FermZilla All Rounder Review

Why it matters

It made closed transfer affordable

Closed transfer -- pushing beer to a CO2-purged keg under pressure so it never meets air -- is the single largest quality improvement available to a homebrewer who kegs hoppy beer. Oxygen degrades hop aroma faster than any other variable, and a siphon moves beer through air by definition.

Before vessels like this one, doing it properly meant a rated stainless fermenter. The All Rounder brought the price down to a point where closed transfer is accessible to a brewer who would never spend stainless money, and that is genuinely the most consequential thing about it.

The hardware

Cylindrical, clear, light

• Shape. Cylindrical rather than coned. Shorter, which is why it fits chambers the Tri-Conical does not; easier to clean, because there is no cone joint; and it gives up trub dumping and bottom yeast harvesting.
• Capacity. 30 L / 7.9 gal, which is a comfortable 5 to 6 gallon batch with the headspace krausen needs.
• Pressure. Rated with the pressure kit fitted. Ball lock posts, a rated lid, and a 4 inch tri-clover lid option for brewers who want that fitting standard.
• Visibility. Clear PET. You can watch krausen form and fall, see when the trub layer has dropped, and diagnose a stuck fermentation visually rather than by inference.
• Weight. Light enough to lift full, which affects where you can put it and how you clean it.

The two caveats

Price the kit, and respect the plastic

It is pressure-capable, not pressure-equipped

Out of the box this is an atmospheric fermenter. The rated lid, the ball lock posts, the spunding valve and the gas line are separate purchases, and without them none of the pressure story applies. The headline price is therefore misleading in comparison against a KegMenter or a Spike CF5, both of which arrive rated. Compare equipped prices and the gap narrows considerably.

PET scratches, and scratches are the failure mode

The vessel is strong; it holds pressure reliably. What fails is surface integrity. A scratch is a groove that holds soil where sanitizer contact time cannot reach it, and that is a real infection risk rather than a cosmetic complaint. The practice that makes one last:

• Soak with a non-caustic alkaline brewery wash, warm, 20-30 minutes.
• Soft cloth or soft sponge only. Never an abrasive, never caustic.
• Rinse immediately after transfer, before the krausen ring dries.
• Retire it when the interior stops looking clear.

Managed that way, expect several years. Scrubbed, expect considerably less. Full argument in stainless vs plastic fermenters.

Verdict

The best-value pressure fermenter, with conditions

Buy it if you keg, want closed transfer, and accept that you are buying a multi-year consumable rather than a lifetime vessel. It is our best overall pick in best pressure fermenters. Budget for the kit from the start, and read how to pressure ferment before the first batch -- a spunding valve is not optional equipment.

Buy the coned version instead only if you harvest yeast: Conical vs All Rounder. Buy stainless instead if permanence matters more than price: FermZilla vs KegMenter.