DeviantLogic Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 Hey all, I recently acquired a brew fridge in anticipation of putting on my first brew. Turns out that the narrowest point is only 41cm wide, and the height is about 55cm. The surface the FV will be sitting on tapers up towards the back, so in practice there is probably a bit less than 55cm height. I phoned around a number of homebrewing shops, and it turns out none of them have anything in stock which will meet this height requirement (at least not once the airlock is put in). I note that the dimensions for the Coopers FV are 40cm diameter and 54cm height with the lid and krausen collar on (49cm height with lid and no krausen collar), so this seems like a reasonable option. However, there is a chance I won't be able to use the krausen collar, and I wondered if using a container which is so wide relative to my available space might impede air circulation. As things stand, it seems as though my alternatives are to get a FV from one of my local homebrew stores and use it without an airlock, or to use a Bunnings fermenter (29cm wide and 45cm high) either with or without an airlock. Right now I am leaning towards the Coopers FV but could use some input from experienced brewers before pulling the trigger. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malter White Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 @DeviantLogic you can make most beers in the Coopers FV without the collar. The collar is really only needed for beers that have massive krausen eg. stouts. Airlock isn't necessary either as your hydrometer will be your guide on fermentation. I'd go with the Coopers FV. If height becomes an issue you could even invert the lid to give you more room. Not ideal but I think it would work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeviantLogic Posted January 19, 2021 Author Share Posted January 19, 2021 I am partial to a stout, and had planned to run a tin of the Coopers Irish stout when the weather cools down a bit. Are you suggesting that overspill is likely if I were to do this in the Coopers FV without the collar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamus O'Sean Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 6 hours ago, DeviantLogic said: I am partial to a stout, and had planned to run a tin of the Coopers Irish stout when the weather cools down a bit. Are you suggesting that overspill is likely if I were to do this in the Coopers FV without the collar? You would not need the collar for the Irish Stout with a kg of LIght Dry Malt. If you do a big stout - Russian Imperial Stout - you will need it. If you do venture down the big stout way you could get an airlock style fermenter, but fit a blow-off tube. Basically a tube from the airlock going to a bottle/jar of sanitiser that sits beside the fermenter. Any overflow of foam can be "managed" in the bottle/jar. For your basic brews, you could just put a bit of tape over the airlock hole. and back of the lid a bit so pressure does not build up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journeyman Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 (edited) 7 hours ago, DeviantLogic said: I am partial to a stout, and had planned to run a tin of the Coopers Irish stout when the weather cools down a bit. Are you suggesting that overspill is likely if I were to do this in the Coopers FV without the collar? I have 3 kinds of FV , tall skinny screwtop, short stubby screwtop and Coopers. All will fit in that space. The tall one (which seems the most common when I look online) is 53cm but the lid is recessed so you could easily run a tube from the airlock hole to a blow-off jar with sanitiser in it. As mentioned the Coopers ones do not have an airlock and the short one would take an airlock if you wanted. Except for my 1st couple of brews, I have never used an airlock nor needed the kollar that comes with the Coopers ones. Alternatively you could wander into Bunnings with a tape and measure the cubic containers they have with a tap - with those it would be the width you'd need to check as they are shorter than any of my FV's. Edited January 19, 2021 by Journeyman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeviantLogic Posted January 20, 2021 Author Share Posted January 20, 2021 Thanks for the advice guys! I ended up going with the Coopers FV. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graculus Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 (edited) 19 hours ago, DeviantLogic said: I am partial to a stout, and had planned to run a tin of the Coopers Irish stout when the weather cools down a bit. Are you suggesting that overspill is likely if I were to do this in the Coopers FV without the collar? I made a Coopers Imperial Russian Stout. That's renown for going berserk. Mine didn't, and there was no need for a collar. I did post a pic of it on the forum at the time. I'll try and find it. Found it. You can see the krausen is only just at the top of the collar. You won't need a collar if you're making just a Coopers Irish Stout. If you want to make a stronger stout, like a toucan, my advice would be to have plenty of cold water available and get it down to fermenting temperature ASAP. Edited January 20, 2021 by Graculus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smashed Crabs Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 You got lucky with your RIS not going beserk, I remember leaving over 10L of headroom in mine and coming home to a mess on the floor. Suppose thats what this home brewing games about! Agree 100% the collar isn't needed for a standard stout or TBH 99% of brews.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graculus Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 10 hours ago, Smashed Crabs said: You got lucky with your RIS not going beserk, I remember leaving over 10L of headroom in mine and coming home to a mess on the floor. Suppose thats what this home brewing games about! Agree 100% the collar isn't needed for a standard stout or TBH 99% of brews.. From memory I think it says brew at 19C. I had a load of cold water in the fridge that I had ready to add. It was already at about 21C when I put it in the fridge. That's the only reason I can think of it didn't go ballistic. Just looked up. Brew started 2nd October 2018. Still drinking the stuff. Not really a fan. Wouldn't bother again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smashed Crabs Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 1 hour ago, Graculus said: Not really a fan. Wouldn't bother again. Yeah I agree it was a beer I made once and never will make again in hindsight it wasn't really that great. Just wanted to tick a RIS off the list. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamus O'Sean Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 10 hours ago, Smashed Crabs said: Yeah I agree it was a beer I made once and never will make again in hindsight it wasn't really that great. Just wanted to tick a RIS off the list. Gee, other than there being so many beers to brew, I would make it again. This time I would drink it earlier though. The last couple, which were about 11 months old, began to taste quite harsh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltop hops Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 I use a small bar fridge with the old school Coopers fermenter. Just tape over the airlock hole. Had to bend the freezer to fit but picked it up on Gumtree for stuff all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smashed Crabs Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 @Shamus O'Sean yeah it just wasn't for me. With that type of wait and strength I would rather a mead over a RIS. Again personal preference but myself have made one RIS to 5 meads with one on now at around 4 months old. Looking forward to trying it when I leave this hell hole we call Victoria in a few months time... And just for fun I might buy a decent mead horn for the occasion. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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