Ss Brewtech Chronical Fermenter Brewmaster Edition

Test lab notes

We’ve had a regular 7-gallon Chronical in our office brew lab for a couple years now—it’s a great piece of gear, and we’ve made great beer with it. This Brewmaster Edition upgrade is quite a bit more expensive—$250 in fact—so the big question in our mind was “is it worth the additional expense.” The answer is “it depends.”

The biggest point of difference with the new BME unit is the drilled interior cooling coils. You’ll still need to buy the FTS temperature controller separately, but these low-mounted coils ensure contact with your beer (yes, we once brewed a smaller batch into our half-barrel chronical, and the liquid didn’t reach the coils in that top-mount system). Other benefits are the 3" tri-clamp port on the lid that allows for mounting their CIP ball and the tri-clamp butterfly valves on the dump and racking ports that are definitely overkill but that look so professional!

In use, the unit did everything we asked of it and did it well. It didn’t make our beer any better than the regular-edition Chronical, but it was more enjoyable to use. If bling is your thing, you can’t go wrong with this one.

Price: $650 Manufacturer: Ss Brewtech

Available from: ssbrewtech.com