Author: Marshall Schott

I fermented my first 10 or so batches of homebrew in the 6 gallon plastic bucket that came with my equipment kit. It worked, but it had its drawbacks, namely for me the fact it required rigging up a siphon to get the beer out. So I replaced it with a new spigoted bucket that made racking as simple as opening a valve. I loved it!

Then, while preparing to keg a fresh batch of finished beer, probably the 15th batch I’d fermented in the new bucket, I noticed the hard-to-reach internal portion of my spigot had mold growing in it, mold that wasn’t there when I filled the bucket with wort a couple weeks prior. After using an auto-siphon to transfer the beer to a keg, I angrily threw both buckets in the garbage and hit the internet looking for a new option, ultimately settling on 6 gallon PET carboys with a Sterile Siphon Starter. This was over 5 years ago and my experience has been largely positive, the only issue being that I end up replacing 2-3 carboys per year because of a scent or discoloration that persists even after a good cleaning. In total, I’ve gone through 16 of these plastic fermentors, which considering how often I brew, isn’t that bad. Still, at $26 a pop plus tax and shipping, that’s over $420. For plastic.

After sharing the results of a recent xBmt comparing glass to PET carboys, I received a ton of requests to add stainless fermentors to the mix. Coincidentally, I’d been chatting with the folks from Ss Brewtech around the same time about a product I thought fit the bill perfectly.

Disclosure: The product reviewed for this article was provided by the manufacturer in exchange for an honest review; no other compensation was provided. The opinions expressed in the article are solely those of the author and a concerted effort was made to approach the review from an unbiased perspective.

Less cumbersome than a conical with many of the same benefits, the Brew Bucket seemed like a nice middle-ground for those seeking the durability of stainless with the convenience of a plastic bucket.

In typical Ss Brewtech fashion, the Brew Buckets arrived to my house in very stylish and attractive packaging that protected the stainless it held from any dings during shipping.

Only after unboxing one of the units did I realized a little work was in store, and by a little, I mean screwing a few things together. No big deal. The instructions were easy to understand, helping me to complete the “build” for two Brew Buckets in under 10 minutes. Once together, they were filled with an oxygen based cleaning solution and left alone for 10 minutes to remove any residue leftover from the manufacturing process. This also served as an initial leak test of the ball valve and thermowell– not a drop! After emptying the cleaning solution, I gave the Brew Buckets a hot water rinse then proceeded to fill them to the brim with StarSan solution in order to passivate the stainless, an important step to ensure corrosion resistance.

The stainless vs. glass carboy xBmt brew day arrived three days later. I prepared the fermentor during the boil by spraying it out with water from my hose then adding 3 gallons of StarSan solution, which I swirled around to coat the entire inside. Once the wort was chilled and ready to rack, I ran a few liters of StarSan solution through the valve then slowly poured the remaining liquid out while rotating the Brew Bucket to again fully coat the surface. To fill, I attached a small length of silicone tubing to the barb on my kettle, opened the valve, and let ‘er rip with the lid positioned to hold the tubing in place.

With 5.5 gallons of wort in the Brew Bucket, I cut off the flow, secured the lid, placed a piece of sanitized foil in the airlock hole, and moved it into my fermentation chamber.

Once the wort had dropped to my target fermentation temperature, I removed the lid, pitched the yeast, re-secured the lid, then swapped the foil with an airlock. Piece of cake.

So far, so good! Fermentation happened. I ran into the first issue when I went to take a hydrometer reading once signs of activity had diminished.

Initially enticed by the option to pull off samples from the valve, I realized doing so would be difficult given how low the barb is positioned, to the point even my smallest taster glass wouldn’t suffice.

I considered attaching some sanitized tubing to the barb and collecting the sample that way, but due to my propensity for keeping things as simple and clean as possible, I eventually opted to take samples directly from the top of Brew Bucket using my trusty stainless turkey baster.

Not ideal, but also not a big deal. During the cold crash step, similar to what occurs with other well sealed fermentors, some of the sanitizer from the airlock did get sucked into the Brew Bucket, which I’ve learned not to fret too much over. Finally, it was time to package, the part of the process I was looking most forward to as I felt this would be where the valve would truly prove its convenience. I moved the cold Brew Bucket to my work bench and, while it was settling, came up with a simple idea for oxygen reduced kegging.

