The Catalyst Conical Fermenter Review Part 1
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- Part One of our Catalyst Review Series. Here we give our opening review notes of piecing together and filling the conical fermenting system compared to the FastFerment System. Stay tuned for more of the review!
I have two FastFerment. It's not perfect by any means. Some useful tips:
1) Buy the updated seal for the lid. It works.
2) The metal stand doesn't inspire confidence and makes it difficult open/close a tight lid since it will spin on the stand. I recommend using the wall mounts. I built a portable wood stand with the wall mounts on it. I have it hanging at a height so a keg or bottling bucket will fit underneath it.
3) Hops and/or trub can clog the opening into the catch ball. I use the end of my mash paddle to clear the blockage.
4) The ball valve can be dismantled for cleaning.
5) Not being clear is both good and bad. Bad you can't see what's going on, but good that you don't have to cover it to keep light out.
Note you can also do 6 gallon batches with the FastFerment.
And I don't work for them :-)
Good advice. I also built a wood stand for mine using the wall brackets. Used a Harbor Freight furniture dolly for the base so I can roll it around. Works like a champ.
So I have two brews under my belt using this fermentor. Here is what I have encountered, in no particular order.
1.) Low headspace. Pretty much blow off tube required for first few days of any fermentation with a good starter. Not a con, but just a fact. Even with an explosive fermentation of my Belgian Tripel using Wyeast 2787 I had ZERO leaks (yay!). Volume loss will happen due to blowoff.
2.) You can use ANY wide mouth mason jar. I found starting with a 32oz jar works great for primary. If higher gravity beer you may even have to swap it out with another 32oz jar. When your fementation is dwindling or ready for secondary, you can swap to a 16oz or 8 oz jar. You can purge the jars with CO2 if you're worried about oxidation.
3.) Fill markers do NOT account for mason jar, so fill to desired level with valve closed.
4.) After two weeks of primary, when swapping to a clean mason jar for secondary, I noticed that ALOT of yeast is stuck on the sides of the conical. Even with some "encouragement" (moving the fermenter around to create a current) that yeast didn't hardly budge nor end up in the jar as I had hoped. This will likely be a problem for those who choose to bottle straight from the vessel. I do admit I was impatient and decided to use the bottling attachment to rack to a secondary, which works very well BTW. I used a "bouncer" Inline filter to catch any straggler gunk. I do not (yet) harvest my yeast, so to be honest in retrospect I think I would have much preferred the SS Brewtech Brewbucket for fermentation since I am still having to transfer to secondary to get the beer off of the stuck gunk.
I do not know how the yeast would settle for an extended secondary or how it would respond to a cold crash (and end up in the jar, not on the sides). Racking to secondary with this thing is incredibly easy though!
The comments had better criticisms of the products and a comparison than the video that's pretty sad.
I bought one fastferment a couple of years back and I’ve never had any issues with the valve, the stand being round - is that really a problem? You’re supposed to use the wall mounts. The problem with the lid seal is, however, real. It’s an easily solved problem (if they haven’t done it allready, change the gasket), but it’s real.
Fastferment is easy to clean and has a great thermowell.
After about one year of having no problemos, I just bought another one.
I just wana know who wins .. Im still am new at this but realy want a conical ,, stainless would be nice but counter productive if i get the ss bucket (price point is the factor)...
Alex here... They both have their Pros & Cons. We'll do our best to point out what we think those are, but as far as who 'wins' you're going to have to decide that for your particular situation
I understand the benefits of the butterfly valve vs. the ball valve for transfer and clog my question would be do you think there is any potential difference with regards to oxidation when you open the valve or no since its more the volume of air in the vessel you're attaching than the size of the valve?
Alex here... Part 2 addresses some of your concerns regarding oxygen. You're exactly right, the valve itself has nothing to do with potential oxydation, but more so the size jar or collection ball you attach to the valve. Either way you can purge the jar or ball with CO2 or sterilized water to avoid imparting any oxygen.
Alex Cando OR... ferment with the jar attached and the valve open. The jar will fill with trub/yeast and, when fermentation completes, you can just close the valve and remove the jar.
What is your sense of longevity of the two different conicals? Polycarbonate vs Polyethylene... Also the valves, I have the FastFerment and my biggest complaint is that the valve seems to hold potential contaminants.
You may already know this, but... When you clean your FF, leave the valve half way between open and closed. That will allow it to drain and dry.
The FastFerment is made from HDPE which is similar to the material used in brew buckets, The Catalyst uses Tritan, a medical grade polymer that is 93% more scratch resistant and much less oxygen permeable then HDPE. The Trub Trap butterfly valve is made from Tritan, silicone and stainless steel so it is designed to last a lifetime.
how about $99 for 7,9 GL vs $199 for 6.9 GL ???????
Idk guys.....
The gasket in the litter the fast romance is a quarter of an inch thick it's not flimsy it's pretty obvious you guys got paid to review the catalyst.... it's $200 vs $80... on the fast for mint is also heavily UV resistant that's why you can't see through it you need to spend another $35 to get a jacket for the Catalyst conical to keep the sunlight out or put it in a super dark room those are your options way you're not going to be looking at it... you guys literally are sitting in a brewery giving the most superficial arbitrary criticisms of the system when you're Brewers you're actual Brewers... if you're going to spend $200 you might as well get a stainless steel conical fermenter and be done with it it's what $30 more oh look the price of the jacket.
Irritating...that guy, cmon.
Considering you can get two Fast Ferments for the price of one Catalyst, I'm feelin' a lot of hate for the Fast Ferment.
Clay Maguire We dont hate either one so far. Part one simoly has us astonished at how elegant the Catalyst appears compared to the FastFerment. Part two will show a lot more in depth of cons from both sides. Part 3 will be giving a "close the loop" analysis with final thoughts.
I'm surprised you guys came out of the basement and stop playing dungeons and dragons only real vikings make beer
dill-rods