I was given a fastferment conical for a birthday gift,i have done two brews, followed the set up instructions, never had a leak, the beer was the tops, i cannot fault this product in any way. so so easy, and quick no mess.from a UK BREWER.Sits in the corner of the kitchen,and steady on the floor or bench top.

I own 1 FastFerment and 3 Catalysts. I obviously prefer the Catalyst because i was tired of taking a stainless steel rod to unclog the ball valve going to the collection bulb. I still use the FF as a last resort vessel. The Catalyst does have its flaws too, but the pros out weight them. I read about the lid seal falling into the beer, so I was prepared. Slowly work the lid off and you’re golden. My cons on the Catalyst were able to be corrected easily. 1. The airlock bung pops off the lid. I originally corrected it by using a blow tube into a bucket of sanitized water 2. After the switch to a blow tube, I found the gasses and beer caused the tube to swell where it enters the lid. Making hard to remove from the lid to clean. I fixed the issue by drilling a hole in the lid and mounting a bottling bucket spigot and ran my blowoff tube from there. I then forced a solid bung in the original hole. With this modification, I can actually fit this in my keezer and cold crash my lagers. That being said, I love the mason jar collection and 3” valve. I do the stepping down in jar volume as I transition from collecting trub on day one to harvesting yeast weeks later. You have to get the wide mouth jars, not standard.

All in all great reviews. It was good to see the two side-by-side. There were a couple things you missed that craft a brew does spec out to do for the process but other than that great review. I’m looking to buy the catalyst so this was very informational. I love fermenting in conical’s

I had pretty much decided on the Catalyst before watching this series.... my question is since this have you compared the Catalyst to any of the other conical fermenters like Mini Brew or Brewtech? I know these are more expensive but......

Fast fermenter have a 14 gal one available now and a 3 gal as well

I believe the catalyst uses a smaller ID hose so you can bottle.

Nice objective review. have you ever used the Minibrew conical? It seems to combine the positive characteristics of both of these products, and I am leaning toward it over the Catalyst, but hesitant because the sampling valves and dump valve have lots of parts that seem like they could get buildup of sediment, and eventually bacteria? Also heard it's hard to put together

nor cal brewing has a lot of different lids for brewing great video

I just got my Catalyst today! Can't wait to put it to work!

@SmartyPints

7 жыл бұрын

Jim Simmons it just feels so good when you take it out of the box!

@ItsNachoChannel

7 жыл бұрын

Smarty Pints I run a kitchen store in Pittsburgh, we sell the Craftabrew kits. I've looked at this for a while. your videos helped me decide to go it.

@ItsNachoChannel

7 жыл бұрын

get it

How was the side by side taste comparison? Clarity out of the kegs? I know you dry hopped them differently...notice anything there?

HI!, i'm from México. i watched your videos, and i have a few questions ( i haven't use any of those yet, so it was very significant information ) : 1) i have seen a big mouth bubbler, if this was a competitor between the both catalyst and FastFerment, which one win? 'cause i think the big mouth bubbler is very easy to clean and cheap but you can't separate the yeast on the bottom like the other 2. 2) Which beer turned out better? do you have gravity readings or the refractometer reading to compare? Which got less waste? i liked the catalyst's design but it's more expensive, and i saw that the FF spill less beer once the ball is unscrewed. Please forgive my english.

@alexcando4726

7 жыл бұрын

Glad you found the videos informative, Gerardo! And your English is great! 1) The Big Mouth is in the same category as a carboy, in my opinion, when comparing it to the FF & Catalyst. Personally I don't really like the Big Mouth Bubblers because the glass ones are made poorly and inconsistently. The glass in very thin in spots and breaks quite easily sending large dangerous shards of glass everywhere. Then the plastic ones are maybe only a step or 2 above a plastic bucket. Yes cleaning them is easier than cleaning a carboy, and it makes dry hopping and fruit/spice/wood additions easier, but all of those things can be done with a carboy too. But if yeast harvesting is important to you, then I would not go with the Catalyst or FF. 2) Both beers were near identical. At first there was no real difference between them, but now that there's some age on them I find the beer from the FF not as goo. It seems to be developing some oxidation related off flavors. Both beers did reach terminal gravity, but I didn't take enough readings to tell if one or the other achieved that gravity quicker. As far as spillage and wasted beer I can't declare a clear winner from this video since I was new to the Catalyst and made some mistakes regarding the mason jar. But given the fact that you can use jars of different volumes with the Catalyst once you dial in your procedures I would think you would have less waste with it than you would with the FF.

Nice review, I had saw these but all I knew was that temp control sounds like a problem with yeast that don't like to get hot. It looked like you guys had beers in shot glasses in the video which kept making me wonder how many oz that was and how did it last 20 min? Another question I guess is if those beers fermented at room temp with Chico, (unless I'm forgetting) did that work? One more issue I see with these conicals is not being able to use swamp cooler or even fitting one in a fridge.

