Honest Review of the Big Mouth Bubbler Fermenter // Homebrewing Gear
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- Опубліковано 22 сер 2024
- Sharing with you my honest review of the Big Mouth Bubbler from Northern Brewer, a fermenter with pros and cons. I also discuss the controversial "universal" lid and pressure test it.
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Like the 80's intro.
Sold me. Saw some negative reviews online but after seeing yours I'm in.
We really appreciate the fun and positive review of our Big Mouth Bubbler! What sort of fermentation projects have you been getting into since this video? Any summer brews turn out exceptionally well? If there are any questions we can help with, please don't hesitate to ask! (Chip @ NB)
Thanks! The pandemic has put a halt on some fermentation projects, as quite honestly it's been exhausting. I do have one planned soon and hope to share that as well. Thanks for checking in!
Hey Chip, I was looking for that lid clamp you mentioned, and can't find it on the website. Do you have a link for that?
I was considering purchasing one of these but noticed the reviews about the lid issue. I'm happy to see a thorough review of this fermenter.
Nice pressure experiment! Thanks for the review
Thanks! I added the Big Mouth Bubbler® EVO 2 - Siphonless 6.5 Gallon Glass Fermenter with Harness to my wish list for Christmas! I wonder if the harness will hold the cover down for me too; if so I'll take 6 and will build my brewery around it. Norther Brewer is such a great company; they have excellent customer service.
I think the harness is a great addition, but in my experience unnecessary.
The multiple rings on the lid provide enough contact to remove risk of contamination. The lid rising up us a reaction to pressure, and as long is contact is held, it is ok.
Thank you for posting and I hope you enjoy this fermenter. I’ve had a BMB that had the original screw on lid. That leaked CO2 badly and I bought the silicon ring lid for it. It kept slipping off as well. Now I use spring clamps to keep it on. Between that, the thin side walls and the “bubbles” on the side wall that make cleaning a pain, it is a really bad design. Just saving up until I can afford a SS conical.
You're welcome!
When you say slip, do you mean it slips past the first ring but is still in contact with the other rings? Or does it completely pop off?
The design is so that it can slip past a couple of the rings so that it doesn't compromise the neck of the fermenter as pressure changes, and still not allow oxygen in.
An SS is the dream! Hope that comes to you soon!
Beertastic Journey Maybe cause mine was the original screw on design, the silicon ring completely came out.
Cheers.
@@lennyusefof8077 I gotcha. Something that makes more and more sense as time goes on is that the manufacturers also didn't provide sufficient info or instruction on how to get the best out of their product.
Salúd!
@@BeertasticJourney Sorry for the delay. Just came across this video today. We now provide a safety harness that help for carrying the fermenter and it also has a top that keep the lid more firmly in place. www.northernbrewer.com/products/northern-brewer-universal-harness
What is the height of the fermenter with an airlock? And the width of the bottom of the fermenter? Great video!
Great question. I can't currently give you a direct measurement, as my fermenter is currently on a boat making its way to Germany.
But the height with the lid all of the way down in 24". I would tack on another inch, since the pressure during fermentation would raise it. And then add another inch and a half for the airlock. To be safe I would round it out to 26" tall.
The diameter is 11".
hmmm... I just brewed a Kolsch and didn't transfer for 2ndary (just waited it out, as advised). It had a little bit more "hay" in the taste than I needed. Thinking of buying the Bubbler for my 2ndary fermentations.
I wouldn't say "advised" as much as unnecessary when getting started. I'm always worried that someone will give up on home brewing when being told about "having" to use a secondary fermenter. For a kolsch _ a very clean style of beer - a secondary makes sense, especially when you have an expected outcome such as yours, and which I agree with.
Some people don't have the means, whether space or money, to have a secondary, and my offhand comment was more to say it's not a necessity to have a secondary. Hope that clarifies and makes sense.
@@BeertasticJourney of course! Thanks for the video. I'm looking forward to my BMB arriving soon.
Put a 5lb olympic weight on the lid. That will prevent it from popping out
I have one and I hate it! tried it on beer and mead and the tops keeps popping. The top doesn't come off but I would not feel comfortable spending a lot of money on honey or grain just to see it get oxidized or contaminated because of a poor seal.
All of the rings make contact, so is it that it pops completely off, or it moves to a subsequent ring? In that case it may be that the seal is fine.
@@BeertasticJourney it will not stay seated when there is fermentation going. So much so that I don’t get a seal well enough to bubble my airlock.
My lid has lifted twice so far during the same fermentation.
