Stainless Steel Carboy for Primary?

[HoppyMaltPoet]

I was Thinking about purchasing a 12 Gallon Stainless Steel Carboy from Deep Wood Brew Products.

Does anyone have any experience with these? I am planning on doing 10 gallon batches in this. The price point is better than a conical, and space is a bit of an issue at the moment so this seems like a better option, but the headspace seems a bit small. I might be OK with a blow-off instead of a regular airlock. But just wanted to see if anyone else had experiences using these.

 

[bemerritt]

Just curious, what are the dimensions of that thing?

 

[HoppyMaltPoet]

Dimensions: 15 1/2" x 23 1/2"

Here is the link to the site and product if interested:
http://www.dwbrewproducts.com/shop/product_info.php/gal-stainless-steel-carboy-ports-p-84

 

[kickflip_mj]

I think you are better off just getting a sankey, for the price of that you could pick up 4.

 

[HoppyMaltPoet]

I think you are better off just getting a sankey, for the price of that you could pick up 4.

I have though about that but I had some reservations.
First I can only find used kegs for that price, new kegs are more expensive.
Once I add any shipping in (if I cannot find locally) I am at 100+ dollars already. Still half the price agreed, but I would need to get some work done to the keg (drill, for ball valve and thermometer, etc.). Not sure what the cost of all modifications would be.
My next concern is the weight of a keg vs the weight of this carboy. This weighs about 11 lbs., while a keg I think is around 30lbs. (not a huge difference when you take into account filled with liquid. 90 - 120 lbs.) but still something to consider.

I am not against using kegs but that was my thought process when I started to think about this vessel. Do you have any experience with using kegs as fermenters or any tips. I am just tired of using buckets that scratch all the time and having to replace. And also doing split batches when I do 10 gallon batches. Any insights are appreciated.

 

[Paul07293]

I use a pony keg, 7.75 gallon, as a fermentation vessel. A piece of 1 inch pvc tubing works as a blowoff or you could go this route. http://www.brewershardware.com/American-Sanke-Keg-Fermenter-Kit-with-Thermowell.html
I skipped the ball valve and just siphon as I did with my glass carboys.

 

[bdf]

I bought a 5 gallon one (actually holds 6) and it's great. It's easy to scrub out the inside and will outlast me. I liked it so much I bought a 2nd one. Would have gotten the 10 gallon but that's too much for me to lug downstairs. Anyway those things are awesome. Make sure you buy a valve too.

 

[iijakii]

Might be tough to rack out of cleanly? Then again I'm terrible at it and manage to hit the trub atleast once.

 

[bdf]

Not if you add the ball valve. It sits about an inch or so above the trub, so once it slows down you can just tip the carboy a bit to slowly get as much beer while leaving trub behind.

 

[Fluxload]

I was Thinking about purchasing a 12 Gallon Stainless Steel Carboy from Deep Wood Brew Products.

Does anyone have any experience with these? I am planning on doing 10 gallon batches in this. The price point is better than a conical, and space is a bit of an issue at the moment so this seems like a better option, but the headspace seems a bit small. I might be OK with a blow-off instead of a regular airlock. But just wanted to see if anyone else had experiences using these.

I bought a '10 gallon Cavern' from Deep Wood Brew Products. After looking at it, I saw that it was made by the Italian company MINOX, and that it was 30L capacity (about 8 gallons). They're called a fusti and are used for storing food grade liquids. Searching online, I found the exact same 30L MINOX fusti for sale MUCH CHEAPER in numerous places. Here's refurbished 25L fustis http://www.gourmetimportshop.com/mobile/product.aspx?ProductCode=mi0025-us5
Here's the new 30L fusti I bought
http://wholesale.oliveoilsource.com/content/minox-welded-fusti-stainless-steel-lever-spigot-30-liter
$142 w a ss spigot, plus $44 shipping = $186 delivered. At Deep Wood Brew, I paid $186 for the Cavern, $20 for spigot, and $32 shipping = $238; so $52 more. Same product. There's a wider selection at the olive oil site, too, all sizes down to 3L. I like the ss bottles from Deep Wood Brew but wouldn't recommend buying the Cavern from them, get it elsewhere.

 

[bstacy1974]

Amazon. I've been watching these for a couple of months. They go in and out of stock on a regular basis. I'm only watching the 25L version, so other sizes may be in stock all the time.
I can't explain it, but the 25L with a valve ($147.00) is less expensive than the 25L without a valve ($180.00). Its a Prime eligible item too, so the $147 gets me a fermenter, valve and shipping to Alaska! Got to love Amazon Prime.
Things may change when they come back into stock, but this has been the trend the entire time I've been watching.
M5 Corporation Italian Made Stainless Steel Fusti Container

 

[HoppyMaltPoet]

I just purchased the DeepWood from a local brew shop. I paid $139 for the 6Gallon with 2 ports. The size is deceiving but it should be good for a 5.5 gallon fermentation.

 

[CA_Mouse]

I would be interested in seeing the inside of the port and the part of the 'lever' that goes into the container.

