Fermentasuarus Review

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Minimag1

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Just thought I'd give my thoughts so far on the fermentasaurus kit I got from Malt Miller back in November.

I hadn't had a chance to brew before now, as we went on holiday shortly after receiving the kit. I ordered the optional pressure kit, as the idea of preassurising whilst brewing and also doing transfers to kegs without exposing to air appealed to me.

I brewed a Summer Lightning yesterday, as it is a brew I am familiar with, and it would be easy for me to see if there were any differences between standard fementing and doing it this way.

Well, so far so good. I have an adjustable pressure relief valve which I installed, but when we went to bed last night it was reading zero. This morning however it was reading 30psi! I quickly adjusted the pressure relief valve to drop it to 20psi - the max the fermentasuarus is supposed to have is 35 - so I got pretty close!

All in all, looking good so far, I will keep this thread updated as I go along IMG_20181225_112100.jpg IMG_20181225_112108.jpg IMG_20181225_112128.jpg
 
Just realised I had put this under 'Beer Kits & Brewing Equipment Reviews.' rather than General equipment, mods please feel free to move it there.

Well, 1 week on and the beer is starting to clear, the yeast is dropping, and the bottom bottle is filling up. I estimate another week and it will be fully clear, and ready to transfer. I will need to free up a corny keg before then! I intend to drop the pressure in the fermentasaurus to about 12psi, and carb up the corny to about 8psi. I will then connect up the out posts on both and hopefully gradually fill the corny. As the pressure in the corny increases I will release some pressure in it to maintain the fill - also possibly topping up the pressure in the fermentasaurus.

IMG_20181231_132755.jpg IMG_20181231_132807.jpg IMG_20181231_132814.jpg
 
As this is a piece of kit and you're reviewing it, you've put it in the correct forum. athumb..

Nice review btw, I know the forumites such as @Hoddy who own a fermentasaurus really like it
If you’ve got a cornie setup then it is the fermenter to get as you can make any beer you want (especially NEIPA) and do a closed transfer and keep your beer unoxidised and super bright and clean.

I am a fermentasaurus fan boy. So much so people call mine a Hoddyasarous......
 
How to you control temps with it, presumably would need a tall fridge or a controlled room. Really want one but brew in my garage which is rarely 20 degrees and have a under counter fridge which I inkbird
 
How to you control temps with it, presumably would need a tall fridge or a controlled room. Really want one but brew in my garage which is rarely 20 degrees and have a under counter fridge which I inkbird
I've got mine in a tall larder fridge and there's just enough headroom to get the spunding valve and disconnects on & off comfortably
 
How to you control temps with it, presumably would need a tall fridge or a controlled room. Really want one but brew in my garage which is rarely 20 degrees and have a under counter fridge which I inkbird

The other option of course is just to use appropriate yeast for the ambient temp - which is what I mostly do
 
As regards temp, I have a very understanding wife who lets me keep the fermentasaurus in the dining room, which is always 18-20 /degree's, perfect for S04. I have thought of an issue however, I have 23l of pressurised beer, and my corny kegs only take 19. What do I do with the other 4L?
The only thing I can think of is filling a couple of 2L lemonade bottles using a carbonation cap, any other ideas - I could of course just drink it :) , but even for me 4L in one sitting is a bit much
 
Well, the beer was very clear, so I closed the valve on the ferment trap bottle, dropped the pressure to 12 psi, hooked up my co2 to the gas outlet, and did a transfer to a cleaned and sanitised corny I had previously pressured up to 8psi.

The transfer was a slow process as I didn't want to have the beer foam up in the keg. It took a lot of venting on the corny side and pressuring up on the fermentasaurus side. In all, it took about 20 minutes, I could have probably have transferred faster.

As expected, I was left with 4 litres I put into lemonade bottles using the carbonation cap. I have put these in the dark in my shed, and will test them next week. I upped the pressure in the corny post transfer to 15psi and have also put this in the shed to condition for a week.

Lessons learnt are to only produce enough for a 19l transfer, but other than that the process went as expected, and I will post again when I have sampled the final beer.
IMG_20190105_132743.jpg
 
Well, the beer was very clear, so I closed the valve on the ferment trap bottle, dropped the pressure to 12 psi, hooked up my co2 to the gas outlet, and did a transfer to a cleaned and sanitised corny I had previously pressured up to 8psi.

The transfer was a slow process as I didn't want to have the beer foam up in the keg. It took a lot of venting on the corny side and pressuring up on the fermentasaurus side. In all, it took about 20 minutes, I could have probably have transferred faster.

As expected, I was left with 4 litres I put into lemonade bottles using the carbonation cap. I have put these in the dark in my shed, and will test them next week. I upped the pressure in the corny post transfer to 15psi and have also put this in the shed to condition for a week.

Lessons learnt are to only produce enough for a 19l transfer, but other than that the process went as expected, and I will post again when I have sampled the final beer.
View attachment 17193

Or get more kegs? If I don’t fill a few bottles for swaps I just fill another keg with whatever’s left over. It’s not like it’s quick to clean and sterilise a keg.

And I look at it that it helps me not hit into the proper keg to early until it’s all conditioned to peak quality.
 
Its good to have some bottles for swaps/competitions/giving away/taking out, so I always make 28L batches in my FS and bottle what I can't fit in corny. Its very little more effort than making a smaller batch.
 
Hi I'm new to forum.
After years of not home brewing iv decided to start again.
What alot of changes over the years.
Fermentasaurus being one. Iv bought one (not used yet) that's why I'm reading great posts and advice like this one.
Next on shopping list is corny kegs.
Maybe some flip top bottles just incase.
Thanks guys, great reading

Thanks guys
 
Welcome to the forum Ronnie sounds like you have the brew bug again.

Thanks for the welcome Chippy_Tea

Oh yes! Got alot to learn again but things seem to have moved on for the better and made easier. I'm really keen to try this Fermentasaurus and transfer to kegs without seeing light of day.
 
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