FerMonster Fermenter / Carboy Review from MoreBeer.com
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 พ.ย. 2024
- FerMonster Fermenter / Carboy Review from MoreBeer.com
FerMonster fermenters/carboys come in 1, 3,6, and 7-gallon configurations with or without the spigot and even with or without the spigot hole being pre-drilled.
All of the FerMonster products:
www.morebeer.co...
Silicone coated magnets for dry hoping
amzn.to/3J4FSpZ
![กิโลเมตรที่ 0 เดินทางรอบโลกไม่ใช้เครื่องบิน [Around The World Ep. 1]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/toJG9oofLFY/mqdefault.jpg)
i have the 7 gal with no holes and a solid lid i bought morebeer liquid in and out posts and a floating dip tube and turned it into a low psi pressure fermenter at 5psi using the spundit have had no issues.
Awesome! I've had a few people tell me these things can handle moderate pressure.
I had the same problem. I used a piece of 2x4 and a hammer to get the lid open. It was ridiculous. Also, even after soaking with a carboy tablet cleaner I could still smell fermented beer. I just ordered pbw and I'm going to clean it again.
What is funny is that I bought the FerMonster wrench, amzn.to/3VMeCnp, and since I bought it, I haven't used it once. Like Murphy's Law, if you don't have it, you need it, but if you do have it, you will most likely never need it. I like the FerMonster, but personally, I'm starting to prefer my all-rounders, even for non-pressure fermentation, although the FerMonsters were a bit cheaper, which is nice too.
I had that issue where I couldn't get the lid off. Didn't think I was going to be able to open it but eventually did.
My complaint and the reason I stopped using it was cold crashing made me nervous. the thing would crumple up like a crushed can.
Ouch! On the cold crashing as that is a bit scary! I almost put this in the video but decided to leave it out. I was trying so hard to loosen it by sheer strength (I'm not the strongest person by far but I have some serious willpower that thinks I have more muscle than I do) and after trying so hard I actually tore some muscles through the front of my chest...hurt like hell! As I have some heart issues my wife was tripping when she saw me clinch my chest, so I had to keep repeating I tore a muscle, I'll be o.k. just leave me alone for a bit. I think that the pain I felt for the next 3 to 4 days was my motivation to do this video. 🍻😂🍻😂 Needless to say when I hurt myself it was a good excuse to go have a beer and sit down for a bit before pulling out the butter knife as I was pretty determined to get them open and clean them.
I have been using a couple of them for a few years now and they still seem to work fine. I have even devised a way to do a closed transfer with them.
Happy to hear that they last and I've heard they hold a bit of pressure. I'm assuming you do a mild pressure system to do your closed transfer?
@@BitterRealityBrewing Yes, only a couple of lbs. You can see the red cap start to bulge if you go past 4lbs
Cheers for another great review 👍
Thank you for the kind words. I've got lots of really new equipment in route to do testing on in the near future.
I had two of the 7 gallon and really liked them. Had the same issues with the lid and even had problems getting it to seal. I ended up using some keg lube. But both of mine cracked on the bottom. I'm assuming it was due to either the heat of the water or the pbw when cleaning. I had to throw those away. I've still got some 3 gallons for small batches but I use speidels now if I don't use my SS Brew Buckets or Flex. Good video!
The cracking from age has me concerned but I guess nothing lasts forever. I have a small Speidel but rarely use it based on it being one of the smaller ones (I think it is a 3 gallon or like). Eventually, I would like a large fermentation chamber or glycol system to help ferment in things like the SS systems or conicals.
@@BitterRealityBrewing that's what I'm working towards now. I use a freezer for my speidels and SS Brewbucket now but eventually I want to do glycol. With the price of these it's hard to go wrong even if they do wear out. Even the ones from Kegland say to swap out the plastic every year or something.
I like my FerMonster over my Big Mouth Bubbler. The Big Mouth seems too thin and heat sensitive. We need a hybrid of the 2 - the body of the FerMonster and the lid of the Big Mouth. Thanks for the hint on keeping the threads clean. I will make sure that is done going forward.
A hybrid of the two would be really nice. I'd go all SS if I could actually afford it and a glycol system but that would be a lot of $$$ that I don't have.
I am a big fan of my Fermonsters. The lid is one of the weak design points. One of mine cracked and I have seen others report the same issue. I have the wrench, but I find that running hot water on the lid will usually loosen it up. Some keg lube would likely work too. There are some that add gas/liquid posts to the solid lid with a floating dip tube for a closed transfer system. The 3-gallon one is thinner than the 7-gallon. I just picked up a "Monster Mesh Strainer" but have not used it yet.
Cracked! That is crazy as I tore muscles in my chest trying to open the first one...my wife thought I was having a heart attack but I kept grumbling (in pain) it was just a muscle...it hurt for 3 to 4 days. I wish mine cracked as it would have saved me the pain. I will get the tool to open mine and I wonder why they made the 3-gallon thinner? That is a bit concerning. Let me know on the strainer if you could pull it up with a magnet if you were going to do dry hopping. Thanks.
Nice review. When are we getting a florida weiss video?
Thank you and as for a "Florida Weiss video", you mean a nice wheat beer? I was thinking of doing a Wibeir soon.
