Excellent overview of the possibilities and what to keep in mind. I am late to the channel, but had I seen this prior to purchasing my miniuni 30+ tanks, I probably would have skipped the purchase of the leg kits. Keep it coming.
Hey buddy, thank you so much for the nice comment! I sure love my mullet haha, I wanted to do that for so long and last October I finally pulled it off! I am really excited to get more content done soon
Thanks buddy! That’s a great fermenter too. I just don’t know if I would need so many ports but that’s why I am happy with the Mini Uni - enough ports for me. 😊
@@daveshopfenstube You can never have enough ports. 😉 Wait until the Brewtools Fermentation Control System drops in September. Look at all of the 1.5" TC lid ports BrewBuilt added to the new X3. BrewBuilt refers to it as "future proof". Personally, I prefer the smaller 34mm TC ports of the Brewtools F-series. The F-series lid is far less crowded. 1.5" TC ports are overkill for things like a pressure gauge, PRV, thermowell, sample valve, glycol port, carb stone, blow-off pipe, spunding valve, ... I predict we'll see a new MiniUni++ with 34mm TC lid ports shortly. 😯
@@wickedbeernut Weeeell - I hear what you're saying in regard to the FCS, that's actually pretty neat and I can definitely see that this system benefits of having more ports. But I also do think that the X3 is a little overpowering for my needs and that you have to be very diligent about cleaning that many openings. Of course, CIP does the job most of the times pretty well but coming from the professional brewing world I definitely know that sometimes in tiny little spots there can be a lot of gunk, especially under gaskets / o-rings and connections. And those can be a nice home for unwanted microbes. The f-series from brewtools always intrigued me and I hope that I'll be owning one at some point - they look great and yeah, 34mm is surely sufficient for the applications mentioned by you. I'd love to see that to be honest, I was always intrigued by how you could apply a spunding valve and having a way to rack the beer from top of the unitank so the lower ports can be used differently. Thanks anways for the nice conversation! Where are you from mate? 🍻
@@daveshopfenstube I can't wait for the FCS. In addition to the 5" touchscreen display, I/O module, temperature sensor and glycol-in solenoid valve, the 500€ FCS base kit will include an electronic spunding valve with a polycarbonate "cup". I really like the simplicity of an electronic spunding valve. There seems to be too many problems with even the most popular mechanical spunding valves. The FCS electronic or pneumatic HopDrop can attach to a 4" TC lid port. There is a level/volume sensor that will attach to a 34mm TC lid port and a stirrer that will attach to a 34mm TC cylinder port. The most exciting aspect of the FCS is the 1.5" TC tuning fork density sensor (with an integrated thermometer). And, of course, the 1.5" TC heating element. I'm in the U.S. We import Brewtools products through MoreBeer. Brewtools products are expensive to begin with and have a difficult time competing with Spike Brewing, Ss Brewtech and BrewBuilt (a MoreBeer spin-off). MoreBeer then charges a premium for Brewtools products on top of the € to $ conversion. The MiniUni+ is 10%+ more expensive than MSRP. The F-series is 15%+ more expensive. I guess that's why they call it *More* Beer. I appreciate your thoughts.
Well to be honest I don’t dry hop a lot, but I thought about how I would approach it still. I would either just attach a second valve to the sight glass in the bottom and then something to purge the oxygen with CO2. So once you want to dry hop you could do it like usually but just from the bottom. Another way would be to go with a different top setup instead of the pressure kit and racking the beer from the lower front port. Then you’d just need the spunding valve and a CO2 port + a hop dropper
Happy with my miniUni+, angry about Brewtools shipping the non-Plus version before w/o announcing the Plus version. Otherwise my only complaint is, that the conical part is to shallow, i.e. not all yeast and trub go down to the center outlet.
Yeah. I mean there will probably be another new product coming anyway and the MiniUni plus will be the older model but that doesn’t make them any bad. It is shallow, but I had good results getting most of the yeast out of it through a sight glass at the bottom.
You're happy because you got it all for free. I've invested a ton of money and have had nothing but trouble so far. The pressure kit is horrible, leaks air everywhere. There's air coming out of the pressure gauge and also from the CO2 intake port. Getting stuff shipped from Norway is a nightmare as well. Oh, they're on a 5 weeks summer vacation by the way. For the amount of money I've put in, I'm highly disappointed.
First of all, I am sorry to hear you had this experience. With that being said, if you watched the video closely you might picked up my criticism too. I also heard some stories about people having similar issues, but to me this still appears to be the exception than the rule. However, as I stated in the video the support is extremely friendly and tries to help as good as they can, so if you haven't already, I'd try to reach out.