All I did was attach a liquid disconnect to a short length of 5/16″ vinyl tubing, nothing genius. The open end of the tube gets placed over the sanitized barb on the Brew Bucket, the disconnect gets attached to the liquid post, then with either a pin lock valve depressor or an extra gas disconnect on the gas post to relieve pressure, the valve is opened to start the flow of beer into the keg.

Because of the airtight seal, the exiting beer will create a vacuum that can suck in the airlock liquid, so I’ve been swapping it out with a small piece of paper towel dipped in sanitizer when kegging. It only took about 8 minutes for the keg to fill, after which I closed the valve, removed the disconnect from the keg post and barb, then placed the keg in my keezer to be force carbonated. Hands down, the easiest kegging experience I’ve had in years, and I haven’t complained about kegging since the aforementioned mold incident.

My next order of business was cleaning the fermentors, which frankly couldn’t have been more of a breeze. After dumping the trub, I sprayed the inside of the Brew Bucket out with hot water, this removed probably 95% of the mess. Since it’s made of stainless, rather than filling the fermentor with a cleaner and leaving it to soak, I made a small amount of alkaline brewery wash solution, just enough so that it was above the racking arm, then used the scrubber side of a sponge finish removing any debris. Once spic-and-span, I ran the solution through the racking arm and valve into my sink’s drain, loosened all of the connections, and gave the Brew Bucket another hot rinse. With the valve open, I place the unit upside down to drip dry and await another brew day.

I’ve since used the Brew Buckets numerous times, in fact they’re fermenting an xBmt as I type, and they work great! But of course, nothing is perfect. What follows are some pros and cons I’ve noted through my experience with the Brew Buckets.

Stainless Steel

The most obvious benefit of the Brew Bucket over other fermentors I use is the fact it’s made from stainless steel. With proper care, this is a piece of equipment that will last most homebrewers a lifetime. Unlike plastic, stainless can be scrubbed without risk of scratching, reducing the chances of contamination or off-flavor carryover from prior batches. And unlike glass, dropping the Brew Bucket won’t lead to an ER visit. The downside of stainless is that it costs more, which up front can be difficult to swallow. However, considering the savings of not replacing plastic fermentors when they turn, the Brew Bucket may in fact be a better value in the long-run.

Thermowell with Digital Thermometer

An option only available on the Brewmaster edition, the thermowell is a nice touch that allows brewers an easy way to monitor the temperature of their fermenting beer. This is one of those features I thought was pretty cool, but wondered if I’d end up relying much on it.

I really didn’t since I secure the probe from my temperature controller to the side of the Brew Bucket and trust it to maintain a steady enough temperature. For the sake of this review, I did do some temperature comparisons between the controller when attached to the side of the Brew Bucket, the digital thermometer in the thermowell, and the actual temperature of the fermenting beer as measured by my ThermaPen. The greatest differential I observed was 1.3°F/0.7°C between the controller and the digital thermometer in the thermowell, which read 66.0°F/18.9°C and 67.3°F/19.6°C, respectively. Since my calibrated ThermaPen read 66.3°F/19.1°C, which is pretty damn close to what my controller was set to, it’s likely the digital thermometer included with the Brew Bucket was the most off, though certainly not enough to concern me. One scenario I think the thermometer would come in quite handy is when making a Berliner Weisse where the Brew Bucket is used for the wort souring process.

Ball Valve with Swiveling Racking Arm

I’m all about convenience, and being able to keg my beer with the simple flip of a knob is about as convenient as it gets. No siphons to sanitize and clean, just a small length of tubing and, in my case, a liquid disconnect. This alone makes the Brew Bucket incredibly appealing to me. However, as I mentioned before, I was a little disappointed to discover taking samples from the valve was nearly impossible while in the fermentation chamber, as the barb was just too low to the ground. I’m sure there are some workarounds, and stealing samples from the top with a turkey baster doesn’t bother me at all, but it’d be nice to be able to use the valve for more than just kegging. Finally, the swiveling racking arm is badass and makes transferring clear beer off the trub super easy, all that’s required is a gentle twist of the ball valve.

