You guys just need to get a bucket lid opener to pry it open with. I like buckets as well. I frequently ferment with the lid sitting on top, not closed down all the way, and top crop yeast in the first 48-72 hours, skimming the braunhefe starting around 24 hours post pitch (for yeasts that are top cropping strains).
Lately I’ve been transferring when there’s about 2-4 gravity points left (about 7-8 days post pitch) and letting it finish the rest of the way in the keg. Seems to work great and the beer stays fresher longer it seems. And no worries about the permeability of plastic.
Glycol jacketed stainless conical. 
I’ve started fermenting in kegs and I’m quite happy with the results. I really like being able to do a closed transfer to a purged serving keg, and you can easily start the carbonation process by setting your PRV to about 15 PSI at the tail end of primary. I’ve even rigged up an oxygen tank to a liquid disconnect to be able to oxygenate in the keg.
All that said, this works for me because I brew 3 gallon batches, so I can use cheap 5 gallon kegs as fermenters. And I still use buckets if I don’t have a keg available for a batch. But for my purposes, kegs give me pretty much everything I want in a conical (closed transfers, and I can blow out the spent yeast through the liquid out), at a much more attractive price point. Plus, I can still use them as kegs if needed.
You must be the with the dog that poops golden turds ;)!
Well I used buckets for years and like Denny have never had a problem. But I use them a bit differently than most. I don’t use the lids. What I do is put a few sheets of cling wrap over the top and use the rubber O Ring (that is in the bucket lid) as a big rubber band to hold the plastic in place and generously spray the exterior with StarSan.
It seals very well and you can watch if you like or just take a peak at how much the top as puffed up. You basically end up fermenting under pressure (not much but a bit).
Because of durability questions and worries because the buckets never seem to loose a slight smell of prior batches, I have switched to 8 gal brew kettles with the same cling wrap and rubber band top. Works really well and you can get them for a small fraction of any other stainless fermentor.
Oxyclean will cure that problem.
And even it if doesn’t, it doesn’t matter.
I heard about the Catalyst on one of the homewbrewing podcasts and checked it out on a whim. That was a mistake - now I want one.
I have no need for it, I just think it would be cool to have one - or two. Not as pricey as SS and a couple would fit into my retrofitted chest freezer/fermentation chamber. They are in their Kickstarter phase. And no, I have no affilation.
I have one Better Bottle, which I really like, and all the rest (5) are glass. I am trying to get rid of all my glass and transition over to plastic. After 19 years of homebrewing I’m tired of the heavy lifting and potential for injury from breakage. Not to mention the lost beer. I’ve been lucky all of these years.
Interesting idea.
A conical that you can see into might ease the fears of some on how to dump the trub and yeast off without losing too much beer. I admit it’s one of questions I’ve always had (more of a “Hmmm” than a fear for me).
I’m still not in the market but I kind of like the idea.
Paul
I’m with Slowbrew on liking the ability to see what’s going on, both in the fermenter and in the sump. Using wide mouth mason jars allows flexibility with regards to jar size, something the FF’s lack. Most of the beers I’ve brewed only filled the sump ball of my FF’s about 1/3 with yeast sediment/trub, the other 2/3 was wasted. Granted it’s not a huge amount of waste, but it is still BEER. I might have to consider one of these someday.
That catalyst seems pretty cool. One of the things that many had concern with using the fast ferment conical was the air that you release into the beer when you swap out the container on the bottom. I don’t think that is a big deal, but it seems like the same thing would apply with the catalyst. The other thing that people often have commented on is the lack of a sample port on the fast ferment, and the catalyst seems to be in the same boat. I wonder if those concerns/feedback will come up with this one too.
In other news, I just ordered a couple Big Mouth Bubblers (6.5G plastic) since NB was having a sale that covered shipping. I have been using glass carboys for 6 years, but there are some mineral deposits I can’t get off of them and I always think about the images of people sliced up from them breaking. I’ll report back what I think of them after a couple batches.
The catalyst is just too big. Nearly 30" with an airlock. Won’t fit in my freezer without a custom stand. Cool idea, just not practical for me.
That was a big problem with the Fast Ferment as well. I think that one was even taller than the catalyst. I ended up rebuilding my ferment chamber to hold it and building a stand for it, which now that I don’t use it anymore was kind of a waste. At least now I can fit 2 carboys vertically in it (though probably not 2 big mouth bubblers).
It’s a well known fact that ukulele plucking is great exercise for powerful hand development.
I use PET big mouth and more traditional #10 size bubblers from Northern Brewer. I use them with BrewJacket gear to control the fermentation temp. 2 easy and real aid in beer flavor characteristics that are yeast driven
;D
I wouldn’t be able to open my buckets without my bucket-opener. I firmly pry, pry, pry for at least half the lid. then I gently lift off. I am drilling my buckets for spigots because that “pry, pry, pry” sloshes things around just enough that I get too much trub when siphoning. But otherwise: buckets. Cheap, functional, versatile.
I’ve gone back and forth and still use both. I bought a couple of the glass Big Mouth Bubblers, evo 1 and 2. Both of mine seal well and are solid. It’s great being able to ferment in glass but also clean them well. I also have four 6.5 gal plastic fermenters and I’ll use those on the rare occasion when I have more than 2 batches going.
The glass is heavier, but I sewed my own Brew-haulers with a padded foam bottom and lots of solid straps with hand-holds. I like that they don’t carry an odor from the previous batch, I get a solid window into the fermentation, and I just trust the glass more over plastic in terms of food safety/preference.
I’m not going to get rid of my plastic anytime soon, but for now I prefer to be using glass and the Big Mouth Bubblers are working well for my needs.
PS - That said, I think the Catalyst looks pretty sweet and I’d love to get my hands on one. Hard to justify that expense though.
I did see the other day - I think on More Beer - a retrofit kit for about $12 to install a sample port on the Fast Ferment conicals. The valve looked pretty cheesy though, considering the kit includes the Unibit for drilling the hole, and Unibits usually sell for about 8 or 10 bucks themselves, there probably wans’t a lot of expense lavished on the valve.
Hi,
I did my second beer (all grain) yesterday and i use for my second time the bucket from the popular Alfred’s Beer Equipment Kit. This morning, nothing was happen, no sign of fermentation, no bubbling. The problem was the seal because i put books on the lid of the bucket to make a pression and i have now a lot of activities in the airlock.
Next time, i will use carboy, no chance to take.
Question: In the book “How to brew” of John Palmer, he say “this is no a real problem; it probably won’t affect the batch. Fix the seal, or get new lid next time” . What he try to say? If the seal is not good, the batch can do a good fermentation? The Co2 go out by the airlock or the seal doesn’t matter?
Thanks for the answers.
Martin