@@daveshopfenstube I did but they're on a break for 5 weeks. Meanwhile, I can't do pressure fermentation with my kit. I appreciate your review and I don't think the product is bad, I just don't think that the quality of the pressure kit specifically matches the price. I pay more exactly because I want to avoid the headache and because of that I unfortunately can't recommend the product or the brand.
@@daveshopfenstube yes, they sent me a second replacement part after their summer break and I'm fermenting a Bohemian Pilsner under small pressure with the kit. Today is second day of fermentation but it seems to be holding the pressure now.
I am glad to read that! I had the very same experience like you, one of my kits also didn’t seem to hold the pressure but like I mentioned in the video they’re usually extremely helpful and try to make everything right. Hope your beer turns out!
@@mikekeller5202 If you're willing to jump through a few hoops, you can mount a 4" tri-clamp "HopDrop" on the MiniUni+. As with the BrewBuilt X2-series, all of the Spike fermenters have the goofy full-lid clamp/gasket. I'd never buy a fermenter with a full-lid clamp/gasket. The Brewtools MiniUni+ and F-series have a welded lid and glycol-jacketed cylinder. BrewBuilt went to a welded lid and jacketed cylinder with the X3-series. The BrewBuilt X3-series incorporated several other Brewtools F-series features such as the heating element tri-clamp port. Six months ago, Spike announced a premium fully-jacketed (cylinder and cone) conical unitank with a welded lid. Who knows when we'll see it. If it's like my new Spike glycol chiller and home mill, it could be another year.
I hear you. The spike seems to be a great fermenter too. It's quite compact and has more ports on the top. I think it is really coming down to what you need. The Mini Uni offers a higher pressure rating (30 PSI instead of 15), a 2 inch bottom port, and a way higher total volume (9.2 vs 6.6 gallons) and jacketed cooling which I always prefer over a coil touching the wort / beer. The spike has more ports on the top and is more compact. A hop dropper is also something you can attach to your Mini Uni. Let me know if you have more questions!
Well you can definitely add a heating a heating element through the Tri Clamp ports but I haven’t found the need to do it as of now. But I think I will try it in the future. There’s a heating element from brewtools with 2“ and I do have a 1.5“ element that is part of my other electric brewing system.
Thanks Billy for stopping by! Nooooo definitely not, your videos are really awesome and I thoroughly enjoy watching them, especially when I want to calm down after having a rough day! When it works out coming over to the states this fall I'll be headed over and we shoot some videos together!
Is Brewtools still using all metric fittings for the U.S version? That would be the only reason I would never buy one. I already own stainless fermenters that all use standard fitting. Dont want to reinvest in all of those clamps and fittings again. They seem to make really nice products though.
I believe @tonylamartina6729 is referring to Brewtools use of 34mm TC ports. First, there's no difference in the U.S. (MoreBeer) version of the MiniUni+. The MiniUni+ has a 4" lid port, two 1.5" TC cylinder ports, two 3/8" FPT glycol ports and a 2" TC cone (dump) port. Based on your definition, all of the fittings are "standard". The only exception is the plastic 4" to 34mm TC adapter. I use 100+ 1.5" TC clamps. However, I prefer Brewtools use of a 34mm TC port for applications such as an analog pressure gauge, safety PRV, blow-off pipe, spunding valve, thermowell, sample valve, glycol port, ... A 1.5" TC port is overkill for these applications. The new BrewBuilt X3-series has the same number (four) of 1.5" TC lid ports as the Brewtools F-series has 34mm TC lid ports. However, look at how crowded the X3-series lid is as compared to the F-series lid. The BrewBuilt ports won't even fit directly on the lid. Four 34mm TC ports fit comfortably on the F-series lid with an 8" TC main lid port. I'm confident we'll see a new-and-improved MiniUni+ with more lid ports. And I'm confident those ports will be 34mm TC.
Excellent overview of the possibilities and what to keep in mind. I am late to the channel, but had I seen this prior to purchasing my miniuni 30+ tanks, I probably would have skipped the purchase of the leg kits. Keep it coming.
No worries buddy :-) Appreciate your comments and that you enjoy the content! The good thing is, even if you make mistakes at least you learn from it.
Awesome video- great content and loving the mullet and tash combo! Keep up the good work!
Hey buddy, thank you so much for the nice comment! I sure love my mullet haha, I wanted to do that for so long and last October I finally pulled it off! I am really excited to get more content done soon
Very good information here. I am loving your channel so far Dave! #TBC
Thanks Nathan, I appreciate your feedback! Let me know if there’s a video you’d interested about!
