The Fermentasaurus: A Hands-On Review

My opinion of the Fermentasaurus conical fermenter by Oxebar in context of brewing a beer; an English brown ale. Also featured is the pressure lid kit accessory. Topics include sanitizing, racking, fermenting, purging trub, naturally carbonating, pressure transferring to a keg in a closed system, and cleaning up.
Thanks to the folks at MoreFlavor (www.morebeer.com) for sending me one to review, and thank you Oxebar for designing and manufacturing such an interesting product!
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[@dirkventer250]

outstanding vid Larry. I love the casual, easy going style you have and that you don't edit out the gotchas as you learn about them. Nice style, great job.

[@joehaaland1]

Best beer vids I’ve seen yet. All your videos are straight forward and to the point.

[@JeremiahT]

You're right, Larry, a lot of thought and care went into the design of this conical. The best one I've seen yet.

[@Brewmaster103]

Thanks Larry! Great review. I always like it when a review is start to finish like this.

[@grahamlewis4884]

I love that you don’t edit out the mistakes or problems in your videos. Subbed

[@clubshedbrewery3220]

Another great video Larry. I really like this thing - wow, to be able to pressurise is fantastic! And the volume - bigger than the fast ferment which makes it perfect for my batch size. This is now on my wanted list! Thanks!

[@WHB2021]

Thanks Larry!! love the vids. im an avid all grain brewer and just purchased the fermentasaurus also..great buy.

[@daddynutz024]

Great video Larry. Your last videos showed just how easy it is to Homebrew and how this hobby has evolved. Thanks

[@futboljefe1]

Larry - that is a really cool product. Thanks for sharing!

[@jochenarlt5962]

Hi Larry, thank you for that great review video! This helped me a lot to get friends with my Fermentasaurus! Today i transferred the first brew into a KEG, it worked fantastic and i love that device! Greetz from Germany! Jochen

[@5070kja]

Good video especially since I was on the fence about getting one of these. I'm definitely getting one of these now.

[@marka1142]

Fantastic video Lazman! I'm buying one in a couple of days. This has been most helpful.

[@EMS_Brewing]

Larry, you are amazing! Thank you for ALL that you do! Please keep it up! I'm still getting caught up on your video library... and your shirt in this video is BANGARANG!

[@ayellowbeard]

Well if Larry likes the Fermentasaurus and EMS Brewing likes Larry's video then I guess my mind is made up on which conical fermenter I'm getting!

[@MrBrentmetro]

Love this review... I'm going to spread your links.

[@michaeljanke4850]

Thanks, and I’m not into yeast harvesting. I like the size too, fits in my smaller freezer size fermenter. Thanks Larry, and you’re the man.

[@vincentsnyder8080]

Thanks! Excellent presentation and very informative. Well Done!

[@markgorka9441]

Thanks for the video matey! Very professional and heaps of facts! Thanks again

[@keithdelahunt3778]

Enjoyed watching Larry. Well put together and I informative. I like when forgot to add tbe yeast in your excitement, we've all been there. Also when you came out the closet about your lack of trub dumping. Made me laugh. All the best. Happy Brewing.

[@MikeP350]

I love your brew vids Larry, hope all is well, hope to see some new content from ya soon!

[@nickbrandon8457]

Hi Larry this is a great product, and with a few tweaks it could be fantastic. I have had occasional clogging problems around the butterfly valve even when I ferment with an air lock i.e. not under pressure. They are about to release a Mk2 vision with a larger butterfly valve to avoid clogging, a bigger top opening to allow easy cleaning, and stronger stand. Also two sizes will be offered - 27 litres and 50 litres. If any of you are considering buying one of these wait till late 2018 and get the Mk2. I'll be getting one and then using the Mk1 as a keg with natural conditioning.

[@GunnySGT1911]

Another great review man. Thanks.

[@frosk1n]

Great video Larry! Thank you

[@AndresTeranT]

That's pretty impressive I've always had troubles with sediment during transferring process, that little ball seems like a clever idea to stop sucking yeast or either hops going to the corny keg, I'll definitely do my own version. Cheers Larry and thanks for the video! Big fan of you 🍻

[@ooaqici82qb4ip]

The best clip on the subject I’ve seen so far. Well done Larry

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

Thank you. Glad you liked it!