@alexcando4726

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks Chris! Yeah, the size of the Catalyst can be an issue for a standard chest freezer. You could build a collar around the top of the freezer to gain some height in order to accommodate the fermenter, or use an upright. We had a decent room temp of around 68 for this beer. We used Wyeast 1056, and it worked really well. If there was a significant temp increase during peak fermentation, it didn't adversely effect the final product. Sometimes the slightly higher fermentation temps work well for a hoppy Pale or IPA by adding a little fruitiness. Also our sample cups are about 3oz. They may or may not have been re-filled multiple times. :-)

Smarty Pints, so I watched all the way through and never saw how you take gravity samples? How do you do that with these fermenters, or can you? Thanks!

@alexcando4726

7 жыл бұрын

Sorry Brandon, thanks for pointing that out. I didn't film taking the gravity readings because it didn't even occur to me at the time that footage of that might be useful to our viewers. Hopefully my answers here will suffice. Yes, you can easily take a gravity reading with these conicals. The 2 ways I would recommend taking a sample would either be by 1) removing the lid of the FF, or taking out the airlock from the Catalyst's lid and using a wine thief to extract a sample or 2) wait until you remove the collection ball and either decant enough liquid for a gravity reading from the ball itself if there isn't too much yeast/trub, or attach the bottling adapter before reattaching a new collection ball and use that to drain out a gravity sample. Also I believe both of these companies may offer optional sample ports where you can just add a valve directly to the side of the cone for easily taking gravity readings.

Can't you take the fast ferment ball off by the grey fitting instead of using the ball threads? That would make less spillage and less chance of leakage. I noticed you took off the ball by the smaller threads every time and made it look a lot harder than it should have been.

@tateandperryplay5293

7 жыл бұрын

Great videos though.

@alexcando4726

7 жыл бұрын

Haha! Yeah, thanks Nathan you're totally right. The ball can be removed by the grey fitting instead. Thanks for watching!

Could you guys make a follow up video on how to clean both of these. Got into a long talk with the owner of my home brew store about how the valves on both can catch debris on the sides and create bacteria on the valves. I for one have the catalyst and have since taken apart the valve and cleaned just think it might be a good idea for someone who is just starting out making beer

@alexcando4726

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the suggestion, Mike. Yeah I would definitely recommend taking apart anything and everything you can while cleaning and/or sanitizing just to make sure all the nooks & crannies get proper attention. The catalyst is also dishwasher safe, so a sanitize cycle in the dishwasher is a good option there, but for both I always opt for a good soak in PBW.

How would your opinion change (if at all) if your focused on temp control? I have a regular old fridge I use as a fermentation chamber. Looks like the Catalyst my fit better but no thermo well for an inkbird/Johnson controller probe. Could you put a thermo well in the Catalyst lid perhaps?

@alexcando4726

7 жыл бұрын

That's a great point! The FF definitely makes it easier for temperature control by utilizing the thermowell. But at Brew & Grow we sell a thermowell that is incorporated into a stopper that also has a drilled hole for an airlock, so you could temp control the catalyst that way too, with the extra purchase of course. But honestly with the small volume of 5 gallons, either one can be temp controlled just by putting it in a fridge or big enough freezer that is on a themostat controller. If anything that gives a small advantage to the FF, but for me it's not enough to tip the scales. For your situation I'd go with the Catalyst (because it fits in your ferm chamber) and just put the temperature probe from your inkbird/johnson controller in the chamber next to the Catalyst. The internal temperature of the fermenting beer should match the temp of your chamber except maybe at peak fermentation where you could get an increase of a degree or 2. If that potential bothers you, just pick up one of these: www.brewandgrow.com/brew/stainless-steel-thermowell.html

While I agree that the Catalyst ($199) is nice. I think that two Fast Ferments ($99) for the same price means I can ferment 10 gals of beer for the price of one Catalyst. That's a huge point for FF. (or should I say 100 points ($)) And I loved the impression you did of me explaining my FFpurchase to SWMBO! It was spot on.

@alexcando4726

7 жыл бұрын

Good point, Clay. If we're strictly talking budget influenced decisions, I agree that 2 FFs beat 1 Catalyst. But by that same logic, I think carboys beat them both if you're being cost conscious.

It's been years, but I want to start home brewing again in 5 gal batches. I have been researching these two fermenters (including your 4 part review). So many pros and cons, but ultimately I would lean toward the Catalyst as well. BUT, my real question is.... would you choose the Catalyst over the tried and true bucket primary fermenter, and glass carboy 5 gal secondary fermenter combo? And if so, by a land slide.. or close margin?

