KK - 'Fermentasaurus' conical PET fermenter

[goatchop41]

I have to admit that I'm sceptical about the benefits of the reduced surface area of the yeast in the cone. The yeast cake would be very porous and I tend to think that all of the yeast would be in contact with the beer, regardless of the shape.

My understanding of the original fermentasaurus is that it was based on the design of plastic, single use kegs. I think you could get rid of the cone altogether and just have a transparent keg with the pressure lid (essentially a PET kegmenter). Such a design would be more fridge friendly, easier to transport and cheaper to make than the snub nose, while offering the same benefits of closed transfer and pressurised fermentation (and of course the joys of watching your yeast go nuts).

The whole point of a conical is to be able to dump the trub and yeast. This also makes it easy to harvest and repitch yeast. This is why the snub noses don't make any sense - you can't dump/harvest, so it loses one of it's primary benefits. Without that, it really just comes down to the ability to ferment under pressure and do transfers under pressure. But you can already do that using a corny keg as a fermenter (granted, at a slightly lower volume)

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Agree with you Reg but not everyone can spot potential, you may have seen this modification by The Punt.

You certainly could knock up something like this, doesn't have to be stainless and because starting from scratch could be done without taking up too much space.

 

[Kev R]

I tried that only with the full port ball valve. Sediment got packed and stuck in the elbow. Worked fine with the elbow after the valve

 

[Reg Holt]

I tried that only with the full port ball valve. Sediment got packed and stuck in the elbow. Worked fine with the elbow after the valve

Strange that, I was looking at the other all stainless fermenters on the market Chronical, Spike and Brewtech they all have valve after the elbow. That is what gave me the idea.

It would barely take up much more room.

 

[Kev R]

Strange that,

Might of been a 1 off. Had to poke a wire in to break the plug. Swapped it around for the next brew, so didn't get to see if it was typical.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I think the whole idea for the bottom port is to just dump the trub, not the yeast, the yeast stays in situ until the beer has been removed.

 

[York]

The whole point of a conical is to be able to dump the trub and yeast. This also makes it easy to harvest and repitch yeast. This is why the snub noses don't make any sense - you can't dump/harvest, so it loses one of it's primary benefits. Without that, it really just comes down to the ability to ferment under pressure and do transfers under pressure. But you can already do that using a corny keg as a fermenter (granted, at a slightly lower volume)

Well I guess it is up to what brewers think will work for them. Looks like WEAL is doing pretty good with them. Personally I think for the price it’s hard to beat and it fits in the fridge so each to their own.

 

[malt and barley blues]

I put everything from the kettle to the fermenter so do end up with all the trub, I like the idea of the valve and bend on the bottom if it doesn't take up much room.

 

[Fro-Daddy]

What's the advantage of changing over to the stainless bend?
From memory my FS came with a spout you can screw underneath the butterfly valve which would almost be the same thing? I think that is for bottling/transferring without the pressure kit though.

 

[malt and barley blues]

Doesn't have to be stainless, in fact I think plastic would take up even less space than a stainless set up, I either have to take the trub out before the fermenter or use something to drop the trub, which would probably mean more things to clean. Certainly have to give it some more thought.

 

[Fro-Daddy]

This is the thing I was talking about:

 

[FarsideOfCrazy]

I think that connection just makes it easier to connect a hose to run it into a bottle or some sort of container.

 

[malt and barley blues]

This is the thing I was talking about:

Does that barb fitting screw out?

 

[Fro-Daddy]

Does that barb fitting screw out?

Yep, same thread as the collection bottle.

 

[malt and barley blues]

What a pity it isn't a bsp thread.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

For myself I think keep out the trub, run your finished beer off through either a tap or pressure transfer. The Snubby weighs less than a kilo, so it's no strain to tip out the yeast for either harvesting or dumping.

 

[York]

This is the thing I was talking about:

Definitely the old valve and needs replacing.

Yep, same thread as the collection bottle.

 

[Fro-Daddy]

needs replacing

Mine works flawlessly.

 

[FarsideOfCrazy]

Mine works flawlessly.

Where's the 'lol' button!

 

[York]

Mine works flawlessly.

Try the new one - works even better

Off Topic but I think I hit a sore spot on the KL Q and A as suddenly I have not enough priviliges to post there. Probably for calling them out over all the CE bullshit which their lame attempt to refute just shows a lack of understanding about the approval processes in Australia. If they were right then they could just have shown it to be so but they like to silence critics rather than do the right thing.