[@jacktyrrell2050]

Thanks Larry I thought so looking for a good beer from now on cheers

[@danielcrivello2960]

Excellent videos! Thanks for these reviews, they are easy to understand for someone who is just getting into brewing. I've​ made several batches and want to get better every time! You make that easy. Thanks, I'll keep watching.

[@77transamguy]

Great video! As always very informative!

[@ericthilges5419]

Excellent Video!

[@kgakoh0]

An awsome video and well explained. Thank you so much.

[@74kilmer]

Nice vid Larry. Thanks and planning on buying two over here in Europe.

[@MrJmeisternixon]

Great video as always! very thorough. for the price I feel like this is a steal for what it can do.

[@davecoffelt4778]

Great review, very useful!

[@byronaitken1371]

Love the spunding valve idea on the keg! been pulling that valve for probably 30 brews! Hahaha great video man! love the fermentasaurus! great for dry hopping with a little co2 purge in the collection jar

[@MrBrentmetro]

The biggest advancement in home brewing! Pressurizable!

[@samuelvalle8862]

Fermentasaurus looks very good and practical... I maybe purchase one of those in the future. Execellent video and a lot useful knowledge Larry. Greetings from El Salvador Central América.

[@alexbennett5724]

Love this blokes honesty. he doesnt talk shit. Great video mate.

[@jamaic1aboy2]

Hi Larry that's a nice bit of kit you've got there.

[@frankphoto2]

Loved the walk through the entire process with the mistakes/issues. You did not get to the co2 and fluid Temperature till the very end,Loved your control methods for transferring warm co2 charged liquid. Probably the only way to do it at room temp. I chill my cider first before messing with the keg, and i use 5 liter kegs ( allot of them) just to make handling and storing/transporting easier for my limited space. it also allows making many flavor variations among each one. I think I will get one but put it on wheels. In late fall and winter take outside to chill.

[@ayellowbeard]

Thanks so much! You review has helped me make up my mind in which conical fermenter I'll use for cider. I don't think I'll have have to worry about your trub clogging issue with cider but it looks like they fixed that issue with the version 2, called FermZilla.

[@hawkmoon4459]

Nice , informative and innovative cheers

[@CC-wq8yz]

Very informative Larry. Thanks. Feel kinda dense for loosing so many magnetic stir bars over the years. Mostly to my whisky boiler. You answered my question about getting foam in the beer vessel transfer line. Couldn’t figure that one out. I wasn’t pressurising the receiving vessel at all. Makes sense now.

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

Glad to help

[@gunasuppiah759]

Awesome Video!

[@mrbridger5]

Great review Larry. 👍 That yeast volcano tho! 🌋 Lol.

[@cmstudios11]

you just sold me on the damn fermentasaurus.

[@ryanneil765]

Great video!

[@TheArby13]

I just got a 3 gallon conical fermenter. 3G Fast Ferment. I like it and it fits my apartment space. But now I want a bigger fermenter so it looks like I need to clear off some space. These conicals clog up down in the small throat, but, that is part of the game I guess. Cheers. Thanks for the great video.

[@RichardCockerill]

by the by...enjoyed the video,very informative...Cheers and keep on truckin or in your case brewin

[@jonathandavis9507]

Nice review. You can actually use a sodastream bottle on the bottom instead of the trub collector. You can collect more trub this way. Keep the valve open and it will eventually all settled into the bottle.

[@rodolfocordero1362]

Hi Larry great video, I bought myself the Fermzilla but made the same error you did by fermenting at a lower PSI whilst at room temp. I have kegged and began refrigerating the beer but I am unsure how to add carbonation. I brewed your Laargarden and I can't wait to get into it. Thanks!

[@jessicafitzpatrick8009]

I've heard pressure suppresses yeast activity. I wouldn't allow pressure to build up until after you drop trub, or the krausen begins to drop.Then cap it with your awesome spunting valve and crash cool under pressure when it's done. Nice vid and really cool fermenter.

