BEST FERMENTER TO BUY? (in 2023)

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#thehoppyhour #homebrew4life #craftbeer

[@HOMEBREW4LIFE]

Channels I stole b roll from: BBQ Larry: www.youtube.com/@BEERNBBQBYLARRY Bitter Reality Brewing: www.youtube.com/@BitterRealityBrewing Elementary Brewing: www.youtube.com/@ElementaryBrewingCo Gnome Brewing: www.youtube.com/@gnomebrewing Martin: www.youtube.com/@TheHomebrewChallenge TheBrusho: www.youtube.com/@TheBruSho

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

Ha. Thanks for the credit. I also just reused similar clips from my old fermenter videos in my latest fermenter video. lol

[@EnclaveZA]

Gotta respect that honesty!!! You seem like a real dude! No BS just straight talk! I appreciate that!😂

[@Enjoymentboy]

I got into brewing back in the mid 90's and almost got into buying a fancy fermenter but then I remembered my grandmother. She used to brew beer for my grampa (who was a raging alcoholic btw) because it was so much cheaper. She used to use those 45 gallon rubbermade garbage pails and would brew 5 at a time. 4 were locked in a room in the basement beside the laundry room and the 5th went into his workshop. I remember watching him puttering around and every once in a while he would grab his mug and dip it into the still bubbling mash and down a glass. She had to do this because he would constantly drink the beer before it was ready to bottle and often spoil the whole barrel. I can still remember his smell. He always smelled like a mix of tobacco, sawdust and yeast no matter how often he showered. Makes sense. But this story made me understand that the fermenter really wasn't important and I wasn't going to waste money on anything more than a plastic bucket. Never had a failed batch.

[@ffwast]

That guy had to have enough yeast inside him to get drunk on sugar water.

[@tonesmith909]

Holy shit thats some story!

[@paulywill]

You paint a hell of a picture you word smither you!

[@lonewolftrucker3955]

No matter how fked up a picture it may paint, this story makes me feel good, back when people actually did their own shit and grandma was brewing all the home beer

[@nightterror007]

Started making mead last year in Chattanooga. Just went from a 1 gallon carboy to 2.5 gallon bucket. Watching the video and reading yalls comments makes me feel super new but I love it! Each batch gets better and my neighbor homebrewed for years so he is a hugely valuable resource. Can't wait to be super needs like you guys :-D

[@willschmit436]

I have been homebrewing for 40 years. My life changed when I got old, and weak. Lifting 7 gallons of wort wasn't good. I started brewing 2.5 gallon batches every Saturday (been doing it like that for more than 10 years). I ferment in a corney with 1.5 inches cut off the diptube. I use a spunding valve, and run everything at 14PSI - I don't screw around with refrigerators or temperature regulators -- REALLY, I brew lagers on the floor in my kitchen in Albuquerque at 85F all year long using normal (34/70) yeast. I have a whole shed full of gear, but I don't use any of it - the secret is smaller batches that will fit in a corney, then transfer to 2.5G ball lock kegs (under pressure) . I have a Kegland kegerator that will hold 4 corneys -- I use the short ones for serving. On a rare occasion, I'll make a strong batch, and water it down to 4.5 ABV and lager it in a 5 gallon corney keg...

[@danielschneider9312]

I've been brewing since the late 80s, and I've *never* had a glass fermenter break. I *love* glass.

[@TomSchlichting-f2v]

Favorite brewing channel! I wanted to share a yeast strategy video idea that no one says anything about. Propagate your own yeast! I haven’t bought yeast in over a year and I brew about twice a month. I make a starter and reserve some for the next brew in a sanitized jar. I feed it for 4 days to build it up strong enough for 10 gallon batches. Day 1-add reserved yeast to 15grams DME dissolved in 200ML water (boiled and cooled of course). Day 2- repeat Day 3- 20grams in 200ML Day 4 (start of brew day)- one more feed of 20grams in 200ML (should look like a snow globe on the stir plate by now) Note this uses only 70 grams DME in total. Small batches of wort like this only take about 3 minutes to boil and 10 minutes to cool in the sink with cold water, so it’s not the time sucker that it sounds like. Cheers to more H4L videos

[@ffwast]

I started fermenting in corny kegs to prevent oxidation and it's the perfect vessel. Stainless steel so they're infinitely reusable and easy to clean and sanitize, high pressure rated, floating dip tube compatible, reusable for serving, standard connectors, carry handles, the cheapest pressure rated SS fermenters I've found even at today's prices,they really do it all. The only shortcomings I encountered were that they could be a little bigger. So I bought myself a 15 gallon torpedo keg for Christmas (cheaper than a kegmenter and with standard corny keg parts) and have all the fermentation and head space I could need for the foreseeable future.

