StillSmart

Evening to one and all.... Just a couple of quick Questions

I have been playing around with brewing now for just on a couple of years.... I have purchased both A T-500 and now my present kit of choice which is The Home Spirit Maker which I am very happy with.

Also I am using the SS filter bucket which I purchased along with my Home Spirit Maker and am very happy with the results that I have been achieving with this

My question to all of you very learned people on here is

Do you think it would be worth my while purchasing a Stainless Steel Fermenter would I notice a difference in the quality of my Spirit by doing so??

I have had my two original fermenters from day one of this fantastic journey that I have embarked on and as my fermenters have been well used thought it may well be time to purchase a couple of new ones and thought the move to Stainless would be worth some consideration.

Thanks in advance

Whimpy [b][/b]

If your old fermenter's are plastic, there is a train of thought that over time while cleaning them they receive scratch's. These scratch's are deep enough to for nasties to hide in, then you drop a brew in and hey presto you've got an infected brew.

Do you think it would be worth my while purchasing a Stainless Steel Fermenter would I notice a difference in the quality of my Spirit by doing so??

I don't know if you will notice a difference tbh, stainless is nice , easy to clean that's why it's used big time in the food industry, what are you looking at to buy...and what's the cost.

Fermenters getting scratched, leading to bacteria was mentioned in just about every freebie mag that I got from the HBS. I have never heard from a homebrewer that a certain fermenter only gave them diseased brews.

One of my fermenters is over 30 years old and is still as fit for purpose as my more recent ones.

My tuppence worth. I absolutely love the look of those conical stainless fermenters. But they are soooo expensive. Also where I ferment I need to insulate and heat, so you would never see it.

I have been using the same HDPE blue barrels for over 12 months - rarely getting more than a wash out with hot water. No problems with infection as I don't scrub them out.

If I did start having a problem then they are cheap to replace.

John51 wrote:Fermenters getting scratched, leading to bacteria was mentioned in just about every freebie mag that I got from the HBS. I have never heard from a homebrewer that a certain fermenter only gave them diseased brew.
One of my fermenters is over 30 years old and is still as fit for purpose as my more recent ones.

I was careful to phrase my post John, that it was an opinion on plastic buckets on some other forums. Myself I've never had any problems either, but I was given an old plastic barrel by an old boy who was giving up on the home brew. Have I used it?, no the reason I don't think I would ever get it clean enough to chance a brew it.

If you think about it, the commercial world doesn't have the flexibilty that we do.

They work out their process, and stick with it. Often because of the size and materials used. Size to have a reasonable size of product through put and materials like stainless to be able to run through with heavy duty chemical cleaners. Both give consistency of product and kit usage.

And just like a little flock of shitehawk magpies, we sit on the sidelines with kit envy running througb our veins.......

if the plastic stuff works and when it gets damaged, its affordable to replace.

I've often wondered about the wisdom of scratches being hidey hole for bacteria or other spoilage organisms. If a bacteria or yeast cell can get in the scratch, then so can the sanitiser. If its properly mixed to the correct strength, the nasties are gonna get wasted.......

I only change mine when I need to, when they're stained or cracked/leaking........

I don't like the blue barrels particularly as I like to see whats going on inside. So the white/translucent ones suit me fine........

Thanks for the honest replies people I really appreciate it..... So it seems from all of your answers that their is practically no value except ease of cleaning in me spending the considerable amount extra it cost to upgrade to SS fermenters....

Thanks one and all for your valued opinions

Whimpy

I've cleaned some gross demijohns using VWE. The stuff is amazing at cleaning. Boot sale bargains where the homebrewer didn't bother cleaning it and I get it for pennies 5 years later.

The tops on my fermenters are off for as short a time as possible. I don't clean the fermenter until I'm making the new wash. I simply add cold water and shake/swirl it around until the lees have gone. If the sniff test is ok, job done.

Fruit flies are the enemy, I have 'The Executioner' a tennis racket shaped electronic fly killer. Die mofo die.