So I was in the process of saving up for the
SS Brewtech Unitank 2.0, because I already have the glycol chiller, and I hate the coils on my brew buckets. Made no sense to get the unitank 1.0 (which has coils), even for the sale price. The jacketed system of the 2.0 was super appealing, but add in the heating/cooling component for the 7 gal version, and it comes out to almost $1600 for 1 tank. Come to find out, a friend of a friend was selling his entire brewing system due to some health issues, and he had
2 Unitank 1.0s for sale, with the heating/cooling components. I pulled the trigger and got 2 7 gal unitank 1.0s for less than the price of 1 2.0. Had to do it.
Long story short, I brewed up my familiar Citra/Cascade/Simcoe neipa, which I've done numerous times (transferred via auto siphon from my brew bucket to keg), but this time I was able to close transfer from the unitank. This is where things get interesting. I was able to sample directly from the unitank, so 7 days into primary I was getting what tasted like finished beer. Soft crashed on day 8, dry hopped on day 10 and kegged on day 12. Served it today to what ended up being a 5 man brew day, with 3 guys that have never brewed before. I gotta say, I was skeptical about the closed transfer making such a huge difference, but damn. DAMN! The aroma is as intense as I've ever had. Color is light straw and POPS. I'll be sure to get a pic in the next few days, but just had to share the experience. Might be my favorite neipa to date. On day 12. Unreal.