[@hackattack7811]

I've been using a plastic bucket fermenter for years. Never had any issues. Happy Birthday Braj

[@Indian0Lore]

Home Depot bucket?

[@hackattack7811]

@@Indian0Lore No. Its a food grade bucket.

[@ussmak2902]

I am a plastic guy. When I started I had both a glass carboy and a couple plastic buckets given to me. Before I brewed my first batch I saw your first video on fermenters. It was a done deal after that. I sold the glass carboy and haven't fermented in anything other than that bucket. I do have an extra corny keg, so I could ferment under pressure, but I like ales and my basement is pretty much on the money all year round as far as temperature goes. Oh and Happy New Year!

[@jeremyallen3614]

I got a 9 gallon Bucket Buddy from More Beer and I LOVE it! Also use the Speidel 60 Liter plastic ones. I like to make 7 gallons at a time. That's my magic number. Great videos! Great channel! Thank you for the awesomely funny and informative videos! Keep it up. (That's what she said) '

[@PartyTimeBrewing]

Holy crap, you're older than father time! Happy Birthday CH! And my go to fermenter is whatever is on sale or clean in front of me! I have stainless and a lot of plastic, but plastic is usually the easiest to clean and great as long as you have a spigot! Cheers!

[@HOMEBREW4LIFE]

See you soon braj!

[@Will-jd2br]

Corny keg with clear beer draught system is what I settled on. I have fermented and served in the same vessel. You don’t have to worry about yeast hanging around, because this happens when bottle conditioning/aging beer anyway.

[@ElementaryBrewingCo]

Throwing it back old school with that beardless video clip 🤣 happy late birthday Braj!!! Cheers to another awesome year!!!!

[@GentleGiantFan]

No love for the Fermonster? Not as expensive as the others mentioned but it's transparent for those that like to watch their fermentations. I wished I'd kept some of mine. My go to fermenter is my all rounder. I do want to get some floating dip tubes for my kegs and use a couple of those for pressure fermentations. Happy late birthday Braj....

[@loveGODlikebeerlivetoserve]

Happy birthday sir and hello from Colorado. Knox is a great town. Uncle Dave has a cigar shop, Smoky’s, there in Knox. Totally with you on fermenters. Glass when I started in 2013, and now I’m selling all 9 of my carboys, expanding my stainless vessels and maintaining my plastic buckets. 2 Big Mouth Bubblers glass vessels shattered on me. That’s it. Cheers mate!

[@TheWinkingPigBarBQ]

So much to say on the subject. I started brewing about '96 and everything I did was fermented in glass. These days, if you want to ferment in glass, make sure you get Italian made carboys, they're thicker glass. I sold all my carboys about a year ago and space was a big concern after I built a homemade chiller for my Spike Flex+ fermenter. Yes, I dolled out the cash for a Spike Flex+ (SFP) fermenter and I've got mixed reviews. The thing I like least about the SFP revolves around yeast attenuation when trying to ferment under pressure. I've tried multiple times and I've never had a beer fermented under pressure reach the predicted final gravity. So, I've stopped even trying to ferment under pressure. Now the things I like about my SFP. Temperature control tops the list. I have the ability (with my homemade chiller and Inkbird controller) to ferment at true lager fermentation temperatures. With the use of an electric heating element, Inkbird controller, and a rheostat control, I have the ability to keep the fermenter heated for Kveik yeasts if that's what I want to do. The other positive is, it's easy to clean and sanitize. Then there's plastic. I haven't done a lot of plastic fermentations because of the reasons you mentioned in the video and when I got started that fear factor was what was being espoused by all the homebrew shops and even Charlie Papazian I think in his books which may actually be the root of the issue. Today, if I were to advise somebody wanting to get into the hobby, I would steer them to plastic fermenters. I've both brewed and encountered many a great beer brewed in plastic and in the end, most people, unless you tell them will never know or care that your great beer was brewed in a $15 plastic fermenter or a $1,200 temperature controlled unitank in your basement. I've been reading a lot about the recent decline in homebrewing participation and I'm wondering if all the people showing off their $5-$10k homebrew systems may not be partially at the root of it by making people feel like brewing in coolers and fermenting in buckets is inadequate? Another issue may be the availibility of all the great craft beers being brewed across the country these days? I probably don't know all the answers there, I'm not connected into the homebrew business side of things. Keep up the good work! Cheers!