Its ok if it has lifted, as long as the ring is still making contact with the neck. If it has popped off, then there is a problem.
Yeast wasn't technologically advanced during a certain time period and that's why secondary fermentation was needed? Yeast being more advanced these days eliminated secondary fermentation? You are confused about secondary fermentation which is easy to do because homebrew instructions are based on producing distillers beer and secondary fermentation isn't required to make grain alcohol. Someone, convinced you that distillers beer and ale are the same, they're not. The single temperature infusion method and high modified, malt are used in grain distillation. It's chemically and enzymatically impossible to produce ale and lager by soaking malt in hot water for an hour, unless, the malt contains magical properties allowing enzymes to work at a single temperature and at a single pH, which is impossible due to the high temperature rest denaturing low temperature enzymes, one enzyme being, Beta. Without realizing it, brewers denature Beta and other important enzymes by following a recipe based on making quick brewed, distillers beer.
A spec sheet comes with each bag of malt and it's used to determine the quality of malt before it's purchased. Without a spec sheet, recipes are useless. Modification and percentage of protein are two important numbers listed on a spec sheet. The higher the modification (Kolbach, SNR) the less suitable the malt is for producing ale and lager because enzymes are weak and conversion won't fully occur. The higher the protein content, the less sugar in the malt. High modified, malt is better suited for grain distillation because it contains mostly Alpha. Under modified, low protein, malt is used for producing ale and lager because it's rich in enzyme content and contains more sugar than high, modified malt.
Beta is responsible for conversion at a rest temperature of 140F for 45 minutes. Beta converts simple sugar, glucose, released from simple starch, amylose, during liquefaction, into complex types of sugar, maltose and maltotriose, the types of sugar needed to make ale and lager. When conversion occurs, secondary fermentation takes place because yeast works on complex sugar differently than it does on glucose, it's an enzyme within yeast thing that is responsible for secondary fermentation. Beer doesn't need sugar priming or CO2 injection to carbonate when conversion occurs. Beer naturally carbonates during conditioning due to maltotriose. Natural carbonation is much finer than bubbles made from artificial means.
Heat resistant, complex starch, amylopectin, is thrown away in the single temperature method because the temperatures aren't high enough to cause the starch to burst before Alpha denatures. Amylopectin contains A and B limit dextrin which are tasteless, nonfermenting, types of sugar responsible for body and mouthfeel in beer. Amylopectin makes up the tips of malt and it's the richest starch in malt. To take advantage of the starch mash is boiled. When Alpha liquefies the starch, dextrinization and gelatinization occurs. A distiller cares less about the starch and sells it, maltodextrin is made from the starch. The finest ale and Pils are produced from dextrinous extract, not from sweet tasting, sugar and glucose laden extract. The single temperature infusion method skips, conversion, dextrinization and gelatinization and without the steps ale and lager can't be produced.
To begin learning how ale and lager are made start with deClerks books, the books cost about 175 bucks. Wulf's 1958 and 1959 journals are the best, the books cost about 2000 bucks. Abstracts from the IOB are free, online. The IOB made malt, modern, in the 19th century. In the 20th century a bunch of advertisers invented CAMRA and they renamed distillers beer and Prohibition beer, ale.
Just came across this again. I think I should have been more clear about my off hand comment . None the less, that is a lot of good info you provided up there.
I was more referring to yeast quality, and how it is unessary to use a secondary to reduce off flavors for shorter fermentation -say 4-5 weeks - not so much it's affect directly on fermentation. Thanks!
Lid is a terrible design.
Thanks for tuning in!
I thought it was flawed first time around, but overtime I have had no issues and have come to understand it was designed to reduce stress on the mouth of the bubbler.
I think there are a lot of better options out there, for sure.
100% in agreement! I read somewhere that the original "screw-on lid" design had issues with the seal. I got two in 2016 and replaced them with three Fermonsters in 2017, though I still use the BMBs occasionally. I keep each lid on with 2 bricks apiece (each brick is literally inside an old sock for cushioning!).
After using multiple times and testing with forced pressure, I believe the need to reinforce the lid is more perception than need.
The lid doesn't need to be 100% closed because the rubber rings keep in contact and don't let anything in or out.
This is reinforced by the lid description the website:
www.northernbrewer.com/products/big-mouth-bubbler-universal-lid-single-port
@@BeertasticJourney Since this video, we have begun to provide a harness that helps to keep the lid in place as well as making carrying/moving the Bubbler easier.
@@NorthernBrewerTV that is great to hear! I have had no problem with it personally, but I can see that others have and will find that helpful.