Disclaimer
I do not have any affiliation to the company producing the FermZilla - All Rounder. I bought the reviewed item on my own money for personal use. The review is not shared with anybody before the publication on this site.
The article contains my own unbiased opinion about the product and I did not get any compensation from anybody to write it.
Introduction
Pressure fermentation has several advantages compared to traditional fermentation methods. These benefits are: lower ester production, fewer fusel alcohols, faster fermentation time, lower chance of oxidation and a more hoppy beer. You can use pressure fermentation to ferment a lager beer at room temperature (I did a Czech pilsner at 28°C (82.4°F) with no off-flavors). When ferment your beer this way, you need to use some kind of spunding valve (a valve that releases at certain pressure) to keep pressure at bay. However, because of this, a lot less CO2 is being released compared to traditional fermentation with an airlock. This will keep more hop flavors in your beer. Also, because there is always a certain pressure in the fermenter, you can easily pressure-transfer your beer to a keg, and don’t have to worry about oxidation (great for NEIPAs).
However, that being said, pressure fermentation is not a solution for everything. You should avoid this method for yeast forward styles (like belgian beers, weissbier, etc), as the yeast will not produce the same amount of flavor compounds.
There is one big catch for this method, price. Most of the pressure capable ferments are made from steel and are very expensive. This is where today’s subject comes in. The FermZilla - All Rounder is a plastic fermenter capable of pressure fermentation. It’s affordable and made by Kegland, which is a well known and respected homebrew brand.
Description
FermZilla - All Rounder is a budget plastic (PET) fermenter, capable of fermentation under pressure. The diameter of the tank is 13.9" (353mm) with a 30 liter (7.93 gal) maximum capacity. The All Rounder has a 120mm opening on top, rated up to 2.5 bar (36.2 psi), can handle liquids up to 55°C (131°F) and ambient temperature of 35°C (95°F).
The base package contains the parts for the stainless steel handle, a stainless steel stand (304), an airlock, a pressure rated lid (two part), two stickers (temperature and graduation). The lid has a pressure relief valve built into it.
And here we can see my first problem with the product. Even though the fermenter itself is capable of pressure fermentation, you still need to buy an extra kit to have everything for it. Also, the stand can’t be attached to the tank, so you need to buy extra straps for it. This problem with the stand has so much other solutions, which could have been implemented, for example, into the body or to the stand, but no we need to pay for the extras.
The pressure kit contains two stainless steel carbonation caps and a floating dip tube. The dip tube allows the beer to flow from the top, without gathering the yeast, and the caps can be used with any standard ball lock accessory.
When assembled, this is how the base kit looks like:
And this is how the pressure kit looks like:
Experience
Using the FermZilla - All Rounder is not without its caveats. Removing the lid after fermentation can be really hard (and I mean really hard). Because you can’t store hot liquid inside cleaning can be cumbersome, which is especially bad news for a plastic fermenter (micro scratches and such). You also need to handle it with care, as it can be easily damaged, even though Kegland claims that it’s “Robust and Difficult to Damage”. At the end of the day, it’s still made from plastic. Moving the fermenter after it’s filled can be hard without the straps and the clear plastic… I understand many people like to watch their beer fermenting, however (big however) clear plastic is terrible for beers (especially hoppy ones), so I always use some kind of cloth (although they sell a jacket for it), just to make sure. The fermenter should not be exposed to direct heat or sunlight, which makes drying it a challenge and these fermenters are only rated for 2 years of pressure handling, after that you should do a hydro-test (guide is provided on the official website).
Let’s talk about the whole expansion kit based approach of this product. Many people love this as it makes the products/parts cheaper (in theory at least) and easily replaceable. This might be true for countries where you can buy every part (which Kegland offers in their official store). However, in my country I can only buy the base kit and the pressure kit, which means the if the tank is damaged (or just too old to handle pressure), I have to buy the whole kit again (it’s still cheaper than the shipping cost of the part from Australia/China). This can make the product expensive to replace if you don’t have access to these replacement parts.
Competitors
Usually, the FermZilla - All Rounder is mentioned together with two other cheaper pressure-fermentation solutions. The first is the Kegmenter (also from Kegland). Basically, the Kegmenter is a commercial style barrel keg, but with a custom lid. The main pros of the Kegmenter is that it’s a stainless steel construction, the con is that it costs almost three times the price of the all rounder (at the time of the article, based on the prices at www.kegland.com.au). The second cheap alternative is the corny keg. It’s cheaper, it’s made from stainless steel and you might even have spares lying around. The usual capacity for a corny is 18.93L (5.0 gal 640 oz) or lower. There are 30l (~7.9 gal) options, but they can be hard to find.
Conclusion
I believe the FermZilla - All Rounder is a very important product. This is the cheapest 30l (~7.9 gal), pressure capable fermenter on the market. At this price, it’s an excellent option to try out pressure fermentation to see if it’s something that you want to invest more. However, the handling can be cumbersome, the base kit requires extension to function properly (which could have been solved with better design) and the run-of-the-mill fermentation bucket easily beats it during traditional fermentation.
Do I recommend the FermZilla - All Rounder? Yes, but only if you are planning to do pressure fermentation with it and if you buy the pressure kit. Even better if you have access to all the replacement parts at a reasonable price. That being said, next time I will probably buy something a bit more expensive (I'm looking at you, Kegmenter).