[@jeremybrews2521]

Happy bday buddy. My birthday is Jan 9th. I use plastics as well. I just bought the SPUNDit 2.0 and can't wait to use it. Fermenting under pressure sound like the plan for me. I picked up a couple other items as well :) I got to spoil myself. I hope you have a wonderful birthday.

[@wade3166]

Well that was alot of info.. I think I need to pound back a few beers and rewatch it 10 times.. have not started the adventure of home brewing yet, but I'm glad to hear the plastic bucket is a viable way to go.

[@timlinked]

man, thanxx that was fun!! I´m using the allrounder for years and I still luv it

[@zombieallen]

I'm glad I learned the faces on those spigots rotate before cutting mine.

[@Bigboj44]

I have the SS Brewtech, but recently transitioned to keg fermenting with a spunding valve for all the benefits you mentioned. So far I've done 2 ciders (using your video from earlier) and a stout. All of them have come out awesome and hassle free.

[@MrFancyFingers]

I started brewing in ‘85 and glass and plastic buckets were all I used. I got a bunch of carboys from garage sales and I still use them to age big beers and wine. I mostly use plastic now because I can dry hop or flavor beers easier.

[@courtneymoses9050]

Happy birthday! I love my Fermzilla all rounder, about to purchase my second, More beer has them on sale right now with the pressure kit.

[@johnlbanks]

Happy birthday my dude. I've been using the fermzilla for about 12 months. Love it's pressure control as I don't have temperature control and love me some kveik. Much love.

[@endydubelue4543]

Our beer quality definitely improved when we bought a Spike conical but it was also the first time we incorporated decent temp controls. That maybe had more to do with it. Great video!

[@piiner4815]

happened to be watching this on your bday 2 years later - happy bday man!

[@hjwagenaar]

Nice. After 4 years of home brewing I still find that fermenting in transparent yeast bottles/buckets is the way to go (no matter if it's glass or plastic). The reason is simple: you can easily check the progress of the fermentation and/or if it's still active. With non-transparent yeast bottles/buckets you might want to check it by opening it (which can ruin your batch). In the EU it seems that 5L glass bottles are more expensive compared to plastic ones though, these are the ones I use for personal batches most of the time.

[@77transamguy]

Happy Birthday Braj!! I used plastic buckets for over 10 years and now I have a hybrid sankey corny that I ferment in, after using that I’ll never go back, it’s stainless and holds pressure.

[@HOMEBREW4LIFE]

💯

[@arnoldadamj]

Love the video…just built my own glycol chiller out of an old window AC unit and an igloo cooler…could be a great project for the channel!

[@alvaradobrewhouse6387]

Happy Birthday Braj! Cheers to another year of braj'ing and brewing.

[@adamsandoval730]

Dude, you are a modern day Jim Palmer.. i await your book, thank you for your service to the beer community.. ...may the beer gods smile upon you.

[@daveelliott2055]

Happy birthday CH!!!! I'm still using a pair of SS Brewtech brew buckets.FTSS temp control. I have switched to Austrian yeast and only use my heater.95 degrees is alot easier to get to than 65 when cooling

[@joehannon4426]

I think I'm going for a WilliamsWarn Brew Keg. A couple of the 12.5 L models will fit nicely in my Kegerator. They can go to 30 PSI, have a trub removal jar, and the beer can be served right out of them. As with all stainless steel fermenters, you can also hot pack them, throw them in the fridge and pitch yeast the next day. The folks at WilliamsWarn have some great extract kits that these were initially intended for that look pretty cool. They also have a clear sight glass at the top to check on fermentation that also allows for the Kegland WIFI Pill to maintain a strong signal, which I'm pretty intrigued by.

[@ronbarnes5354]

Happy Birthday! I am with you I don’t ferment in glass anymore but do age a beer in glass I would suggest getting a milk crate they fit the glass fermenters perfectly and its not some crazy strap thing. Plus Ive been able to get them for Free front the milk delivery guy all I had to do was tell him I was using them to help brew beer.

[@mikevoorhees3750]

Miss these videos with your thoughts. Keep up the work! Like the podcast, but please keep making videos like this. It's really informative. Just bought a shirt to help out!

[@HOMEBREW4LIFE]

Ur the best MIKE!

[@bobbob-ze9zo]

The Fastfermenter - this is my go to for all the reasons it was made.