[@JR-nh7fc]

Great Job! Just an advice, working with high pressures I would use protection goggles

[@martinjolly]

Hi Larry, thank you for doing this vid, I'm new to home brewing and love your channel, helping me loads. Can I ask though, what pressure did you set the spunding valve to when fermenting in the fermentasaurus?

[@XxMrRoachxX]

You deserve a lot more subs and views my man! Awesome video, if you want to top it, maybe pour one of the freshly made beers at the end ;)

[@MSKChess]

this will keep all those NEIPA's and other hoppy beers super fresh

[@mrbridger5]

BEER-N-BBQ by Larry I'd love to see a NEIPA done in the Fermentasaurus. Dry hopping a pressurised beer could be a bit of a challenge tho! I think it would have to be done with the airlock and then lid swap afterwards?

[@soultacticaltm2803]

mr_bridger actually is not that hard to dry hop you dry hop thru the yeast collection port

[@jeschinstad]

A couple of thoughts; 1) You should get a pressure controlled compressor. Spending CO2 on cleaning wasteful and a compressor can be used to add oxygen to your beer so you don't have to buy it and also, it's nice if you use a keg for carbonated water since water doesn't spoil in contact with oxygen. 2) I think the collection ball is most useful when you don't ferment under pressure, such as with wines. The floating liquid line makes it more or less pointlest, except for collecting yeast for reuse. I completely agree with you that trubes does no harm to your beer. However, you may want to delay opening the valve until there's some pressure in the keg in order to make sure it doesn't clog. If you're worried about adding the small amount of oxygen, which I wouldn't worry about at all, then you can just fill it with co2 before connecting it.

[@christopherthacker4726]

I usually do that pressure brew with the apple juice bottle ( large great value) to make hard cider juice lol..ive noticed the pressure encourages the yeast sediments to go down all at once.

[@ShortCircuitedBrewers]

Nice wort to keg overview. There definitely is a higher pressure required for beer at higher temperatures. I have some other ideas about this product.. Coming soon😉 Cheers Larry! 🍻

[@ShortCircuitedBrewers]

BEER-N-BBQ by Larry yep!!! Working on getting my video out shortly..

[@goldgulfcoastdesignericsho8628]

Have a gravity question for you Larry, how far off will your gravity be with CO2 in solution or do you just let the beer go flat in the test jar and then get your gravity. Thanks again keep your videos coming. Cheers

[@davidcampbell4429]

What did you do about light. The clear plastic would have me worried. Great video. Look forward to more.

[@guiguix87260]

Beer and BBQ ! Damn you are a hero ! I'm gonna subscribe and watch your work :D

[@guiguix87260]

By the way, thank you for your review. Did the Fermentasaurus is resilient ? I was looking for Pilot sized fermentor and all in one brewing tank, so it have to be resilient ^^

[@grwood15]

Awesome! Got mine all put together just waiting to brew again to test this thing out. If you don't mind me asking how much do you have into your spunding valve? I see they have them on morebeer for about 40 bucks

[@francobartolotta1252]

Also if you can , 24 hours before transferring , put the fermenter in a fridge , temperature at 36 f and the yeast will go down more and the beer more clear , transferring your beer cold create less foam and more easy . Have a second fermenter to reuse the yeast for new beer

[@jimdent351]

Nice setup you got. You must be quite busy with all these hobbies you have. I'm finding that wine making is enough for me now, but the beer making looks like something that I might do in the future. How long does homemade beer keep? Thanks.

[@jamesjobe4307]

Very cool! seems easy enough. The stand doesn't seem ideal though. Reminds me of tomato cages.

[@ChewyBravo888]

Hi Larry, great video. How long in total did it take to transfer the beer to the keg?

[@ilanmagen]

Cool addition to your home set up, some things you can do differently: - Every time you collect yeast slid a tray under the capsule. - leave floating hydrometer inside the Fermentasaurus, it will roughly give you the gravity at any given point without the need to measure gravity under carb beer. - Add the float and the racking tube after 75% fermentation over. The issue with this new toy and other toys like it is none of this conical fit in small fridge. Cheers

[@mjodr]

One other thing to think about. I believe carbonation throws off hydrometer readings. I've seen pros degas the sample before taking a reading to get it more accurate. I would imagine if it's floating in there with ~2 vols of CO2 it's going to throw the reading off. Which probably also happened with his hydrometer sample.

