Malt Shovel Kit Fermenter

[phonos]

Hi,

I'm looking to get a half sized fermenter (15L) so I can do some half sized mead brews and not have a massive amount of headspace in my 30L fermenter.

I was looking at getting the Malt Shovel homebrew kit as I can get it cheaply, but I have been unable to find anything other than pre-release information saying the fermenter is 12L, which seems a little too small for the 11.5L batch you are supposed to make in it.

Does does anyone have some accurate information on the total volume of the fermenter, and is it reasonable quality?

Otherwise, if you've got ideas for how to make a 15L fermenter with a tap which you can actually clean (i.e. you can't get your hand in a cube easily), I'd love to hear that too.

Thanks!

 

[Sprungmonkey]

Personally I would just use the 30L fermentor. The large headspace won't create any issues.

 

[Dave86]

I wouldn't buy the malt shovel fermenter. I bought one when they were on special and the whole thing was very cheap and nasty IMO. The tap leaked wort everywhere and the lid didn't seem to fit the fermenter very well. Tried a couple of times to get it to seal to no avail, ended up turfing it. Luckily it only cost me $20 and it came with a malt shovel kit

 

[white.grant]

Have you thought of using a 15L cube?

edit: oops missed the cleaning bit. Though cubes aren't impossible to clean - a good soak and shake does the trick for me.

 

[barry2]

?

Otherwise, if you've got ideas for how to make a 15L fermenter with a tap which you can actually clean (i.e. you can't get your hand in a cube easily), I'd love to hear that too.

Thanks!

My local HBS sells 15 litre fermenters so I guess they are readily available.The local one looks like a small version of the 30 litre Coopers fermenter so taps are available and no problem with cleaning.

 

[yardy]

I wouldn't buy the malt shovel fermenter. I bought one when they were on special and the whole thing was very cheap and nasty IMO. The tap leaked wort everywhere and the lid didn't seem to fit the fermenter very well. Tried a couple of times to get it to seal to no avail, ended up turfing it. Luckily it only cost me $20 and it came with a malt shovel kit

+10

cheap crap imo, why not go with a 25 lt pail ?

Cheers
Yard

 

[Dave86]

Actually, come to think of it, I have seen 15 litre water drums (fermenters) at my local camping shop, so any camping shop may be the go

 

[Dave86]

Actually, come to think of it, I have seen 15 litre water drums (fermenters) at my local camping shop, so any camping shop may be the go

 

[Franko]

head down to bunnings and pickup a 15litre water drum/fermenter and cheap too otherwise get a 15litre cube I've got heaps of them if youy need one phonos give me a pm I'm in Mt Annan if you want to come for a drive

Franko

 

[geoffi]

I certainly agree that the extra headspace is not a worry. Let's face it, the traditional way to brew (and some breweries still do it) is with an open fermenter. Headspace? The Earth's atmosphere is your headspace!

 

[phonos]

Thanks for the info about the Malt Shovel kit - I'd heard rumours that they weren't good, and this has confirmed it for me.

The thing that's bugging me about cubes is that primary fermentation tends to leave a stubborn ring around my fermenter which may be difficult to remove if you can't rub it off. I'm thinking that perhaps the best of both worlds would be to do primary in a 30L fermenter (where the primary fermentation would remove most of the oxygen and replace it with CO2) then, when its basically finished fermenting, rack to a 10-15L cube/jerry can to let it sit for a few months with less headspace.

Thanks for the offer of a cube Franko, but with fuel prices as they are, I could probably buy a conical for what it would cost me to get there!

 

[trevc]

Only a 11.5L batch? That's really only like a sort of jumbo tallie. You could chill the whole thing and drink from it

 

[phonos]

11.5L of mead? :huh: You're a tank!

 

[trevc]

I'd look like the guy on the left If I had that much...

 

[KGB]

I agree with getting a 15L water container from bunno's. My mate bought a malt shovel setup on special and we ended up returning it, it looked pretty cheap and nasty.