[@SCROWMD]

Happy belated Birthday! Hey, ANVIL SS 7 gal fermenters. Great price and have lasted me years(bought 2).Alas, now I have some beer stone creeping in them and try as I might cant get it gone.(brain showing me grinding it out with a wire wheel....). I tossed out my glass carboy.Cannot believe I never severed an artery... have several plastic ones in basement, scratched (from the &***!%$ cleaning brush)and all and YES I agree PBW and star san clean and never had a problem with them other than they are PITA to clean.

[@GR333NZ0]

Plastic bucket for the win. I add floating dip tubes and triclamp bulkheads to mine for the hop bong and haven't looked back. Easy to clean, cheap as hell, and when they've run their course you have a new bucket for other household stuff

[@gregl3580]

Happy Bday, Chief! I have the 7 gal conical from Anvil going on its first brew at the moment but before that always been using the plastic bucket.

[@ManagementClassOfficial]

Yah, I bought a cf5 in 2022. Opened it, and proceeded to return it 7 days later. I have since bought 4 spunding valves, an assortment of 130 max psi kegs in 5,6,10, and 15 gallon sizes. It got so out of control, now I have a 20-gallon batch size to fill all the kegs! Floating dip tubes are the real hero here.

[@gerardnatale2387]

I'm currently using a FerMonster but want to get the FermZilla All rounder so that I can ferment under pressure. Happy belated B-Day! Cheers!

[@forlifeyoda]

I have three 15 gallon all rounder, love them. Made many competition winning beers.

[@Bassanova100]

I used to brew in a widemouth glass carboy, but eventually, as they always do, it broke. The brewing shop in South Knoxville only really had the plastic buckets, and boy, I've never gone back. Back to glass. I go back to that shop all the time. She's real nice.

[@ownrhythm6536]

Just tempted by a used Ss 1/2bbl conical with a temperature controlled box for sale and watched your video to mull it over. I am thinking my plastic buckets are still the way to go. I have a 10 gallon thermos style mash ton, 60 litre boil kettle and I run them full to the brim. One batch will usually boil down to about 50 litres and fits nicely into two 6.7 gallon buckets for fermentation. Each bucket fills a corny keg with about 3-4 litres left to put in bottles. I did have issues with fermenting in the hot summer but a window banger air conditioner in the basement seems to work well at keeping around 72. I mainly use safe ale -05 and find it works great until room temperature is above 75. I do rack to secondary buckets to finish for no more than 2 days as I find it clears the beer better. I will usually do two batches on a brew day, mashing batch two while batch one is in the boil, thus ending up with 4 buckets fermenting after a long 10+ hour brew day. My beer tastes great and kegs will disappear very quickly when friends come over, plus I supply my Dad and another guy with kegs too. In the end I can't see my life being any easier with the conical, not easy to move when full, certainly not easier to clean than buckets, and would limit my quantities. Also ads a lot more equipment to the mix with connectors and pumps, which means some sort of filtering. Plus the two bucket system allows me to do one dry hopped and one not for the same batch. Oh yeah, and saves a pretty substantial amount of coin too. Yes, the fermenting box and conical would give me more temp control to try different yeasts and ferment temperatures, but the safale -05 seems fine to me and comes in a brick, much cheaper than individual packs of dry and the liquid stuff. Plus, I'm an ale guy and don't want to venture into brewing lagers anyway. As for oxygen exposure, not sure it's as much of a risk as people say. My hazy IPAs taste great and never had a beer turn, even after 3 plus months in the keg fridge, although the hazies do turn clear after a month or two, but it's a pretty rare occasion that they aren't finished in 30 days anyway. Did I miss anything in my considerations?

[@gardencity3558]

Happy Birthday Buddy! Have only used Spiedel 30L fermenters with malt kits and get good results. Still find the longer my beer sits in the korny keg the clearer and better it gets. Mind you we usually crush a keg in two sitting within two weeks of kegging..

[@mcwhitie]

I live in Vegas. Plastic buckets do NOT survive the summers out here. I made the switch to Stainless pretty quick. I started with the SS Chronical. Waste of my money. It's great and does what it's supposed to, but it's a nightmare to clean. I got myself an Anvil Bucket last year and use it for nearly every batch. The Chronical has a better cooling coil, so if I really need to keep the temp low, I'll use it. But I'm super excited for my Clawhammer Keg Fermenter. I pre-ordered that as soon as I heard about it. Once that comes, look for a SS Chronical up on facebook marketplace. Happy Birthday, CH.

[@Rednalekayakadventures]

I've used plastic buckets, glass carboys, and the fermzilla all rounder. Each has it's pros and cons but I do really like being able to transfer under pressure with the all rounders. It's so easy. Clean up is a breeze. I just hope it doesn't explode on me one day like I've seen online.

