Fermenters

[mynameisrodney]

Ok, so your process involves crashing onto all the crap in the bottom of your fermenter, and then either not dry hopping or putting them in a bag, after ??? days of the beer sitting on all that shit you package, maybe you bottle? no blocked poppets that way, if the beer you produce is the beer you like then that's fine, but the OP was asking for opinions about fermenters, and I was merely trying to point out that in an ideal world process should drive the equipment, not equipment drive the process.
fwiw next brew you do (make it one you're familiar with, and not silly OG) after 5 days transfer it to another fermenter leaving all the stuff in the "bottom" behind. You might be surprised at the difference.

I either dry hop loose early and flush the headspace, or late using the bag and magnet technique. Yes crash with the trub still there. I mostly keg, but bottle probably 1 batch per year of something I want to age. I used to transfer to secondary when I started brewing as that's what everyone at the time said you had to do. The tide is shifting on that, albeit more slowly here than elsewhere. People transferring to secondary are definitely in the minority. My beers are better now than they were when I was transferring to secondary. Most likely I was introducing O2 in the process as I was just using HDPE ferementers at the time. I have no interest in going back to doing this as a matter of course. Although if there is a particular beer that needs extended secondary then will do it then.

This is a thread on fermenters though, not process. To say that you have to transfer and then store and clean twice as much equipment if you use a chubby/snubnose/all rounder is not true. Sure, this is a choice that some people will make, but it is not a requirement, and not the way that the majority of people are using these.

 

[Georgedgerton]

It's a journey many of us have made although you forgot to give an honourable mention to the gen 1.5, the clip on lid bucket with a tap! (Ahh the luxury)

@Georgedgerton I'm with duncbrewer on the FS's, if I'm using a conical then the one with the larger valve is my preferred unit, I haven't used the Gen 3 with plunger so can't comment on it.

To really answer your question though you have to look at your process's,
The advent of floating dip tubes on pressure vessels has made oxygen free racking feasible, but nowhere near as convenient as just dumping from a conical, using an all rounder/chubby etc you'll ferment (under pressure or not) then seal it up and use pressure (gas) to transfer off the trub to another vessel, (another all rounder/chubby?) hoping that hop matter doesn't block anything and then onto keg/bottle. So we now have two fermenters to clean and store, you already know how it goes with a conical, ferment, dump, keg/bottle, clean one vessel. You may decide that cleaning two rounders/chubbies is easier/quicker than cleaning a conical, and storing an extra fermenter isn't an issue.
Harvesting yeast is another plus for the conical, but only if you do it.
Often overlooked is physical effort, lifting and carrying 25kg plus, isn't everyone's idea of fun, and using two fermenters as opposed to one will result in extra lifting/carrying.
Maybe you're an extract brewer, in which case HDPE rather than PET might be preferable as boiling water to melt the goop will make short work of any PET vessel.
Perhaps you "like to watch" I find it strangely satisfying looking at a fermentation in progress, so +1 for PET's.

If you only ever ferment one type of thing using the exact same process every time then perhaps there is the "ideal" fermenter, but I've got HDPE gen 1 to gen 4, PET conicals, FKJ's, a couple of kegmenters, and various glass carboys, what I'm fermenting and how I'm doing it determines which vessel gets used, I wish there was a one vessel does it all, good luck with your quest.

I'm an AG brewer. The point you make about "physical effort" is very valid, I'm not so young and the way I set up is to have my fermenter already in the fridge / heater. After the wort is down to pitching temp (my set up is on wheels) goes over to the fermenter and the wort is pumped straight in. Any further transfer is done under Co2 pressure.

 

[duncbrewer]

Agreed, water is heavy and beer is heavier. Less lifting fermenters and more lifting glasses.

 

[yankinoz]

I'm an AG brewer. The point you make about "physical effort" is very valid, I'm not so young and the way I set up is to have my fermenter already in the fridge / heater. After the wort is down to pitching temp (my set up is on wheels) goes over to the fermenter and the wort is pumped straight in. Any further transfer is done under Co2 pressure.

I'm probably older than you. Thanks for the tips.

 

[Hangover68]

Some interesting points here, after my 25yo cheap arse wander FV went brittle and fell apart i switched to using 25ltr cubes. Easy to handle and very space efficient and ideal for no-chill, will fit in a small bar fridge for temp control and cold crashing.
Last year i picked up a used Fermentersaurus just to see what they were like ,i do like being able to pressure ferment and to watch the fermentation process.
Biggest downfall was the size with the stand making them quite tall, i managed to find a freebie large all fridge bar fridge so the Fermy fits in perfectly so now i can ferment and cold crash without moving it - it is heavy and awkward when full. Also came with a new style Coopers FV so i now have 3 different FV's to chose from and 2 brewing fridges.
I don't think there is one perfect style so have a few in your inventory to use.

 

[duncbrewer]

Last year i picked up a used Fermentersaurus just to see what they were like ,i do like being able to pressure ferment and to watch the fermentation process.
Biggest downfall was the size with the stand making them quite tall, i managed to find a freebie large all fridge bar fridge so the Fermy fits in perfectly so now i can ferment and cold crash without moving it - it is heavy and awkward when full.
I don't think there is one perfect style so have a few in your inventory to use.

Have you made a shelf with a hole in it that fits the fermentasaurus, that saves a lot of space in the fridge. With that you might be able to fit other fermenter in as well.
But agreed, it's choices and choices.

 

[Hangover68]

Have you made a shelf with a hole in it that fits the fermentasaurus, that saves a lot of space in the fridge. With that you might be able to fit other fermenter in as well.
But agreed, it's choices and choices.

No need, fridge is tall enough for it to fit even with a stand i made to level out the bottom and still has plenty of space over head.
I generally only do one at a time but have my other fridge if required.