Any thoughts in NorthernBrewer’s new fermenter? Glass with wide mouth screw on lid. Two sizes 5 & 6.5g.
I have been wanting a new bigger fermenter. Every since I moved to BIAB I have been doing 6g batches and I want more headroom than my 6g fermenter provides.
Edit: originally I thought it was HDPE. Apparently it is glass with HDPE lid.
I think that is a great idea. Certainly makes dry hopping and cleaning much easier. Adding fruit, too.
I believe they are glass, though, not HDPE
Yes. Glass. I corrected above.
Supposedly with the wide mouth you can harvest yeast easily also.
That is a great idea! Don’t think I could fit two in my fermentation chamber as with 6.5 carboys. Boo hoo!
The 6.5g big bubbler is 12.375" diameter and 17.625" tall.
A 6.5g smooth neck carboy (morebeer) is 12.75" diameter and 20.75" tall.
Numbers come from respective websites.
With those dimensions it will fit in my deep freeze and will fit in a brew hauler carboy carrier.
Looks pretty awesome to me, but I’ve got all of the carboys I need. I’d love to know what people think of them though.
I’m assuming the lid has a hole for the airlock (with a grommet)? Even so… you’d have to modify for a BBBOT, drilling out a bigger hole.
The lid has hole for normal stopper and airlock.
What is BBBOT?
The lid has a smaller opening on the top that has a screw cap to keep it sealed, or you can remove that and it will take a 5.5 drilled stopper (maybe a 5…but don’t have one of those handy to check; a 5.5 is included) and a standard airlock. Alternatively - it comes with an ‘airlock cap’ (not sure how else to describe it) that threads on to the small opening. Then you put some liquid in the tray on the lid and that becomes your airlock.
The small opening also can be hooked up to a blowoff - but not sure how secure the hose stays. We’re going to try it out this weekend.
Guessing BBBOT = Big Bubbler Blow Off Tube
Glass is a non starter for me.
+1 for glass being a non starter for me. I have a couple of these and really like them: http://morebeer.com/products/speidel-plastic-fermenter-30l-79-gal.html.
Large enough so I’ve never needed a blow off tube, easy to clean, has a port to easily rack and the integrated handles are sturdy and great for moving around 5 gallons of wort.
Looking forward to buying one or two of these as an early Christmas gift to me, really like the design and practicality.
Yay! The lid has threads so it won’t slip like a stopper - and then we drilled the lid for a stopper. Fail.
They should have drilled it for the little black gaskets they put in bucket lids.
The spiedels are another great option. I wish they were transparent. I have always had a glass fermenter and would miss seeing the fermentation. I watch it like a cat watches a mouse. Can’t tear my eyes away.
Very minor point: I also don’t like that the airlock is non standard. You have to use more expensive airlock from morebeer.
This is a better option it sounds like. The lid has a threaded stopper built into it. You can unscrew that and use a normal stopper if you want. I loath the bucket lids with those little grommets… such a pain to clean. Give you a bucket lid with a large enough hole in it for a stopper any day.
BBBOT = Big Bore Blow Off Tube (usually 1" ID tubing)
But I liked “Big Bubbler Blow Off Tube.”
They sell a 15/16" blow off tube with the fermenter for ~$5. I think it slides over the male end of the lid access port. Midwest has better pictures of the lid.
Thing that scares me about that I guess is the spigot, which are so hard to keep clean on plastic and when you take them apart to clean they never go back together properly and leak. Maybe this one is constructed differently.
That was the exact issue I had when I was thinking about buying these. The spigots are made much better than the normal ones you see on buckets or better bottles and the parts are larger. However, I still worry about these spigots when it comes to sanitation.
The spigots are optional as they come with a cap that you can put on instead of the spigot.
These things aren’t perfect, but so far I like really like them. Here’s a few “issues” I’ve found:
It took me a couple of tries w/ different tubing to find the best tube for the spigot and I found 3/8 inch silicon tubing works the best.
All of my transfers have a little yeast w/ the first pour.
The airlock is big and doesn’t show the activity as a regular airlock, but it works well.
Overall these are great fermenters. My beer tastes the same as they did w/ carboys and buckets, but the cleaning, transferring and moving are much easier. As Keith mentioned above, if you use the spigot, just have to take extra precautions to keep it sanitary.