[@daveharvey5764]

Best way to keep it from exploding is use a vacuum pump. You don’t have to worry about it exploding and if there’s any kind of crack (if it’s glass) it’s easy to see.

[@Daniel_W_]

Right, I've never fermented with my soda kegs because the barley fit 5 gal. And I'm worried about krausen building too much pressure in the keg

[@toddstryszko248]

Happy birthday Man. Still using glass for my small batch meads because that's what I have from 20yr of brewing. I have a big system now (20gal) so stainless conical was the answer. Might have to pick up some plastic for those meads. I'm local Knoxville too, so if you ever need any honey my hard working bees would be willing to offer some up to your cause. Just try to hit me up.

[@theweekendwarrior6355]

Bucket, buckets, buckets. I have 5 gallon and 7 gallon buckets. Started with homedepot and moved to bigger ones. I do have glass (12 glass 5 and 6 gallon carboys) but I only use those for aging wine and mead and only ferment if I don't have a bucket.

[@zeljkokresic8632]

happy b braj! Started in plastic and switched to Grainfather conical, used it for something like four years now, it has occasional hiccups, the temp control unit is delicate and sometimes needs extra maintenance but the system is robust and user-friendly, meaning it's easy to clean and assemble. They also have awesome customer service (in Europe at least). To conclude: proper hygiene + some sort of temp control will do the work, stainless or plastic does not matter that much (u said it yourself:)). cheers

[@joewhiting9038]

great video ! I like the Chapman stainless steel fermentor. It's shaped like a plastic bucket and has an excellent spigot. Like a plastic bucket it has a flat bottom so yeast settles out very well. Didn't care for the Anvil. As far as plastic, 2 years ago I fermented on an old food grade fermentor that I brewed on 40 years ago and the beer was fine. Keep it simple and inexpensive because there is plenty of other brewing equipment to spend your money on !

[@dylanfeltz5587]

Started brewing in the middle of last year. Started with glass carboys and moved to some buckets. I've found glass is great for the condition part of wine or mead making for the visual part of checking in on it months later, but beer brews so fast those buckets are just so handy.

[@JoeWhiting-h7h]

your videos are informative and hilarious ! Keep up the good work !

[@garyelderman1229]

Had them all. Speidel are ok if not pressure fermenting. Had best luck with 24.5L corny keg with FloTiT dip tube added. Ferment. Chill. Fine. Wait. Transfer to a 19L keg with C02. Clear lagers in 2 weeks or so. As a bonus 1 has a multitude of fresh yeast on hand for subsequent batches.

[@dantedeluca978]

I love the use of that Chef guy and his glass PoS

[@me6628]

Happy birthday CH! Torpedo keg under pressure has been the best for me.

[@paskrell]

I bottle all my beer with counter pressure. I don’t keg. I used to bucket in cool chamber but it broke I had money on the account and bought glycol. Beers taste the same but the shelf life is much improved. Money on the account is gone. I finish in a SS brite tank now which adds to the cleaning but it looks really nice. If I was to do it again I’d replace my cooling chamber and finish in kegs before bottling. Greetings from Switzerland

[@nategore5211]

Happy Birthday Braj!!! Been setting up a new brew space for the last 3wksand off of KZbin so was pretty happy to open up the app and see this video tonight! Cheers!

[@sailordog00]

I mostly use Coke kegs to ferment (Pepsi kegs in the keeser} and the heating pads to an inkbird for temp control, with old towels for insulation. I just made my last Pliney clone in my AllRounder and the magnet bag dryhop worked great.

[@PiGnarSquared]

Happy B day brother! I’m rocking 2 allrounders right now- seedling mats for heat plugged into inkbirds, wrapped in 1/2” neoprene mats, zipped into old fleece jackets, spunding valves- BAM! Kveik yeast with the temp set to 35c and you’ve got delicious beer in no time! Great vids, keep ‘em comin’!

[@michaeltillbrook9782]

Happy Birthday Braj! I have only ever fermented in a Fermzilla conical. I am going to brew a porter and "bourbon barrel age" it. So, I am going to use a plastic bucket fermenter for that.

