FastFerment - comments/opinions?

[acorn]

Recently I've read about this type of fermentors in one of my books, and today I saw an ad, and decided to follow up on it here.

FastFerment

The idea looks quite appealing on the surface, but I don't know what to make of it yet.

So, I would like to ask some of you who have been making wine for years with or without using many different fermentors, what do you think of it?

What, in your opinion, would be the pros and cons of this vessel, compared to the conventional plastic primary buckets and secondary glass/plastic carboys/demijohns?

 

[richmke]

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f3/fastferment-90-shipped-45981/

 

[bkisel]

Adding to my earlier concerns as expressed in the above link would be the ability to effectively use a brew belt. I'm often using a brew belt on my primary bucket to maintain temperature when fermenting wine in my basement.

I do however like the overall concept...

 

[LoveTheWine]

I think this is mainly designed for brewers, not so much for winemaking. The bottom bubble is made to collect sediment and yeast kinda like you would do with a conical brewing vessel.

 

[acorn]

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f3/fastferment-90-shipped-45981/

Thanks. I searched, but didn't find anything on it, so I decided to start this thread. I'll be following both.

 

[acorn]

I think this is mainly designed for brewers, not so much for winemaking. The bottom bubble is made to collect sediment and yeast kinda like you would do with a conical brewing vessel.

If one were to use it for wine, do you say that the wine yeast would cling to the walls too much, such that not all of it would end up in the collection vessel?

 

[LoveTheWine]

If one were to use it for wine, do you say that the wine yeast would cling to the walls too much, such that not all of it would end up in the collection vessel?

No. Wine and beer yeast would both settle to the bottom, however, many brewers like to collect or harvest their yeast to use again since it is expensive or just a rare strain. It isn't worth it for wine as a pack costs 0.99 cents.

Also beer making requires much more sanitation as the alc. is lower and the PH is higher making it more prone to infect. Thats why conical fermenters are used, the sediment sinks to the bottom and you don't have to rack from the top.

With that being said, I use plastic buckets/glass carboys for both wine and beer making. They are in-expensive, last a long time and work great with the volume of production we make at home.

 

[acorn]

No. Wine and beer yeast would both settle to the bottom, however, many brewers like to collect or harvest their yeast to use again since it is expensive or just a rare strain. It isn't worth it for wine as a pack costs 0.99 cents.

Also beer making requires much more sanitation as the alc. is lower and the PH is higher making it more prone to infect. Thats why conical fermenters are used, the sediment sinks to the bottom and you don't have to rack from the top.

With that being said, I use plastic buckets/glass carboys for both wine and beer making. They are in-expensive, last a long time and work great with the volume of production we make at home.

I see now. Though I am wondering, is it more cost effective in the long run, if used exclusively for small batches of wine, such as 5 or 6 gallons? I mean, the small batches when you tend to worry about losing wine between the rackings.

 

[LoveTheWine]

You could ferment for a week or two in it but longer term aging, in my humble opinion is safer to do in glass carboys or better bottles.
You don't waste wine when racking from these vessels, simply tilt them and suck up every last drop. One still needs to rack several times no matter what container you use (or drain from bottom in this case).

It does look like a pretty neat fermenter though!