 

[Tombsy]

I was thinking of getting one of these Fusti things and using it as a kettle / primary. I make 5 gallon batches. What would be my ideal size? I can get a 6.6 gallon for $75 or a 8 gallon one for $79.

Would the extra headspace in the 8 gallon be a problem? Or would it be nice to prevent boil overs and allow for slightly bigger batches if i wanted.

I was hoping to install a rotating racking arm so I can got straight to the keg as well.

I have access to a stainless steel welder, so I could mod the crap out of it.

Thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks

 

[HoppyMaltPoet]

Just finished fermenting a porter (1.068 post boil) in this and wanted to give my review.

I had about 5.5 gallons that I poured into this vessel post boil. Maybe a little less. I used a blowoff tube because I was a little worried about the small amount of headspace.

I would recommend using this for a slightly smaller batch or maybe something with a lower OG. My blowoff tube was useless with this batch as at peak fermentation I had krausen not only coming through my blowoff tube but also from the seal between lid and vessel. I was surprised at this because the lid actually had a rubber o-ring that supposedly appeared to give a much better seal. Needless to say there was a bit of a mess to cleanup.

The final issue I had was when I went to rack to my keg, I had an issue removing the lid. The Krausen had created a sticky seal in the threads of the vessel making it a bit difficult to remove.

I am going to try another batch that is a lower starting gravity and also maybe try with a smaller volume. I am going to make sure I definitely have a good seal on the vessel when I close it up. Perhaps I did not seal it well the first time and that is why I had a krausen leak from the lid. If I do get a leak I will immediately take off the lid and clean the threads to prevent "glueing" the lid on.

Hopefully I get some better results with the next batch as I really like the idea of using this permanently. Stainless feels like such an improvement over the plastic buckets for me personally.


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[acarr160]

Please let us know. Thanks.

 

[philw86]

Bringing this back from the dead...any updates on the lid threads not sealing well? Thinking about trying a Fusti type thing and converting it into a fermenter.

Stainless, big lid for cleaning, and bigger sizes...surprised more people don't use these. Would like a nice 10-13g fermenter for house beers and save the carboys for longer aging stuff.

MoreWine seems to have Fustis...seems like it should be at least able to hold a few psi right? http://morewinemaking.com/products/stainless-fusti-tank-14-gallon.html

 

[hunter_le five]

Bringing this back from the dead...any updates on the lid threads not sealing well? Thinking about trying a Fusti type thing and converting it into a fermenter.

Stainless, big lid for cleaning, and bigger sizes...surprised more people don't use these. Would like a nice 10-13g fermenter for house beers and save the carboys for longer aging stuff.

MoreWine seems to have Fustis...seems like it should be at least able to hold a few psi right? http://morewinemaking.com/products/stainless-fusti-tank-14-gallon.html

I use a DeepWood Brew Cavern SS carboy (modified Fusti), and I like it a lot.

No problems with the lid not sealing on mine, in fact it seals very well. My only issue was that the lid gasket is fairly loose, and if you're not careful, it will fall into the beer when you unscrew the lid. It's happened to me more than once, but from now on I will just be more careful to restrain the gasket as I'm removing the lid. Thankfully no infections resulted.

I've used SS conicals, plastic buckets, glass carboys... so far this is my favorite fermenter by a long shot. I added a $12 thermowell for more precise ferm temp control (works great!), and thinking about adding a ball valve as well for transferring to keg so I can ditch the autosiphon.

I've heard that some people use these as boil kettles as well, so that way there's no need to transfer after the boil, just chill and stick in the ferm chamber. I may try that in the future.

 

[LordUlrich]

I never understood why people get worked up about fermenter lids not sealing. Fermentation generates CO2 which will keep any Oxygen from getting in. Even if some gets I the blanket of CO2 will keep it away from the beer, and last the amount of oxidation will be minimal compared to what you would do during bottling or keging

 

[hunter_le five]

Yeah, it's really not a big deal. More for peace of mind than anything else I guess, but not necessary in the slightest.

I also enjoy seeing the airlock bubble, but again, not really important for anything.

 

[Tombsy]

I have had my fusti fermenters for about 6 months now and I love them. I purchased 2 generic 8 gallon ones with spigots. I only do a primary fermentation.

- Removed spigot and just use the plug and auto siphon.
- Removed the gasket and lightly put on lid. Kinda like a loose lid bucket fermenter.
- Stainless/Large Lid = easy to use (clean, add hops, gelatin)
- Easy to lift and transport.

I haven't boiled in it, but I dont see why I couldn't. Would just need to modify my chiller to fit in the top opening.

 

[RiderEh]

I was just gifted one of these in 20L http://www.lanuovasansone.com/index...em/contenitori-aggraffati-lt-15?category_id=3

Any idea if I could use it to carbonate? IE instead of bottling my beer, would be nice to condition it in this and just use the tap any time I wanted to pour myself a beer. I'd store the whole thing in my fridge. The tap is about 1" above the bottom of the vessel, so would work well to separate the yeast bed from conditioning.