I now have a mini Cooper

[mashani]

I found one of these (http://us.diybeer.com/beer-kits/craft-k ... -craft-kit) in a house sale down the road for $20, with all the bottles and the refill and the hydrometer (never a bad thing to have another of those). Just something someone got as a gift and never used. Since I actually like the 740ML bottles and I was looking for another small fermenter, I figured why not give it a shot. I've kind of looked at those in the past, but ignored due to the price.

The refill is kind of old (a Diablo IPA) but not too old, so I'll go ahead and brew it with some dme and finishing hops as a test run of the fermenter.

It might be the same thing Mr. Beer sells, I don't know. Mr. Beer advertises theirs as a 2 gallon fermenter, but this one holds 3 gallons with enough head space for many yeasts. It has almost 4 gallons of space if you count the extra headspace provided by the krausen collar thing and the extra headspace given by the lid. That last gallon is not usable for liquid - *do not attempt* - but it should keep the mess in.

I'll post a better review and maybe some pictures later once I use it, but from what I can tell from cleaning it and messing with the parts:

It is well constructed, thicker plastic then my LBCs.

It will be super easy to clean, because the mouth is as big as the fermenter like a bucket, but even easier because the nasty part with the krausen ring can come out and be thrown in the dishwasher even. The rest is just swish around some oxyclean.

The spigot is big and tough and looks somewhat impossible to break unless you are a gorilla.

With the krausen collar thing on and all the headspace added by the way the lid is constructed, I think I can brew a 3 gallon batch in it with some yeasts. And 2.5 gallon batch with 3787 probably won't explode it. So it might become my big Belgian fermenter, as I have to stick with about 2 gallons in my LBCs if I use 3787 in a big beer.

It has what amounts to "handles" on the sides, so it's not hard to carry.

It will work nicely in my "semi open" style of fermenting, I just won't use the lid clips. The lid still will block anything from getting in as it overlaps the edges.

It will be fun to perv what's brewing in it. It's supposed to be UV resistant even though it's clear, but I'll put it in the dark anyways.

If you want an airlock forget it, or drill your own hole and figure out some way to build a gasket. But I could give a crap about airlocks, so this doesn't matter to me.

I guess this will hold me over until I get a 3.5 gallon SS brew bucket one day maybe, if they fix the base so it attaches.

[Inkleg]

Neat-O, keep us updated.

[mashani]

Couple of pics.

Spigot vs. Old Mr. Beer style locking spigot. I use the old style locking spigots on my LBCs because mine came with 3/4" holes and a spigot that looked too much like the ones that exploded all the time. The Coopers is a big 1" spigot and has really high flow rate compared.

IMG_1697.JPG (39.66 KiB) Viewed 2571 times

LBC vs. Mini Cooper:

IMG_1702.JPG (44.79 KiB) Viewed 2571 times

As you can see they are about the same height, but the Mini Cooper having a rounded vs. conical bottom and having a top that is as wide as the fermenter gives it a lot more volume.

The LBC there has 9.5L (2.5 gallons) in it. The Mini Cooper's 3 gallon mark is about an inch further down. The 10L (2.6 gallon) mark on it is about 1/2" below the top of the circular logo you can see.

So 2.5 gallons with a ginormous blowoff machine like 3787 should be fine without losing a drop. Which is what I was hoping for. Because I can't do that in my LBCs.

This is with the "krausen collar" in there. Without it you'd have to be more careful, but it's still bigger then the LBC as far as volume, but would be an inch and a half or so shorter.

[mashani]

I brewed up the Diablo as an 11L batch (2.9 gallons) with 1# of 4L light DME. I brought it to a near boil, threw in 1oz of Azacca, put a lid on, and did a 20 minute hopstand, so should get a 4.8%ish 50 IBU or so hoppy pale ale (session ipa?) of some sort out of it. I used Notty instead of the included yeast, which I don't think will like my <60 degree temps. The Diablo was dark and thick due to Maillard reaction, so it's going to seem like I added crystal even though I did not. You can see how dark it is in the pic. And what 2.9 gallons looks like in the Mini Cooper, compared to 2.5 in the LBC.

Filling this was ridiculously easy, as in dump the pot in. No need to aim or pour carefully or siphon, since it's basically just bucket with a concave bottom and fancy headspace adding collar and lid attachments. I'm sure the Big Demon is like that too, it has a full sized opening as well. Its just that the big demon is... too big... for me.

Sanitizing it was a bit more work due to it being multiple pieces. If you weren't using the collar for extra headspace it would be just like the LBC though.

The thermometer that came with it is in C not F. Silly Aussies. Luckily I can multiply.

I almost got another LBC the other day, but this was a good find at the house sale, unless something hideous happens.

I don't know that I'd pay retail for this, but if you can find it at a discount it's seems to be a good piece of equipment.

[TonyKZ1]

Thanks for the info/review & pictures. Looks good and it ought to work well. I like the smaller fermenters (3G and under), they're easier to carry when full, and to clean afterwards.

[mashani]

Thanks for the info/review & pictures. Looks good and it ought to work well. I like the smaller fermenters (3G and under), they're easier to carry when full, and to clean afterwards.

The biggest "downside" besides retail price, which is too much because they don't sell these things without a refill/bottles (as a kit of some sort) - would be if you wanted an airlock. I personally think airlocks are overrated and more or less useless with the exception of secondary fermentation, but since I almost never use a secondary, and like the results I've been getting better with with free venting fermenters better then pressurized fermenters, this is not an issue at all to me (I do not gasket the lids of the LBCs, and I leave them on loose too, until fermentation settles down, then I might tighten them to keep fruit flies out). The whole "your beer will turn to vinegar or get infected without an airlock" is nonsense, unless it's already been infected. Beer bugs can't crawl up the fermenter and under the lip of the lid. They can only fall in, and the lids on the LBCs and this thing will prevent that.

[Whamolagan]

Got me, I thought I was looking at a car thread. Looks cool anyhoo

[mashani]

Got me, I thought I was looking at a car thread. Looks cool anyhoo

I'd take one of those too if I could find one cheap at a yard sale

EDIT: On and more OT, this thing so far is easily containing the fermentation at 2.9 gallons. The notty is going nuts, and my krausen is higher then the top of the actual main fermenter body right now and nothing is leaking and there is still a huge amount of headspace. The collar is doing its job.

[mashani]

Well, I bottled that batch I made in this. Which actually tasted pretty good, but very "east coast/British" like, as in a lot of caramel malt vibe, due to the HME that came with it being old.

Clean up was very easy, the vast majority of the crud was stuck to the "collar" part, which being a small component was easy to toss in the sink and clean. The rest was easy too. The fermenter being clear helped me find every bit of crap easily and the full sized opening made getting to it simple.

The only issue I had is that the bottling wand is a very tight fit. And my hands suck. So I didn't get it in good enough the first time. So after a couple of bottles it popped out and dumped a whole beer onto my floor before I got to the spigot and turned it off. I'm sure my floor is happy. I was not however. I got it in tight enough the second time. That should get easier as I use it more, I've unfortunately had the same thing happen on my LBK/LBC's when new.

So now all my fermenters are empty. I guess I need to get brewing.

[Kealia]

So now all my fermenters are empty. I guess I need to get brewing.

I know this feeling all too well. Glad the fermenter will work for you.