Fermzilla

[WEF]

Reading these posts I think WEF is working for Keg King the way he surreptitiously turned this thread into a debate about the Guten fermenter.
This thread is about the Fermzilla.
Thread for the Guten fementer is under - Keg King s/steel uni tank
Thread for the Snub nose is under - KK Fermentasaurus conical pet fermenter.

Lol... yeah i was wondering about that as well. Theres a few here who seem to be looking over their shoulder a bit on this AHB forum. Has something happened in the past for people to be so suspicious following someones post about a Kegland product? Some ive noticed have been very critical of others posting about Kegland products... I'm a little suss now on those who've suddenly bird dogged me while chiming in on a Kegland thread & suddenly glorifying the Guten fermenter. Makes you wonder about their place of employment, Keg King maybe!

Anyway moving back onto my FermZilla, i'm about to keg my first run now using the pressure transfer method so fingers crossed all goes well. It's Gash's Zombie Dust clone with an extra 100g of Citra Hops to deliver a massive Citrus wack!

 

[wide eyed and legless]

How often will you guys be stripping down the butterfly valve for cleaning?

 

[Kenf]

So does everybody work for the suppliers?
Thanks for the info WEAL, found the info I was looking for on the other thread.
Still deciding with that 50 Degree C limit I’m not sure if the heater belt in my fermentation fridge would be a good idea on the fermzilla
Cheers

 

[Mya]

Good point, the heater belts definitely get above 50 degC on the surface of the belt, I wonder if it would deform the PET over time.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Reading Reg's post (106) about 'hot fill' I did look up what it was, a lot of juices get hot filled into PET bottles which can take close to boiling. For the bog standard plastics I came across this list.

What are the hot fill temperatures for the plastic bottles?
Hot fill temperatures for plastic bottles and jars.

PET (polyethylene terephthalate) 120°F
PS (polystyrene) 150°F
HDPE (high density polyethylene) 145°F
LDPE (low density polyethylene) 120°F
PP (polypropylene) 165°F
PVC (polyvinyl chloride) 140°F

NOTE: The information provided above is intended to provide a relative comparison of plastic resin hot fill temperatures and should only be used as guide during the selection process. Individual plastic bottle resins may have hot fill temperatures that vary from those listed above. It is the buyer's responsibility to make the final determination as to whether a given bottle is suitable for their hot fill process. Chemical and temperature compatibility testing is, and will always be, the final determining factor in the bottle selection process.

 

[WEF]

How often will you guys be stripping down the butterfly valve for cleaning?

Not sure, i'll inspect it when i decide to clean it and will clean if needed.

Good point, the heater belts definitely get above 50 degC on the surface of the belt, I wonder if it would deform the PET over time.

No need to wrap the belt around fermenter, just lay it on the floor.

 

[goatchop41]

No need to wrap the belt around fermenter, just lay it on the floor.

Even better - screw a hook in to the roof of your fermenting chamber and hang it from that. Now it doesn't contact anything and all of the heat from it spreads to the surrounding area, as opposed to a heap of it being absorbed by the bottom of the chamber that it is sitting on

 

[Fro-Daddy]

I just wrap the belt around the stand of the FS

 

[Schikitar]

I thought that heat belts had to be in full contact with something otherwise they can overheat/melt/<insert disaster here>? :O

Pretty sure my Fermzilla has a leak in the lid somewhere. I only had the standard airlock on it for the first few days but there was zero action in the bubbler everytime I checked it BUT my fridge had that distinctive 'fermenting beer' smell. Haven't located the leak just yet as activity has died down already, I suspect the carbonation cap I've got on there for liquid out (it was leaking when I was cleaning it as well but thought I fixed it). Will be changing out the airlock with another carbonation cap so I'm hoping that doesn't double my problems once I put a bit of pressure on the unit. I was looking to carbonate in the Fermzilla and bottling from there with a bottling gun (normally I'd pressure transfer to keg but this is a stout going into longnecks).

 

[Half-baked]

Pretty sure my Fermzilla has a leak in the lid somewhere. I only had the standard airlock on it for the first few days...

Took me a few goes with the carb caps to get them right. Had sanitiser in fermenter, held upside down to test for leaks, and after a few goes found there was a sweet spot for tightening the carb caps just the right amount for a good seal.

Wouldn’t want to put on a cap mid-ferment, I ran a gas line from the carb cap to a bottle of sanitiser as the airlock.

IMHO, they really should come as standard.

Have had my heat belt mostly dangling for a few years without problems...

 

[Schikitar]

after a few goes found there was a sweet spot for tightening the carb caps just the right amount for a good seal.

Yeah, this isn't good, shouldn't have to find a 'sweet spot' and I consider this a flaw in the design.

Wouldn’t want to put on a cap mid-ferment, I ran a gas line from the carb cap to a bottle of sanitiser as the airlock.

Living on the edge here, yeah I'll do what you do next time!

Have had my heat belt mostly dangling for a few years without problems.

Good to know, I'll start doing the same thing, would save a bit of hassle securing it to the vessel!

 

[ABG]

Even better - screw a hook in to the roof of your fermenting chamber and hang it from that. Now it doesn't contact anything and all of the heat from it spreads to the surrounding area, as opposed to a heap of it being absorbed by the bottom of the chamber that it is sitting on

Really good idea. My heat belt had started to melt the plastic floor of my fridge (I have the fermenter sitting on a tray a few inches above the floor). I was brewing with a kveik and had the temperature at 35. I was lucky it wasn't more serious. Next time the heat belt will be hanging from the roof of the fridge and well away from my fermenter and the vertical panels of my fridge.
Apologies for the off topic post.

 

[Nullnvoid]

Has anyone found an easy way to get the lid off? Undoing the ring is fine it's getting the lid to break the seal. You can't grab it anywhere to lift it.