Conical Bottom

The cone shaped bottom of the Brew Bucket provides a place for trub to settle once fermentation is complete, which is easily avoided during transfers by properly positioning the racking arm, which I’ve found allows me to transfer more clear beer to the keg. While I’m not too concerned with kettle trub making it to my fermentor, the Brew Bucket allows those who are the ability to drain off trub after a period of settling prior to pitching yeast. Finally, all one needs is a sanitized spoon to harvest yeast from the top of the cake where the creamiest slurry resides while leaving all the other gunk at the bottom of the cone.

Volume Markings

I can’t think of anything about volume markings I don’t like, they’re easy to read, accurate based on my measurements, and make equally splitting batches of wort a cinch.

Dimensions

My biggest issue with other stainless fermentor options is that they’re often so large I’d have to build a new temperature controlled room to store them while in use. At only 20.5 inches/52 cm tall, the Brew Bucket is squat enough to fit in most chest freezers. Where it seemes Ss Brewtech made up for the slightly larger than normal volume of 7 gallons/26.5 liters is in the diameter (12.5 inches/31.75 cm), which made it such that I was unable to fit two in my 7 cu.ft. fermentation chamber. A non-issue for those who brew single 5 gallon batches, the footprint of the Brew Bucket is something to consider for folks who tend to ferment dual batches in the same chamber. I like these units so much, I bit the bullet and swapped my small chamber for another 10 cu.ft. freezer. One final feature that might appeal to folks who ferment in upright freezers is the fact the Brew Buckets are designed to be stacked, even with airlocks in place.

Cleaning

If I’ve one complaint about carboys that tops the list, it has to be cleaning. Angled carboy brushes are a pain in the ass, plus they can scratch PET, creating perfect hideouts for beer spoiling microbes. Because of this, I adopted the “sit-and-wait” approach that involves filling the rinsed out container with a cleaning solution and letting it do its thing for a few hours. Sometimes kräusen bits hung around and required the clever use of a wet rag to dislodge them. Not so with the Brew Bucket! Cleaning consists of taking the lid off, spraying out the fermentation remnants, scrubbing, and rinsing again. I noted the time it took me to clean both Brew Buckets last time I used them, just a hair under 5 minutes, and they were sparkling!

Handles

I’m glad Ss Brewtech put handles on the Brew Bucket, it’d sure be tough to move them in and out of my chamber without them, I just wish they were covered with something to make lifting a little more comfortable, like the silicone used on their brew kettle handles.

It’s really not that bad since I usually transport the full fermentors a max of maybe 10 feet, but I do think a softer grip would positively impact the overall quality of the Brew Bucket.

| THE VERDICT |

I did my best to list and share my honest thoughts on everything I could think of about Ss Brewtech’s Brew Bucket. To me, the downsides are minor and far outweighed by all of the good stuff. I’m a huge fan! This doesn’t mean I now think other fermentor options suck, they all serve the same primary function of containing fermenting beer, but I’d be lying if I said I don’t like these units more than I expected. Buckets and carboys are fine options that will definitely make good beer, but the convenience and durability of the Brew Bucket have won me over. It may not be for everyone, as we all have different ideas of what makes something valuable, but for the brewer looking for a long-lasting alternative to buckets/carboys with a similar footprint and unique features, the Ss Brewtech Brew Bucket may be just the ticket.

As far as I can tell, the only difference between the standard and Brewmaster edition Brew Buckets is the thermowell and digital thermometer. I’ve never used a thermowell before and I’m not really sure if I’ll ever feel the need for one on my system, but it was definitely a step up from LCD strips I’ve been using for years. I’m sure there are applications or brewing systems where having this option is far more appealing, and for only $30 more, it’s not like it’s going to break the bank.

Just as important to me as the product itself is the company who makes and sells it. I started chatting with the Ss Brewtech folks over a year ago and have consistently been met with thoughtful responses. They’re passion for creating quality brewing gear is obvious to anyone who uses their products, it’s no surprise I’m hearing from more and more people happily using Ss Brewtech gear. While they’re moving into the professional brewing realm, they remain committed to providing homebrewers with affordable and effective stainless options. When I buy something, I like knowing the people behind it are tip-top, which couldn’t be more true in the case of Ss Brewtech.

MoreBeer proudly carries the entire line of Ss Brewtech products including both versions of the stainless Brew Bucket, all qualifying for free shipping. Items can also be purchased direct from Ss Brewtech’s website.

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