I used Fermonsters for awhile before going Stainless. The lid tool is essential. I had issues with the spigot leaking, so I got a no hole lid, and put two airlock holes and grommets in it. I would use a thermowell in one, and airlock in the other. At the end of fermentation, I’d use a racking cane and a hose barbed keg attachment, and would do an almost closed transfer.
I did have a little issue with the spigot dripping too when I had it in the open position, so I may change them out for a different type of spigot that doesn't have that tiny hole.
I bought the lid wrench when I bought my fermonster. Never had a problem with it.
That seems to be the way to go from other comments. I will be buying the wrench for the FerMonster in the very near future. Thanks for the insight.
I have three of these - PSA, I’ve added gas posts to the top so I can hook my gas up during transfer to keep it from collapsing the plastic and sucking oxygen (lowwwwww pressure).
Sorry for some reason this comment got stuck in YT's "held for review". Someone else mentioned these things can tolerate some mild psi. Good thing to know but I've also had a few people mentioning the lids can crack over time which I guess is common in some plastics when they get a bit older.
@@BitterRealityBrewing I was wondering what happened 🤣👍
Yes, totally suggest having extra lids and o-rings on hand.
Have the 3 gallon ported fermonster for test batches. Love it, also have the wrench - yep, you need one. Also have the Big Mouth Bubbler 6.5 and BMB 5 gallon with a Depth Charge for dryhopping and oaking. I love the 5 gallon BMB and Depth Charge. I have a hate hate relationship with the tops and BMB 6. You CANNOT easily do a closed transfer on those. I cannot keep a lid secure on the 6.5 and I've done everything...I will one day get a 3D printer to print a ring and lid lock for the 6.5, along with a lid that has a PCO 1881 neck so I can mount a kegland Tapping Head Assembly and add a PRV. Closed Transfer solved.
It sounds like there maybe a quality control issue on the BMB as my 6.5 BMB always stayed sealed but I had heard many nightmares and felt that maybe it was just an older version issue but this sounds like more of a QC issue.
I have 3 of the 7 gallon Fermonsters that I use all the time for non hoppy beers because I can fit 3 in my fermentation chamber. They're awkward to carry without the sling and I would not buy one without buying the lid tool because they're a huge pita to open without it.
Thanks for making me laugh as I can relate to the PITA part and will be getting the lid tool in the near future. I actually tore muscles in my chest trying to open it by hand.
@@BitterRealityBrewing wow that sucks about your pec. I cracked the first fermonster I bought trying to pry it off. Moral of the story buy that damn tool if you order one.
The reason why the Big Mouth Bubbler lid is best is because if there’s a blowoff you can just pop the lid back on.
With the Fermonster and that other brand, the screw on lids are useless afterward.
They get warped by the blowoff then you gotta spend $10 on another lid.
I do like the Fermonsters but honestly I am starting to prefer the Big Mouth Bubblers. Each has its pros and cons. The big mouth bubblers seem more durable and the rough edges seem like they would be harder to clean but honestly I think I worked less to clean those compared to the Fermonsters. And the lid on the Fermonster does stick really hard and you really shouldn't have to buy a special device to open them. Eventually if there are big sales on the Big Mouth Bubblers, I might buy a few down the road.
Definitely recommend the lid opener, it’s super cheap! As for the solid lid, if you buy it you can drill your own holes for ball lock posts and you can do low pressure ferments in them. They are fine to 10psi, can do 15psi, accidentally pushed up to around 20psi on my 1 gallon and popped out the bottom a bit. With pressure cold crashing is super easy as you can make sure there is co2 in there to keep a vacuum from forming.
That is awesome on the pressure fermentation but the lid...OMG it was a small nightmare but everyone has recommended the lid opener, so I will be buying that very soon.
@@BitterRealityBrewing i tried opening the lid once without and immediately went down to my flhbs to buy the opener!!!
I use the clutch style bar clamp like you use for woodworking because I had one and it works for lid removal. Overkill but hey... we homebrewers love overkill.
Overkill and Rabbit Holes, seem to be the nature of homebrewers but sometimes we learn a lot in doing both. Either we learn something new or we learn we spent too much money over engineering something that would have been cheaper to buy a premade product. Cheers! 🍻
Thanks for sharing. I think the next fermenter I buy will be stainless. I'm sorta done with plastic. Cheers!
If I could afford it, I think all of mine would be stainless but I'd also have to build a much larger fermentation chamber.
Anyone try a thin coat of keg lube on the threads and o-ring?
I've heard that , but always seem to forget. Thanks for mentioning that for other viewers to see that info.
When you couldn't get the lid off you might have tried to put it upside down in a sink of hot water. I agree that the bubble design on big mouth bubblers can be hard to clean.
Yeah the sink I have in the kitchen is tiny and sucks but I was thinking maybe I could have used the tub up stairs.
You can use a hair dryer to warm up the plastic to get it open instead of using something to pry on the lid.
I didn't think of that but I was thinking of trying to run a lot of hot water over it but my kitchen sink (in my temporary living place) is tiny. Sadly I didn't think about the shower which would have worked too.
Hot water would have probably worked the best thats my normal go to for stick sugary stuff. Have to be careful with hair dryer you can warp the plastic if its thin.
The simple thing to open these, Use the wrench that you have to buy, find something blunt and give it a good smack and the lid will pop right open
Last time I had an order from Morebeer I picked up one of those tools they sell and it works amazingly well.