position the bottom of the spout will be clear of the floor when it's in its normal position.

When you've drained the FV to tap level, tilt the FV forwards to get the last couple of pints out.


PS: They actually hold 30 litres.

 

[johnnyboy1965]

Ive just had a good look at my freebee and 3 ins for the the bottom is not unrealistic if you use it as a fermenter-straight to bottle. So you might loose a couple of pints, its not the end of the world