Very nice indeed. Currently have the brewbuilt x2. Might stick to it for now as the wheels help my setup
Thanks buddy! That’s a great fermenter too. I just don’t know if I would need so many ports but that’s why I am happy with the Mini Uni - enough ports for me. 😊
@@daveshopfenstube You can never have enough ports. 😉 Wait until the Brewtools Fermentation Control System drops in September.
Look at all of the 1.5" TC lid ports BrewBuilt added to the new X3. BrewBuilt refers to it as "future proof". Personally, I prefer the smaller 34mm TC ports of the Brewtools F-series. The F-series lid is far less crowded. 1.5" TC ports are overkill for things like a pressure gauge, PRV, thermowell, sample valve, glycol port, carb stone, blow-off pipe, spunding valve, ...
I predict we'll see a new MiniUni++ with 34mm TC lid ports shortly. 😯
@@wickedbeernut Weeeell - I hear what you're saying in regard to the FCS, that's actually pretty neat and I can definitely see that this system benefits of having more ports. But I also do think that the X3 is a little overpowering for my needs and that you have to be very diligent about cleaning that many openings. Of course, CIP does the job most of the times pretty well but coming from the professional brewing world I definitely know that sometimes in tiny little spots there can be a lot of gunk, especially under gaskets / o-rings and connections. And those can be a nice home for unwanted microbes.
The f-series from brewtools always intrigued me and I hope that I'll be owning one at some point - they look great and yeah, 34mm is surely sufficient for the applications mentioned by you. I'd love to see that to be honest, I was always intrigued by how you could apply a spunding valve and having a way to rack the beer from top of the unitank so the lower ports can be used differently.
Thanks anways for the nice conversation! Where are you from mate?
🍻
@@daveshopfenstube I can't wait for the FCS. In addition to the 5" touchscreen display, I/O module, temperature sensor and glycol-in solenoid valve, the 500€ FCS base kit will include an electronic spunding valve with a polycarbonate "cup". I really like the simplicity of an electronic spunding valve. There seems to be too many problems with even the most popular mechanical spunding valves.
The FCS electronic or pneumatic HopDrop can attach to a 4" TC lid port. There is a level/volume sensor that will attach to a 34mm TC lid port and a stirrer that will attach to a 34mm TC cylinder port. The most exciting aspect of the FCS is the 1.5" TC tuning fork density sensor (with an integrated thermometer). And, of course, the 1.5" TC heating element.
I'm in the U.S. We import Brewtools products through MoreBeer. Brewtools products are expensive to begin with and have a difficult time competing with Spike Brewing, Ss Brewtech and BrewBuilt (a MoreBeer spin-off). MoreBeer then charges a premium for Brewtools products on top of the € to $ conversion. The MiniUni+ is 10%+ more expensive than MSRP. The F-series is 15%+ more expensive. I guess that's why they call it *More* Beer.
I appreciate your thoughts.
How are you dry hopping when you have the pressure kit on? I’m thinking to use a hop bong on one the side ports… thank you!
Well to be honest I don’t dry hop a lot, but I thought about how I would approach it still. I would either just attach a second valve to the sight glass in the bottom and then something to purge the oxygen with CO2. So once you want to dry hop you could do it like usually but just from the bottom. Another way would be to go with a different top setup instead of the pressure kit and racking the beer from the lower front port. Then you’d just need the spunding valve and a CO2 port + a hop dropper
Thanks for sharing!!!
Thank you Lance, glad you liked it! 🍻🍻
Happy with my miniUni+, angry about Brewtools shipping the non-Plus version before w/o announcing the Plus version. Otherwise my only complaint is, that the conical part is to shallow, i.e. not all yeast and trub go down to the center outlet.
Yeah. I mean there will probably be another new product coming anyway and the MiniUni plus will be the older model but that doesn’t make them any bad. It is shallow, but I had good results getting most of the yeast out of it through a sight glass at the bottom.
Thanks for the vid!
Appreciate it! Let me know if there's anything you would like to see in the future!
You're happy because you got it all for free. I've invested a ton of money and have had nothing but trouble so far. The pressure kit is horrible, leaks air everywhere. There's air coming out of the pressure gauge and also from the CO2 intake port. Getting stuff shipped from Norway is a nightmare as well. Oh, they're on a 5 weeks summer vacation by the way. For the amount of money I've put in, I'm highly disappointed.
First of all, I am sorry to hear you had this experience. With that being said, if you watched the video closely you might picked up my criticism too. I also heard some stories about people having similar issues, but to me this still appears to be the exception than the rule. However, as I stated in the video the support is extremely friendly and tries to help as good as they can, so if you haven't already, I'd try to reach out.
@@daveshopfenstube I did but they're on a break for 5 weeks. Meanwhile, I can't do pressure fermentation with my kit. I appreciate your review and I don't think the product is bad, I just don't think that the quality of the pressure kit specifically matches the price. I pay more exactly because I want to avoid the headache and because of that I unfortunately can't recommend the product or the brand.
