• Welcome to the new forum! We upgraded our forum software with a host of new boards, capabilities and features. It is also more secure.
    Jump in and join the conversation! You can learn more about the upgrade and new features here.

FastFerment conical fermenter

GeeWizz

New Forum Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2009
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Does anyone here own and use a FastFerment conical fermenter?
I recently got one and brewed with it today. My brew day was typical up to the point of filling the fermenter. I got through it ok, but just wondered what other brewers do.
I racked to the fermenter and hung it on it's bracket. Because it was a hoppy IPA, I let it settle in the vessel for an hour with the valve closed to let the hop sludge settle. I attached the barbed fitting and slowly opened the valve to let the sludge drain into a bucket. About a quart and a half. I closed the valve, attached the lower ball vessel, pitched the yeast starter and then opened the valve. An hour later I saw even more hop sludge had collected in the cone. Too late to drain that because the yeast is in there too.
Does anyone here have a better process?
 

Attachments

  • fermenter.jpg
    fermenter.jpg
    44.6 KB · Views: 1,628
  • fermenter.jpg
    fermenter.jpg
    44.6 KB · Views: 1,483
I purchased one on NYE and did a wine kit in it for starters. Observations so far:
  • Lots of parts to clean
  • Documentation does not include part specs
  • There's an o-ring in the union joint that can fall out. It is not listed in the parts as a separate piece and replacement is difficult (see last point)
  • Collection ball can lead to increased loss of clean fermenting products, but will do well with most trub collection. Might be nice to have a larger ball as an option
  • Thermowell is a little flimsy and there's little room for error in installation.
  • Directions require that you install the cap, without gasket, 10 times prior to first use, to cut the threads. Do this with it full, much easier to leverage.
  • Keg lube on the union joint threads help greatly, but is a pain to clean
  • Lots of parts to clean
 
I purchased my FastFermenter a few months ago and brewed one batch in it so far.
While swapping out collection balls I realized that having at least two balls would make the process much faster. Does anyone know where to find accessories? I looked on their site, but they are saying you have to go to a brew supply store. It would be helpful for them to provide links on that end.

In response to your question, and I was leary of this approach, I opened my valve and allowed the trudge to slowly settle into my ball. This took time, and I thought it was clogged. I walked away and left it over night. The next morning all my sludge had gradually worked it's way down into the ball. I got worried at first about a clog, but eventually everything did work it's way out.
 
Gentlemen!
I'm fairly new to all grain brewing - feb 2015, and also have used the conical about 5 times now
after boiling and cooling the wort , I fill the conical, aerate the wort for a few minutes, pitch the starter, and let ferment for about a week, with the valve closed
you can hold a light behind the bottom end to observe the solids settling, open the valve for a few days, close, unscrew the coupling to the collection ball and if you want to try to reclaim the yeast here this is the place to try it
I wait about two more weeks, attach the hose piece, drain to keg
I believe the idea is to use this as a primary and secondary( or conditioning stage)
I am thinking this would not be good for Lagers
good luck
Stoney Creek, Ontario
 
Back
Top