[@mjodr]

Well, good to know.

[@victord.rivera8482]

Great video! Found the Fermentasaurus online, but can't locate the port cap you show for CO2 and liquid. Where did you purchase your set up?

[@TheOlah]

Nice work on the video as always and on the valve setup. One thing to possibly add in the future may not be a bad idea is a check valve just in case if beer were to flow into the tubing if there were too much volume in fermenter vs the keg. Edit: now that I think about my comment, I don't believe a check valve would work in the setup you have there since you would still need to let gas out through the valve.

[@alexrocks135]

Really debating to get this or the catalyst fermenter you reviewed but I’m leaving more for this due to the minimal oxygen exposure. How would you dry hop without introducing oxygen? Also I’m going to look at your fermzilla video after beacuse ppl are saying the valve sucks on the fermnetasoures

[@jacktyrrell2050]

Hi Larry I'm just wondering could my problem be my electric elements because when they heat up there is a chemical reaction a cloud of dust coming off them so I've now replaced them with new ones and they are heating clean no reaction when do you think I know you use propane any thoughts thanks Ps I love your videos

[@Glargenas]

Would love to see a diy tutorial on that great automatic pressure valve dingy. Would really simplify the part gathering process!

[@Glargenas]

You're the man, should have checked. Cheers

[@martinrush6829]

Love the video as per usual Larry, very informative. Instead of using the device you made, would the pressure relief valve ensure it doesn’t turn into a bomb?

[@martinrush6829]

@@BEERNBBQBYLARRY thanks, I didn’t think about the yeast🤦‍♂️👍

[@francobartolotta1252]

More pressure to push , we are using 16 psi and let the keg purge Valve open , when beer overflow it s full

[@dixonjames4177]

Hi Larry great video as usual. What's the name of that green tray that poured the starsan in and where did you get it. Thanks

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

The wall paper tray? Menards.

[@tri-forceblades3123]

There is a fermentasaurus 2 out now. I would love to see a review

[@MyDgus]

Hello Larry excuse me my english isn't perfect maybe i dont understand of all. When the first fermentation finish you use sugar for the second and carbonation? Or only pressure? thank you

[@EpiphoneMIKE]

Hi Larry, great video. I bought a Fermentasaurus today because this video really impessed me. I bought a Coopers Lager Diy beer can because the guy at the shop suggested it . I like Pabst Blue Ribbon but I'm not sure that the Coopers Lager was the correct product for the Fermentasaurus. I just wanted to make my first batch as simple as possible after not making my own beer for 30 years. I liked the idea of the trub being deposited into the trub ball. Do you have any suggestions of brew kits I could buy ? I like an american or canadian lager that is light. Any suggestions to a new user of this device ?

[@johnny7047]

Larry, they make whats called a Frisbee to catch the spillage from the collection ball, or just use a round cake pan. Make life a lot easier.

[@martystamplecoskie4804]

good video

[@rlwalker2]

Would releasing the pressure allow you to remove the trub without foaming? Once replaced, the big tank would repressurize?

[@mickarcher1952]

Great vid, only concern I have is, according to the instructions I read online, you are meant to be able to use the collection vessel to dry hop! How are you going to do that if your not going to remove the trub vessel under pressure?

[@esentl]

You can also trim the float ball line so it floats just right above the trub and not into the trub to suck it up

[@esentl]

BEER-N-BBQ by Larry overall great video I have been waiting for a great complete review of this fermenter cause I was wanting to buy it as well .... Most videos are of guys buying it and assembling it but not using it.....thanks for the detailed video this just confirmed my purchase

[@ChadWellsForReal]

How are you taking an accurate gravity reading if it's carbonated? What did you use to calculate accounting for the co2?

[@moonyachts424]

Could you lower the pressure via relief valve before removing trub in jar?

[@matrix777able]

Been watching you posts and loving them thank you . Question could it be possible to connect to a bottle filler and fill them having enough gas for carburizing inside the bottles ?