@alexcando4726

7 жыл бұрын

First off, welcome back to brewing!! And to answer your question, I would chose anything over a bucket. Anything. But unless you plan to harvest yeast for most batches there really isn't an overwhelming benefit of going with one of these conicals vs a 6.5 gal glass carboy for primary & a 5 gal glass carboy for secondary other than avoiding the risk of dropping the carboy and shattering it, not to mention all the horror stories I've heard about sliced up tendons.

@SmartyPints

7 жыл бұрын

celenztah ^^^^^

@PlanetMemberStudios

7 жыл бұрын

Great advice! And I'll be sure to drop the bucket, and not the carboy! Thanks very much.

I used the new o-ring on the fastferment and it works great.

@alexcando4726

7 жыл бұрын

Good to know! Thanks for the info! Did the new o-ring come with the FF, or did you have to purchase it separately?

@chiefHrenchir

7 жыл бұрын

I had to buy the oring after I got the fastfermenter. It came with the flat one.

One question that was never answered: which conical made the better beer? Or, were they so close as to be no difference? Expiring minds want to know!

If you do over tighten you will brake the seal. You could have stripped the threads from tightening it to much.

I really like the idea of the catalyst, especially the trub removal via the mason jars, but I just can't get over it being at the same price point as a SS Brew Bucket.

@SmartyPints

7 жыл бұрын

Ron Balch We agree on that.

Nice vid. I, too, think the Catalyst is better from what I've seen. Although I only reviewed the one (and not both like you), I still find myself wondering if in the end I just prefer using a simple $30 6.5 gal glass carboy with an auto-siphon instead of either of these $100 and $200 plastic conicals.

@SmartyPints

7 жыл бұрын

BEER-N-BBQ by Larry nothing will ever be able to replace the simplicity of a glass carboy!

@Stagyar-Zil-Doggo

6 жыл бұрын

cleaning..... sorry but cleaning either of these conicals is exactly 17 million times easier than a glass carboy

At one point I did want a fast ferment, but now I'm glad I did not invest in either one of these items. These items are good for someone who wants to take the next step to brew gear on a budget. I prefer a Stainless bucket, a glass carboy and keg. I know people say there s a risk transfer in beer, but I have not had that issue. It's an old method, but it still works well. You just have to PRATICE great SANITATION habits. One thing I see an issue with both of these products that you may not see is carry handles. The fast ferment has a strap available, but the Catalyst does not. There should be a carry handle design to transport these items better as they also can be top heavy. Another thing I wanted to point out about these products is the fast ferment is known for clogging at the narrow cone because it's to small. The Catalyst I can not say anything because I've have not done research on it, but I do see a potential issue with the valve over time due to wear and tear. I'm just giving my opinion on that. I'm going to stick with the traditional method because it's simple and works.

Which beer came out better?

@sdleakey

7 жыл бұрын

Bothers me so much when I see videos for reviews of fermenter systems but no one ever says how the beer turned out!

@alexcando4726

7 жыл бұрын

No noticeable difference between the 2 beers. Both taste great and are currently my go-to pints on my kegerator. I'm curious if either will have any future staling issues from oxidation, but I'm pretty sure the kegs will tap out before I have a chance to find out.

@alexcando4726

7 жыл бұрын

My bad, Scott. It didn't even occur to me to include that. We'll make a point to do so in the future. Thanks!

@sdleakey

7 жыл бұрын

That's great, thanks so much for the extra info Alex. Everything else about the review series was informative and much appreciated!

@alexcando4726

7 жыл бұрын

Took this photo last night for you guys... really good! www.dropbox.com/s/mbu0qej4q2k6qbp/2017-04-26%2022.02.03.jpg?dl=0

You forgot to mention the Catalyst cost twice as much as the FastFerment and as you found out, the beer is just as good and clear from the FastFerment. And, you do not end up with an arm full of sludge from an overflowing ball jar. I think I will buy 2 FastFermenters for the price of 1 Catalyst. Happy Brewing

Been using the FF for many batches now. Never had to use a blow off tube. Never had ANY leaks, but then again I unscrewed the collar on the collection ball as DESIGNED and made sure the lid gasket WAS IN PLACE. My FF seals great. And the steeper walls of the FF result in less Trub hanging up, you skipped over that con for the Catalyst. Seemed like a pretty bias review to me......

Anyone who thinks a butterfly valve is superior to a ball valve has very limited experience with either. I watched the whole series through but quite frankly was a bit disappointed with the obvious bias. I must add that I do own a FF and though it has drawbacks this review is a bit disingenuous.

A pro is the "Coolness.." Give me a break. Loved Part 1 thru 3 until the clown on the right was introduced...

@duguayjason

5 жыл бұрын

At least he went out of the way to make the video. I give them both props, it is a lot of work to make these vids for us to watch.