Anyone have one of these or similar? If so any feedback on them?
I have never heard any positive reviews on them.
Bad functionality or not a good design?
Can’t remember a lot about the discussions but one complaint I remember is major problems with clogging.
I remember hearing about clogs when it was called the v-vessel, the new manufactures reportedly fixed that issue, but I have not seen a current review.
How do you cool this thing?
Mount it in a freezer/ferm chamber? I think they offer, maybe even come with a stand.
Interesting. Not that I would be buying one.
If there were a side port, especially with a racking arm, I would consider it. But without it you will be having to run the beer through a large volume of yeast so you will have to use a secondary to get the yeast to drop out. And if it clogs that’s the only way to get the beer out!
That’s one thing I was wondering about. Seems like the collection ball at the bottom would be the way to collect the yeast out but I’d think that would be difficult at best to clear it all out. A side port seems like a good idea- easily added I suppose.
I always thought it would be a good, low cost plastic conical. But the collection ball seemed like a bad, gimmicky idea. If I had one is toss the ball and just attach a house to the bottom, but a side port would be even better.
If you want cheaper plastic conical I would recommend Mini Brew or alike fermenters but I would skip this one.
I had a couple of these when they were called “V-Vessel” fermenters… basically the same thing. They were a PITA. The funnel always clogged. getting yeast out of the ball was about useless. Hard to clean well… Yeah, I hated them pretty much. These are a bit different it appears… but not different enough that they look like they would be much better.
I have been using SS Brew buckets for the past year or so and absolutely love them. They are great for harvesting yeast, easy to clean and are Stainless.
Yes, I have one. Came in the mail in early Dec. but I have not used it yet. The collection ball is pretty cool, I ordered 3 extra.
I bought it because it was a third the price of my 7.5 gal SS conical. I only do 10 gal batches now and I needed a second conical. I don’t see how it can clog because the collection ball has a much larger port than my Stainless Steel conical. When that gets clogged the yeast can come out like a thick turd. I really wanted to use the collection balls to store yeast, the convenience alone makes it worth while for me.
The mfg says its easy to clean and I can confirm that you can get your whole arm in the vessel. I’ll let you all know how I like it after the next batch. I’ve been doing a lot of lagers with my 15 gal Sabco fermenter (cheap home made copy) because it fits in my extra keggerator that is temp controlled. This Fast Ferment won’t fit, its too tall, I’ll use it for ale or cider batches.
The side port issue is a red herring. I never use the side port in my Stainless Conical because the manufactures always mount them too low. I always use a racking cane anyways and stop when the beer gets cloudy. If you want to install one yourself I think it would be pretty simple.
yeah report back-interested on how it works for you.