[@Tinystrom]

Happy belated 29th birthday. I am just starting to brew beer. I distilled with friends in college and finally have enough funds to go into brewing beer the way I wanted to. This video helped me immensely to decide to go with a corny (Korney ,corney?) keg setup right away. Was able to snag two for 40 bucks gave them a good oxi clean bath and replaced all gaskets (thanks for that other video by the way). Will let you know how I like them once I get around to brewing my first batch next week. Cheers hope the weekends rocking

[@Tinystrom]

First brew day was mostly good with not many fuck ups. But I found another reason why corny kegs are nice. Had my temp probe too close to the chiller and gave me a colder reading than the actual temp, didn’t notice until after I transferred. So I just threw the sealed up corny keg in a 5 gallon bucket in my tub and filled it with cold water a few times until I felt comfortable pitching my lager yeast. I learned from the bathtub chiller king of (formerly) San Diego 😂

[@CanadianBrewingChannel]

I ferment in a 17 gallon spike conical. I built my own glycol chiller so temp control is a breeze. I also ferment under pressure and close transfer to corny kegs. I brew 10 gallon batches and it makes it way less time involved when you brew 10 gallons at a time. I have video's on my channel on how I built my chiller.

[@eddiane]

Started with the plastic bucket. Moved up to the Anvil 7.5 bucket. I still have it but I was fortunate enough to buy a Spike CF-15 and that has been used for everything to present day. I used to cold crash my Anvil bucket in the keezer but it takes up too much space and I didn't like the balloon filled with CO2 to prevent it from imploding or sucking in O2. I still like the Anvil and may purchase the cooling kit as I find the cold side of brewing makes the beer more than anything else. I did build a glycol chiller for under 100 bucks and it can get my Spike CF-15 down to 33 easily. I still only do 5 gallon batches and even though the CF-15 can make a half barrel, Im far from needing that capacity. Ive already gained 25 lbs from drinking my high gravity stouts and ales. Id say the critical components of any fermentation is sanitation, as precise temperature control as is possible along with using quality ingredients from the start. Sounds simple and in its basic form it is. I enjoy the evolution this sport allows you to have if you choose. Nothing wrong with a bucket and the corny keg is an awesome idea to get you into the next level. Drink up.

[@mikeshelton9705]

I'd have to say the FerMonster 7gal: Cheap to buy, easy to clean, you can watch the ferment in action, this should cover everything except pressure ferments. Perfect for the beginning homebrewer!

[@probegt75]

That's what I use. Love watching the fermentation in action. It's kind of mesmerizing

[@JeffTheHokie]

Just don't do what I did. I was making something that needed yeast nutrient, so I boiled the nutrient to sanitize it, poured that directly into the empty fermonster and permanently warped it. I replaced it with a fermzilla which is basically the same thing, different brand. I'm not complaining about the fermonster. It is a great fermenter, but don't pour boiling liquids direct in it. Plastics can only handle so much heat.

[@garethwalsh683]

HB legend! Switched to corny kegs about 2 years ago. Love it. Only negative is they aren’t compatible with glycol systems. But I don’t plan on forking out the 💸 for that!

[@ScottButler-q1h]

Got about 4 of the 1/2barrel spediel fermenters...they can be a pain, but for the size to money spent ratio. It's a win for me I don't ferment under pressure, and most of my "beer" is run through another process when it's finished fermenting

[@dethflip23]

I do a lot ov Meads, so I ferment in buckets, the transfer to glass for long term aging.

[@jasonwitkowski5029]

Happy Birthday CH!! I still like using my plastic buckets!!

[@mbrantner57]

Happy Birthday and New Year, Braj! I've been using the FermZilla All-Rounder for about 6 months now and love it.

[@wfqsfg]

I use plastic fermenters. I have a 2 gal and a 6 gal. When primary is done I age them in glass. The 6 gal was sold as a brewing bucket with all the measurement lines and the 2 gal is a food grade bucket from Lowes. Cheap.

[@Khaladas]

Great minds think alike, I switched to keg fermenting about a year ago after following your original advice of fermenting in plastic ( which was also pretty great ). For me being able to pressure transfer to serving keg, pressure ferment and fit 2 fermenters into my inkbird-ified chest freezer were all driving factors in the switch to keg fermentation. Sometimes it takes a couple months to get through a batch ( doing 9g batches split into 2 corny keg fermenters ), so making sure it doesn't sniff any O2 is key. My only issue with keg fermentation is that it's a bit harder than the plastic bucket to clean/sanitize after fermentation.

[@JoelShapiro]

I've got the Kegmenter 29L from Kegland and i think they are very good, pretty cheap and lots of headroom while fermenting under pressure.

[@Brother_Chris_Music]

Just moved from Knoxville to Vegas! Just getting in to home brewing!

[@patrickdonnelly9945]

CH, Happy Birthday! Love your videos. Just bought a Brewtech Brew Bucket. First stainless fermenter so was a little disappointed with your survey results but will make the best of it. Cheers!