@@RenatoTodorovhey, just wanted to ask if your situation could been solved already? Let me know!
@@daveshopfenstube yes, they sent me a second replacement part after their summer break and I'm fermenting a Bohemian Pilsner under small pressure with the kit. Today is second day of fermentation but it seems to be holding the pressure now.
I am glad to read that! I had the very same experience like you, one of my kits also didn’t seem to hold the pressure but like I mentioned in the video they’re usually extremely helpful and try to make everything right. Hope your beer turns out!
I’m between this and a spike flex plus
Flex + if you you dry hop often
@@mikekeller5202 If you're willing to jump through a few hoops, you can mount a 4" tri-clamp "HopDrop" on the MiniUni+.
As with the BrewBuilt X2-series, all of the Spike fermenters have the goofy full-lid clamp/gasket. I'd never buy a fermenter with a full-lid clamp/gasket. The Brewtools MiniUni+ and F-series have a welded lid and glycol-jacketed cylinder. BrewBuilt went to a welded lid and jacketed cylinder with the X3-series. The BrewBuilt X3-series incorporated several other Brewtools F-series features such as the heating element tri-clamp port. Six months ago, Spike announced a premium fully-jacketed (cylinder and cone) conical unitank with a welded lid. Who knows when we'll see it. If it's like my new Spike glycol chiller and home mill, it could be another year.
I hear you. The spike seems to be a great fermenter too. It's quite compact and has more ports on the top. I think it is really coming down to what you need. The Mini Uni offers a higher pressure rating (30 PSI instead of 15), a 2 inch bottom port, and a way higher total volume (9.2 vs 6.6 gallons) and jacketed cooling which I always prefer over a coil touching the wort / beer. The spike has more ports on the top and is more compact. A hop dropper is also something you can attach to your Mini Uni. Let me know if you have more questions!
@@mikekeller5202 Do you own a Flex plus? Would be interesting to hear your thoughts!
The base legs need to allow for extension legs or castor wheels to achieve height and mobility.
I agree! I saw someone mounted some ikea legs under the base to help with that. Seems to work well
No heating needed during fermentation?
Well you can definitely add a heating a heating element through the Tri Clamp ports but I haven’t found the need to do it as of now. But I think I will try it in the future. There’s a heating element from brewtools with 2“ and I do have a 1.5“ element that is part of my other electric brewing system.
@@daveshopfenstube The Brewtools 1.5" TC 200W heating element is in production and should be available shortly. 👍
@@wickedbeernut that's awesome news! Are you somehow affiliated with Brewtools?
@@daveshopfenstube No affiliation. Just a fan. Øyvind told me within the last week that the 1.5" TC 200W heating element is in production.
@@wickedbeernut awesome, that’s great news. Definitely need to get my hands on it.
Great video Dave! It really makes my videos look like crap… lol 🍻
Thanks Billy for stopping by! Nooooo definitely not, your videos are really awesome and I thoroughly enjoy watching them, especially when I want to calm down after having a rough day! When it works out coming over to the states this fall I'll be headed over and we shoot some videos together!
Is Brewtools still using all metric fittings for the U.S version? That would be the only reason I would never buy one. I already own stainless fermenters that all use standard fitting. Dont want to reinvest in all of those clamps and fittings again. They seem to make really nice products though.
I’m not sure what you mean with standard fittings because it’s entirely tri clamp based, with exception of the glycol connection
I believe @tonylamartina6729 is referring to Brewtools use of 34mm TC ports.
First, there's no difference in the U.S. (MoreBeer) version of the MiniUni+. The MiniUni+ has a 4" lid port, two 1.5" TC cylinder ports, two 3/8" FPT glycol ports and a 2" TC cone (dump) port. Based on your definition, all of the fittings are "standard". The only exception is the plastic 4" to 34mm TC adapter.
I use 100+ 1.5" TC clamps. However, I prefer Brewtools use of a 34mm TC port for applications such as an analog pressure gauge, safety PRV, blow-off pipe, spunding valve, thermowell, sample valve, glycol port, ... A 1.5" TC port is overkill for these applications.
The new BrewBuilt X3-series has the same number (four) of 1.5" TC lid ports as the Brewtools F-series has 34mm TC lid ports. However, look at how crowded the X3-series lid is as compared to the F-series lid. The BrewBuilt ports won't even fit directly on the lid. Four 34mm TC ports fit comfortably on the F-series lid with an 8" TC main lid port.
I'm confident we'll see a new-and-improved MiniUni+ with more lid ports. And I'm confident those ports will be 34mm TC.