We got a sweet piece of equipment from Craft A Brew. It is their Catalyst Fermentation System. It’s not just a bucket or a carboy, but a whole set up for fermenting beers. Take a look as we unbox this thing and examine all the pieces that come with this SYSTEM!

What’s In The Box?

So as we opened this thing up, the main components revealed themselves to us.

The Tank
The actual fermentation vessel is a 6.5 US gallon tank that is made of a food grade polymer. It’s has a conical shape and sits in its own stand.

Thinking about it as I type, the wide top of these type of fermentors is great for adding in ingredients during fermentation. Anyone who has tried to dry hop a carboy knows what I am talking about.

The Stand

From the looks of it, the stand is sturdy and will provide no-worry support of the tank. I don’t think about it when I am fermenting in a carboy or bucket since they are usually just sitting on the ground.

The Valve

This piece is what makes this system special. Having a valve at the bottom of the fermentor allows for the yeast and trub to settle out of the main chamber. It should make trub separation and/or yeast collection easy. They claim the 3 inch wide mouth is the biggest in the industry.

The Lid

The lid seemed like it would fit snug on the top of the tank. The gasket looked like it was quality and should make for a good seal.

Things We Learned

Now that we have unboxed it (very impressed with the presentation), people who have used the Catalyst before had a couple of tips:

1. Leave the valve open. I imagined trying out the option of having the valve closed when fermentation starts and then opening it when the beer is ready to transfer. People told us to not do that and leave the valve open the whole time. I think we will follow that advice.

2. Use a big a Mason Jar as possible. The system came with what I would say is a standard sized Mason jar. The tip was to use a bigger one since the provided one wasn’t big enough to capture all the trub and yeast from the fermentation. We’ll see what we can acquire for the first brew.

Thanks for reading and watch this space for a follow post regarding our inaugural session with the Catalyst Fermentation System.

Brew on!