[@andreasvanrooyen4354]

I do small batches ½ gallon to 1 gallon in glass to perfect recipes then do full scale in a bucket.

[@cheetahgac]

Happy birthday braj - when I first started I stupidly bought two glass carboys and they suck ass. I've since done batches using your home depot bucket method and it's been dope every time.

[@dudestewbrews]

At the moment my favorite fermenter is the Reactor SS Conical from Northern Brewer. Biggest selling point for me was the fact that it has a valve at the bottom which makes cleaning super simple. No need to tip it over. Just open the bottom valve. All of that said, I picked up a Spundy by Keg King and a floating dip tube to start fermenting with my corny kegs and I have a feeling that I too will prefer keg fermenting in the future. Sounds so simple. Happy Birthday H4L! Cheers! 🍻

[@kevindavis8199]

As a FNG homebrewer with limited experience using Kveik, I've done a couple bucket brews and they're fine. Fermented under pressure in a tall 1/4 keg, but tough to dry hop. Just bought 2 AR 7.9gal Fermzillas, kinda cheesy BUT I love them. Dry hopping with magnets is a breeze, temp control with the coils is simple, cool to see WTF is going on throughout the process, LIGHTWEIGHT and easy to throw high up on a shelf. Prob going to buy the 15gal if these work well long term. Took your advice to read the YT, comments, buy shit in bulk, and brew beer!

[@dt2243]

Missed the videos braj. I use fermzilla just for pressure ferments, delicate beers (kolsch and crispy lagers), and hoppy brews. Otherwise love my plastic buckets. I did dedicate an old stainless bucket for my funky brews. Later sk8er

[@Mountainrock70]

Reinforced plastic milk crates (usually free) for moving around glass “Italian” carboys. I worked in a small microwinery in the Ozarks years before making beer. I like glass carboys lol

[@HOMEBREW4LIFE]

💯

[@beckylight257]

Absolutely agree with the ink bird being fantastic. One of the best tools I've bought

[@Atxjrdguy]

Happy New Year Braj. 38, pup. Happy Birthday. I ferment in a 7 gallon Fermonster with a heavily mod’d lid so I can pressure xfer to the keg. I bought the solid lid, a set of ball lock posts and a floating dip tube. It can’t do enough pressure to ferment but 7-8 lbs for the transfer works great.

[@demon562]

What's up CH .. been awhile! I've been using the big mouth bubbler from NB for about a year now. Works great! Plastic all day holmes!

[@HOMEBREW4LIFE]

💯

[@adamgodofwar666]

How much does oxidation freak you out? I'm almost 3 years into brewing and 3 days ago I kegged my first beer. I've been bottling. Even we transfers to a bottling bucket and getting exposure to oxygen, I've kept beers for over a year and I've only noticed them get better. I guess I just don't know what oxidation tastes like. It's very perplexing to me as I'd like to try oxygen free transfers but I don't think it's gonna wow me. I have temperature control so lagers at room temperature I don't have to worry about. I've also learned to exercise patients cause I rarely enjoy a rushed beer young as opposed to nicely timed out beer even with kviek. The whole oxidation thing is a mystery to me. I suppose I'll know when it happens to me. Great videos by the way, its just a confirmation that flashy doesn't make better beer plus I'm damn near poor

[@JeffTheHokie]

Walmart sells blue plastic water carboys that are made of PET plastic. 3 and 5 gallon size. I have a few of those for secondaries. I also cut one into a funnel-filter (that holds a Brita filter). Even though they are made of plastic, PET is the good kind. I had a batch of wine in them for about 3 months with no problem. My current primary is a fermzilla .

[@Dayman.]

I primarily use my Fermzilla All-rounder even when I don't do pressure ferments. I have a couple of plastic buckets that I use when my all-rounder is already in use. For small batches (I've been doing a lot of 5-8L trial batches recently since I tend to brew more than I can drink) I use 9,5L kegs. I'm going to be doing my first bretted ale soon and I intend to ferment that in a plastic bucket as primary then move it to a royal bubbler (20L glass fermenter with a big ass opening for cleaning) before adding the brett mix and letting it sit for 6-12 months. I decided to go with glass for that simply because I'm concerned the plastic bucket would let too much oxigen in over such a long time, otherwise I would never use glass.

[@SmoktimusPrime]

I've always used buckets. Because once they get scratched and junked you just get a new one. But the siren call of the no-oxygen keg transfer is strong

[@HOMEBREW4LIFE]

💯

[@paulschrader5775]

I got two fermzillas and a pollsinelli stainless open fermenter which I only use for traditional German wheat beer.

