[RustyPlaneWoodworking]

I’ve really only used glass car boys and plastic buckets.

I don’t mind the buckets, but I don’t like that you have to open the lid to see what’s going on. I like the transparency of the glass, but they’re heavy and can be safety hazards.

I was wondering what fermenting vessels folks on here primarily use?

I was looking at a big mouth bubbler and I was also looking at the Speidels, but I can get two bubblers for the price of one Speidel.


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[narcout]

Personally, I think stainless is the way to go.

I switch between a 10 gallon corny keg with a trimmed liquid dip tube and a 7 gallon SS Brew Bucket.  The SS Bucket is easier to clean but the corny can hold a lot more pressure, and I never have to worry about blowoff.

[Robert]

I also use a 10 gallon corny with a trimmed spear tube.   Agree with narcout that some stainless option is the way to go.  I have used a Speidel, but I really do not like plastic.  Beyond the obvious sanitation challenges,  it pemanently retains smells, and has such high insulating value that temperature control becomes more difficult,  and temperature must be monitored in a thermowell,  stick-on fermometers or external probes are useless.

[ynotbrusum]

I have come to really appreciate Stainless fermenters, too, but I appreciate the plastic ones, too - I have 2-7 gallon SS Brewmaster Buckets, 2-15 gallon Chapman SS tanks; 2-60L Speidel plastic fermenters and 2 Big Mouth Bubblers without ports.  I brew 10 gallon batches, typically, but I can use the BrewBuckets, BMB's and regular 6.5 gallon buckets I have laying around on 5 gallon batches when in the process of ramping up some yeast to a 10 gallon batch pitch size...At any given time, I may have a couple fermenters full or all of them!

I don't typically worry about watching the fermentation, other than some airlock activity, if it happens to be in process.  Pitching a load of healthy yeast means, it usually finishes pretty darn quick, so the show is over before I get back to checking, sometimes.

[RC]

I really like PET plastic. I use the Fermonster. Huge fan of this fermenter, got 8 of them in my fleet. It's all I'll ever use, for many reasons--one of them being I can buy ~10 of them for one SS fermenter. Don't use steel wool to clean the inside (duh) and you won't have any atypical sanitation challenges with any plastic fermenter. The perceived disadvantages of plastic are, IMO, hugely overblown, and the advantages are many. That said, a problem with the big mouth bubbler is the textured, bubbled walls, which are a pain to clean. The Fermonster is basically the same but uses smooth plastic throughout, much easier to clean.

[RustyPlaneWoodworking]

Personally, I think stainless is the way to go.

I switch between a 10 gallon corny keg with a trimmed liquid dip tube and a 7 gallon SS Brew Bucket.  The SS Bucket is easier to clean but the corny can hold a lot more pressure, and I never have to worry about blowoff.

Do you use the corny for your primary fermentation?


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[RustyPlaneWoodworking]

I really like PET plastic. I use the Fermonster. Huge fan of this fermenter, got 8 of them in my fleet. It's all I'll ever use, for many reasons--one of them being I can buy ~10 of them for one SS fermenter. Don't use steel wool to clean the inside (duh) and you won't have any atypical sanitation challenges with any plastic fermenter. The perceived disadvantages of plastic are, IMO, hugely overblown, and the advantages are many. That said, a problem with the big mouth bubbler is the textured, bubbled walls, which are a pain to clean. The Fermonster is basically the same but uses smooth plastic throughout, much easier to clean.

  Nice! I’ll look into that one as well as SS options.


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[narcout]

Personally, I think stainless is the way to go.

I switch between a 10 gallon corny keg with a trimmed liquid dip tube and a 7 gallon SS Brew Bucket.  The SS Bucket is easier to clean but the corny can hold a lot more pressure, and I never have to worry about blowoff.

Do you use the corny for your primary fermentation?


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Yes - primary in corny and then rack under CO2 pressure to the serving keg

[Robert]

^^^^
I do the same.

[RustyPlaneWoodworking]

Personally, I think stainless is the way to go.

I switch between a 10 gallon corny keg with a trimmed liquid dip tube and a 7 gallon SS Brew Bucket.  The SS Bucket is easier to clean but the corny can hold a lot more pressure, and I never have to worry about blowoff.

Do you use the corny for your primary fermentation?


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Yes - primary in corny and then rack under CO2 pressure to the serving keg

Interesting. I never thought to do that. I normally rack to serving keg for the secondary, but I’ve never done that with the primary.

How do you deal with the CO2 build up during primary fermentation?


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[Robert]

I make an "airlock" by putting a QD on the gas post with a tube into a jar of Star  San.   With 6 gallons or so of fermenting wort in the 10 gallon corny there's no chance of clogging it with blow off.  Pic:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lboBCxGxDgcGVqTAhb9hz_gCKD-P5kcV/view?usp=drivesdk
I take the QD off and pressurize to a few psig before crashing so suckback isn't an issue.

Of course if you wanted you could use this essentially like a unitank and carbonate before racking under counterpressure to a serving keg.   But I never have.

[RustyPlaneWoodworking]

I make an "airlock" by putting a QD on the gas post with a tube into a jar of Star  San.   With 6 gallons or so of fermenting wort in the 10 gallon corny there's no chance of clogging it with blow off.  Pic:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lboBCxGxDgcGVqTAhb9hz_gCKD-P5kcV/view?usp=drivesdk
I take the QD off and pressurize to a few psig before crashing so suckback isn't an issue.

Of course if you wanted you could use this essentially like a unitank and carbonate before racking under counterpressure to a serving keg.   But I never have.

Definitely interesting...but that might be a little out of my wheelhouse.


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[Robert]

To me maybe the greatest appeal of the 10 gal corny is that it is physically/ mechanically the simplest stainless option.  No moving parts, no valves, it's just a big keg.  Sealed, sanitary,  easy to clean, move around, etc. and uses the same fittings, tubing and such I already have for kegging.

[Black Lion Homebrewery]

I still love my plastic buckets. They're cheap and easy to clean. When I'm ready to retire them, they either go to sour/brett fermentation or to the shop/garage/garden.

[Chris S]

Here's a vote for the Speidel. I finally gave up my glass habit and recently purchased some 30-liter fermentation tanks. Fiddled with the airlock situation -- swapped the screw-on for a drilled rubber stopper -- and it was off to the races. Super light and easy to clean, though I do miss spacing out in the basement watching yeast eat.