 

[WEF]

Even better - screw a hook in to the roof of your fermenting chamber and hang it from that. Now it doesn't contact anything and all of the heat from it spreads to the surrounding area, as opposed to a heap of it being absorbed by the bottom of the chamber that it is sitting on

This did cross my mind when first setting up my fridge however i couldn't help but embrace the message that "Hot air rises" and thought that any heat "absorbed" through transfer should technically rise up past the fermenter as it dissipates... Just a theory, so far ive had no concerning issues running this way.

 

[WEF]

Really good idea. My heat belt had started to melt the plastic floor of my fridge (I have the fermenter sitting on a tray a few inches above the floor). I was brewing with a kveik and had the temperature at 35. I was lucky it wasn't more serious. Next time the heat belt will be hanging from the roof of the fridge and well away from my fermenter and the vertical panels of my fridge.
Apologies for the off topic post.

Geez... mine doesn't get that hot but maybe the higher duty cycle at 35c was the main factor. I run with that cheapy 10w silicon type heat band from Kegland. Twas only abot $10 on memory so i'll keep an eye on it as i dont trust crude heating devices like this especially after seeing sparks from our 10 year old electric blanket a couple of months ago due to failed cabling, as a result we threw the electric blanket out and just use heat packs...
I couldn't see the heat belt it getting any hotter than 50c but i'll check on my next run.

 

[WEF]

Hey @WEF I missed you at the last staff meeting, I will have to catch you up on the master plan of world home brewing domination by infiltrating the Aussie Home Brewer forum!

Sorry, couldn't resist. I've been accused of being on the payroll of KL too.

Haha... yep don't forget the weekly Kegland Clan meeting is on tonight! Seriously though, ive only been a forum member for maybe a week and it's starting to amaze me how much Kegland is getting a bad wrap by a select few flogs in the some of the threads ive been reading.

Not that i give a stuff and am not answerable to anyone, but I'll say this once and once only; i have no affiliation with Kegland what so ever other than being a HAPPY customer so far. So any flog that accuses me of being a Kegland employee or any other crap like pretty much tells me your a Kegland competitor as most of the "critics" ive seen appear not to actually have/use Kegland products but extremely vocal and critical of their products it seems!!!

My story with Kegland is that i stumbled across them about 2 months ago after deciding to ramp up my home brewing again after having a 3 year hiatus coming from Coopers/semi grain brewing... I've put a lot of research, time effort and money into an all grain setup and have found Kegland meets some of MY needs. The aforementioned investment ive put into this just pisses me off when some flog comes along and accuses me of being a Kegland employee. If anyone is not happy with my explanation then you know what you can go and do dont you, yep you can go and get stuffed because i couldn't give a fat rats freckle what you or any other flog thinks...

 

[Nullnvoid]

The aforementioned investment ive put into this just pisses me off when some flog comes along and accuses me of being a Kegland employee. If anyone is not happy with my explanation then you know what you can go and do dont you, yep you can go and get stuffed because i couldn't give a fat rats freckle what you or any other flog thinks...

Hey, that was me I think. Although I wasn't having a go, I just asked the question and then didn't even bother replying after that. It was more tongue in cheek than anything.

Was purely because there is this perception when someone comes on board and speaks the way you did it is suspicious and has happened before, but mainly with Keg-King employees.

 

[WEF]

I thought that heat belts had to be in full contact with something otherwise they can overheat/melt/<insert disaster here>? :O

Pretty sure my Fermzilla has a leak in the lid somewhere. I only had the standard airlock on it for the first few days but there was zero action in the bubbler everytime I checked it BUT my fridge had that distinctive 'fermenting beer' smell. Haven't located the leak just yet as activity has died down already, I suspect the carbonation cap I've got on there for liquid out (it was leaking when I was cleaning it as well but thought I fixed it). Will be changing out the airlock with another carbonation cap so I'm hoping that doesn't double my problems once I put a bit of pressure on the unit. I was looking to carbonate in the Fermzilla and bottling from there with a bottling gun (normally I'd pressure transfer to keg but this is a stout going into longnecks).

I had an issue where my carb cap was leaking, lucky i caught this out before putting the wort in. I managed to sort it out, i think it occurred when i screwed the carb cap on too tight and the rubber seal somehow got messed up. The solution was to reseat the seal in the carb cap and apply just over hand pressure when tightening it up.

 

[ABG]

Geez... mine doesn't get that hot but maybe the higher duty cycle at 35c was the main factor. I run with that cheapy 10w silicon type heat band from Kegland. Twas only abot $10 on memory so i'll keep an eye on it as i dont trust crude heating devices like this especially after seeing sparks from our 10 year old electric blanket a couple of months ago due to failed cabling, as a result we threw the electric blanket out and just use heat packs...
I couldn't see the heat belt it getting any hotter than 50c but i'll check on my next run.

Same heat belt that I use. I've never had problems with it sitting on my fridge floor before, but I've never had my temperature controller sitting at 35C before either. Interestingly, the belt was fine, despite the fridge starting to melt, but I get where you're coming from with cheap electrical devices.
Apologies for my post questioning your allegiances. My bullshit detector goes into overdrive when someone new comes on board and only posts comments that are pro one side and negative the other. There's been too much of it on here over the past year or 2. Welcome on board and I look forward to hearing your posts re brewing.

 

[FreeBSD]

Even better - screw a hook in to the roof of your fermenting chamber and hang it from that. Now it doesn't contact anything and all of the heat from it spreads to the surrounding area, as opposed to a heap of it being absorbed by the bottom of the chamber that it is sitting on

Heat needs to come from the bottom and the yeast activity will cause convection in the liquid to distribute it.