[@reyn66]

I have tried most of these fermenters. I like the keg fermenter because its an all in one. I am using a spunding valve but I am getting some bandaid flavor on my Mexican beer. I think it's from suck back on the spunding valve. The suck back is happening right after terminal gravity. Forgive me I'm still learning.

[@CharlieDoubleWhiskey]

I've used plastic buckets but switched to an Ss brewtech bucket about 5 brews ago. I love it.

[@ITUTExtension_SUPER]

Great videos. Welcome to Knoxville. Been here since 2017. Loving it. Lets grab a pint.

[@mrthomas7511]

I started brewing at 16 years old in 2005. We didn't really have KZbin information like this video. I used glass all the way. I'm so amazed at how far the technology has become.

[@davorpernar1096]

Happy Birthday Braj! What do you mean you can ferment under higher temp when in a keg? I'm in Brisbane Australia, already ferment in a fridge as I only drink Lagers/ Pilsner. Can i ferment in a keg and spunding valve, at higher temperature around 30-35 degree Celsius with a clean Lager yeast? My fridge holds already 50 litres of fermenting beer already. Would like to make Lager in hot climate too. I know, I drink too much. Running out of fridge space for fermenting. Made one Lager with Kveik yeast. I'm not sure if I like it, but it will be drunken... lol. Love the show Braj xox

[@morayfirthbiker2516]

I use plastic fermenters and keep everything as simple as possible, I have a homemade insulated box for temperature regulation using a heat mat and thermostat. Depending on what I need at the time the beer is either bottled in plastic or glass bottles or transfered into a plastic barrel. I was tempted to buy a stainless conical fermenter once until I spoke with someone who works in a microbrewery and also does his own homebrew, he uses plastic at home. There are some advantages to stainless fermenters but not enough to justify the difference in cost.

[@dden7670]

The best fermenter is my brew kettle. I do BIAB, so I basically mash, boil and ferment in the same vessel. And I usually transfer the wort to the serving keg mid-way through the fermentation process leaving the trub in the kettle and allowing the yeast to complete it's thing in the the keg without having to worry too much about the pressure getting so high that a spunding valve is needed.

[@tonesmith909]

Great video, newly subscribed👍 I would like to say I ONLY brew 10gal batches and I love the Speidel 60L (15gal) fermenters, LOVE THEM! Only after retrofitting with accessories from NORCAL brewing though, ive used these for over 6 years now, after replacing the gaskets with the norcal silicone gaskets these things are airtight and even hold pressure to rack. Must be rough going from SD to TN, home brew scene there is insane. Karl Strauss, Ballast Point, Gordon Biersch, Pizza Port…so many, but I gotta get outta here also before SHTF!

[@sunsethoundbrewing]

Fancy is great. But check out that secondary market first if you decide to go that route but, I feel like at the 5-15 gal batch size plastic is most cost effective.

[@cHaO5667]

Superb video! I used plastic buckets, plastic conical fast ferments (they suck!), cheap conical stainless-steel fermenters, but I ended up fermenting increasingly under pressure in Kegs (24,5l). Don't get me wrong, I'm a sucker for that sexy Spike/SS Brewtech/Brewtools etc.conical Tri-Clamp fermenters. But in my opinion, a Keg, a spunding valve, a floating dip tube, and a fridge is the best, the most reliable and cheapest setup you can get as a home brewer.

[@cHaO5667]

And daaaamn how on earth could I missed you last few seconds of the video! Happy (late) Birthday, Braj! Take care and keep up the good work. HB4L!

[@reddhotpoker3517]

Happy birthday, old man! I bought a FastFerment conical when i first started brewing and it took me about 3 batches for buyer's remorse to kick in. Thermo is hard to read because of the angle it's on, it's a nightmare to move if you ever have to when it's full and the shape makes it difficult to get a brew belt or heat wrap to stay around it. Oh, and it's too tall to fit in a chest freezer/fridge. The valve is also a pain to get fully cleaned after a batch. I downgraded back to buckets and was perfectly content for quite a while. Then i brewed a few big batches of high-gravity beers and realized there just isn't ebough headspace for big beers even in a 7.5 gal bucket. So i got a ss 40L milk can and have been using that for big beers. It has plenty of headspace so no overflows and all it needed was a hole drilled in the lid for an airlock. Has been working great so far. I'm going to buy an extra lid and try putting keg posts, floating dip tube and a prv on it for low pressure transfers.