[@matrix777able]

Very cool thank you for your reply

[@bareend1494]

Larry! I'm very interested in how to you built your "Spunding Valve!" Will you please share the parts list and build with us? Thanks!

[@bareend1494]

By the way... I just bought the Fermentasaurus with Pressure Lid Kit from my Local Homebrew Shop after watching your video... I can't wait for my next brew day! I use a Grainfather system...

[@justincooper2307]

I bought one from Willliam Brewing but I like your adjustable set up better, would be great to know where to buy that adjustable valve. thanks and appreciate all the great insight!

[@jacktyrrell2050]

Hi Larry any thoughts on water chemistry I'm using my water from a private well and it's soft ph of 5.4 do I need to up my ph what do you think thanks

[@chadcarpenter9742]

Larry, I think the hose on the floating ball is to small. What is it like 1/4in dia? How long did it take to transfer?

[@marksolomon7771]

It looks like there was some sort of expiration date on the unit? Appears the date was 2019? Can you confirm? Looked like it said do not pressurize after 2019? Thanks....great video!

[@bulliwolleboesing2529]

Hi Larry, super Video! Do you have a recommendation for a special yeast which is working under pressure? Also a bottom yeast working at low temperatur?

[@mjodr]

The theory is that most yeast has been bred to work in large breweries under larger hydrostatic pressure in the big tanks than what we get in our small volume fermenters. I don't think any yeast has been specifically bred to work "better" under pressure. The theory is that it should ferment faster, but it also produces a different ester/phenol profile than if fermented under zero pressure in a small volume fermenter. Even though the hydrostatic pressure is greater in a large conical in a big brewery, they sometimes also use the trick of keeping the fermentation vessel under pressure. Mostly to reduce turnaround time. At a commercial level the business comes first, time is money. That's why you may have heard people talk about "7 days, grain to glass bro!"

[@mattl7599]

When you were cleaning h it how hot was the water. I have one of these and the instructions says to not use water over 50 degrees Celsius.

[@PiGnarSquared]

Thanks for all your videos! Lately I have been reading things about priming sugar. Do you need to use priming sugar in the keg or are you relying on the CO2 to carbonate the beer? This might be a stupid question but I'm just starting out- brewing my first 5gal batch next weekend. Thanks again!

[@PiGnarSquared]

@@BEERNBBQBYLARRY Thanks! Keep up the good work. We newbies really appreciate it.

[@MrBrentmetro]

Pressure fermenting is THE NEXT LEVEL home brewing technique.

[@infinitefretboard]

Have you experimented with fermenting above 10 PSI? I've read that at that point the pressure is detrimental to the yeast. Which makes it seem like pressurized fermentation isn't a viable way of fully carbonating beer.

[@bretonleo8740]

An other way to do inexpensive under pressure syphoning is to buy extra korney kegs for primary fermentation, it works well, a keg is simple to cleen, you can throw down boiling water if you need, and 2 second hand korney kegs are cheeper than the fermentasaurus system ! ;)

[@bretonleo8740]

That's true. Hopefully kegs takes not mutch space and are easy to find ;)

[@075jammer]

Thanks for the video. Have been thinking of getting a conical. Have you done a how to on smoking your own malt to really bring your beer and bbq together?

[@jamespaulow5229]

Thank you. I am considering going to all grain from extract. Also, what product is your sanitizer? I will be watching your other videos. Cheers.

[@BEERNBBQBYLARRY]

I use Star San.

[@davez31turbo]

hmm, this may be a present to myself.... good pricing also..

[@quarlow1215]

BEER-N-BBQ by Larry In the video you said you could have had the pressure higher. Wouldn't this force the trub down into the catch ball or does it plug that tightly? I'm not a brewer but am looking to get into it, One question I have is you open the valve to the catch ball right away. Shouldn't you keep it closed till its done fermenting so that all the yeast interacts with the beer? And if so wouldn't the higher pressure force the trub down? Next question is in regards to when you pulled the catch ball off. It was a heck of a mess but could you have lowered the overall pressure for say a day before so the carbonation would settle out and then remove the catch ball with less pressure, clean up the ball and then reattach the ball, then increase the pressure back up? These are just some things that went through my mind as I watched your excellent informative videos.