26L Kegmenter, any good?

[Futur]

ibrew has 26L kegs for sale, at a very steep price. I just wonder if anyone has seen these elsewhere?

I'm keen to get a pair of these for the fermentation fridge as the 50L kegmenter from keg king is too large.

http://www.ibrew.com.au/products/kegmenter-20-and-26-litre-from

 

[mtb]

Just the Fermentasaurus. Got some extra bits and pieces so could be better value

 

[Futur]

I also just found these 25L kegs for $149 each. Seems like the best option so far

http://www.brewmart.com.au/brewmart-shop/catalogue/?detail&ItemID=3749&SZIDX=0&CCODE=16408&QOH=0&CATID=416&CLN=1

 

[pnorkle]

I also just found these 25L kegs for $149 each. Seems like the best option so far

http://www.brewmart.com.au/brewmart-shop/catalogue/?detail&ItemID=3749&SZIDX=0&CCODE=16408&QOH=0&CATID=416&CLN=1

Oooh - that's in MY neck of the woods - good brew shop too.

 

[Coldspace]

I've looked in the flesh at these when I was down the coast a few weeks back ( no affiliation). They seem well built , nice size to pressure ferment a single 21 ltr batch for a corney.
They are not to tall, I'll be getting one or 2 soon for single batches .

I've been using 2 x keg king 50 ltr ones for 42-44 ltr batches and they work a treat. I love this pressure fermenting way... Beers so much better, cleaner, faster, less mess especially when pressure transfer and also no oxygen or list risk of other ingress.

I've also noticed as it's naturally carbed, the mouth feel is smoother which allows the flavours of malt and hops to come through better than hiding behind carbonic taste from force carbing. Force carbing still good but takes a few weeks to settle back.

I've always kegged and still bottle specialty beers and always preferred the carb taste of my bottled beers.
The natural carb in these kegmenters is the same as bottled beers. Just nice.

What I like about these 26 ltr ones is they use the same lid, tri clamp etc as the keg king 50 ltr jobbies .

So they will compliment my other kegmenters.

Cheers

 

[mtb]

Just dropped four hunj on two 26L versions. Comparing to the Fermentasaurus I figured that dollars per litre capacity is similar* - but these are stainless steel, no UV exposure, and I can use them as normal kegs if (for some strange reason) I'm not already using them for active fermentation.

* okay, iBrew kegmenters are a little more pricy per litre of volume in comparison.. but they're steel! And they're kegs!

 

[Futur]

I can't fit two of the 26L ibrew kegmenters in my fridge so I think I'm going to go for just the 25L kegs which are narrower but taller. But really whats the difference!?

 

[mtb]

I can't fit two of the 26L ibrew kegmenters in my fridge so I think I'm going to go for just the 25L kegs which are narrower but taller. But really whats the difference!?

Funny you should ask, I just received the below from iBrew as the kegmenters they received are of slightly different dimensions to what they advertised;
20 litre $158.00 measurements 25cm wide x 60cm high
26 litre $178.00 measuremnts 28cm wide x 56cm high

 

[Danscraftbeer]

ibrew has 26L kegs for sale, at a very steep price. I just wonder if anyone has seen these elsewhere?

I'm keen to get a pair of these for the fermentation fridge as the 50L kegmenter from keg king is too large.

http://www.ibrew.com.au/products/kegmenter-20-and-26-litre-from

Excellent. I definitely would have bought one of them for the extra price then the 23lt corny keg I use for single brews.
Though the 23lt corny still does the same job really but with less headspace. I usually have to use a blow off tube for the early ferment if its a high gravity beer.

 

[cliffo]

I'm looking at getting two of the ibrew Kegmenters.

mtb - How have you been finding yours?

 

[mtb]

I'm looking at getting two of the ibrew Kegmenters.

mtb - How have you been finding yours?

I have three and overall I'm pretty pleased, considering the price point and their function. Items of note below.

• It would appear that the diptube is prone to blockage with hop material; this is likely due to the length of the tube since a corny has a diptube of the same (or very similar) width. To solve I'm considering trimming mine by ~20mm (this also makes it easier for me to reuse yeast as it'll be left behind after transfer to a corny). Alternatively, do all your dry hopping via a hop sock or ball instead of dumping straight in like a twit (aka me).
• I had some issues with excessive foaming in the transfer line when transferring to a corny, but that was due to the pressure difference between source and destination keg. Pressure fermenting is fairly easy and the extra headspace (21L batch in a 26L kegmenter, for example) allows for plenty of krausen.
• Spunding valve supplied is good so far and there is a separate AHB thread discussing them, in particular how to address some issues ie touchy adjustment knob.
• One of them has a difficult beer out post, disconnects don't like connecting without some force, but I could probably take this up with iBrew under warranty if I really cared (which I don't, I have spares).
• Easy to clean since it's all stainless.
• Great service from iBrew.

All in all, a worthwhile investment IMO.

 

[cliffo]

Thanks, I think I'm sold.

 

[nathang28]

I have a 26l keg from ibrew as well, for fermenting, and have a solution for blockage of the beer out dip tube.

I bought a 6" hop bazooka and just put that over the dip tube inside the keg. The mesh makes sure transfers are debris free

 

[mtb]

I have a 26l keg from ibrew as well, for fermenting, and have a solution for blockage of the beer out dip tube.

I bought a 6" hop bazooka and just put that over the dip tube inside the keg. The mesh makes sure transfers are debris free

Good idea, but isn't it a turd to keep clean?
This is a timely reminder to use that dremel so I can justify the purchase and cut that diptube..

 

[andyt23]

Aside from this being a larger vessel, what is the difference between these and a corny keg?

 

[mtb]

Not a whole lot. You can see in the photos, the triclover lid holds the post as opposed to a corny where the posts are typically separately installed. Can't think of much else tbh

 

[cliffo]

For me, the larger volume is the main drawcard here over a corny.

Can ferment a 20-21ish litre batch and then still be able to fill a corny.

Also looking forward to fermenting under pressure.

 

[mtb]

For me, the larger volume is the main drawcard here over a corny.

Can ferment a 20-21ish litre batch and then still be able to fill a corny.

Also looking forward to fermenting under pressure.

The capacity was the selling point for me too. No need for blowoff tubes etc when you have 5-6L of headspace

 

[nathang28]

The bazooka is easy to clean as it has a coarser mesh. They are used to filter the wort out of a kettle, which has way more trub and hop debris than an average fermenter

I did a lot of research on other screens to put over the dip tube, but the only ones I could find were super fine and would block too easily (they even say not to use when dry hopping...) the hop bazooka is a loose fit, but can't fall off or anything, so works like a charm.

 

[graybo]

Slightly old post but does anyone know if you can install a thermowell in the ibrew 26L kegmenters? Though I like the idea of fermenting under pressure I might not want to sacrifice precise temp control or is this not an issue?