Does A Fermenter Have To Be Cylindrical?

[jivesucka]

just thinking it would be so much more convenient. you could stack them side-by-side in the corner of a room, they would take up so much less space. i reckon several of those jerry cans for drinking water they sell at camping stores would be perfect! all you need is an airlock and a tap!

 

[Goofinder]

Plenty of people are doing this as it makes it easier to fit more than one in a fridge. Just make sure you leave enough head space and you should be right. A good soak with sodium percarbonate (napisan) should clean them up after use since you won't be able to get your arm in there to clean.

 

[kelbygreen]

no need to fit airlock just use gladwrap and a rubber band. I have fermented in a water cube

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Plenty of people are doing this as it makes it easier to fit more than one in a fridge. Just make sure you leave enough head space and you should be right. A good soak with sodium percarbonate (napisan) should clean them up after use since you won't be able to get your arm in there to clean.

yep, just need to be a bit more careful with cleaning - corners dont clean out as well as smooth curved surfaces, so you just have to pay attention and make sure you get everything.

 

[zoidbergmerc]

some Sod perc with some raw rice chucked in there with a bloody good shake will fix it.

 

[Siborg]

does a fermenter need to be cylindrical?

definitely not. Use anything you want, just make sure the inside is smooth enough that it won't harbor any bacteria (those jerry cans are smooth enough)

 

[Wolfy]

A fermenter I was looking at the other day was made from 5 slate paving tiles joined with silicone and strengthened by some timber.
The person was trying to emulate a Yorkshire Square, but still it was a fermenter - A total bitch to clean though I'm sure.

 

[brendo]

Black Sheep brewery in Masham Yorkshire now have round "Yorkshire squares"... Easier to clean.

 

[Adamt]

Pedobears can hide in sharp corners.

 

[Siborg]

Pedobears can hide in sharp corners.

lol @ pedobear!

 

[seravitae]

Absolutely everything in the brewery must be round, this has been covered extensively in another thread, as yeast is round, so putting round yeast into a square fermentor is a bad idea. Unless of course you use square yeast, but make sure you filter the yeast out otherwise you may cut your tongue.

 

[Kai]

some Sod perc with some raw rice chucked in there with a bloody good shake will fix it.

Nice idea on the rice, a bit of abrasion to help the clean without being tough enough to scuff the plastic.

I prefer fermenting in cubes when I can. They're easier to seal up as well as taking up less space in a fridge.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

 

[Nevalicious]

Hahaha, mint!!!

 

[Fish]

Jamil and John Palmer from The Brewing Network discussed this on one of their Q&A 'Brew Strong' shows.

In essence they do believe fermenter geometry influences taste, something to do with currents or vectors / yeast not getting to corners.........don't quote me on it.

Yorkshire squares were discussed and explained as those beers flavours evolving around the fermenter shape.

As mentioned by others you can brew in anything you like but you may have to tweak your recipes if you change fermenter shape.

Fish

 

[Hatchy]

Absolutely everything in the brewery must be round, this has been covered extensively in another thread, as yeast is round, so putting round yeast into a square fermentor is a bad idea. Unless of course you use square yeast, but make sure you filter the yeast out otherwise you may cut your tongue.

Can you get dry yeast in round packaging?

 

[manticle]

Sometimes I ferment in cubes, other times in round fermenters. Is there a taste difference? Yes there is.
Am I brewing the same beer each time? No I am not.

Do I think round is necessary to make good beer?

It depends on whether the plastic is trichlorochemotriadic or gostroptriatric

 

[Kai]

Jamil and John Palmer from The Brewing Network discussed this on one of their Q&A 'Brew Strong' shows.

In essence they do believe fermenter geometry influences taste, something to do with currents or vectors / yeast not getting to corners.........don't quote me on it.

Sure, it does. Good luck noticing a difference on a size scale of shapes you can fit in your fridge though.

 

[seravitae]

Geometry has a massive impact. for instance, the ratio of hight to width is important, as changes favouring height over width mean for 'bottom yeast', there is a higher concentration of CO2 in solution at the bottom of the fermentor than the top, and this effects the metabolics of the yeast in solution at that particular height. as such, the CO2 concentration can be modeled as a gradient. The CO2 gradient tends to stress yeast more, so if you want more esters, a taller fermentor is likely to throw more esters off, whereas shallow fermentors have a shorter path for the CO2 (well, carbonic acid) to exit the liquid phase, and as such, wide fermentors ferment out more quickly than their taller counterparts (sometimes on the order of days) and usually end up at a lower FG.

Whether you want this or not, is up to you.

Also whether you've got enough reproducibility to actually recieve a significant change (given the extreme variabilities in home breweries) is up to you

 

[jivesucka]

Nice idea on the rice, a bit of abrasion to help the clean without being tough enough to scuff the plastic.

I prefer fermenting in cubes when I can. They're easier to seal up as well as taking up less space in a fridge.