Stainless Steel 7 Gal Fermenter w/ 3-Piece Ball Valve – Durable Kettle for Wine, Beer, Mead, & Kombucha, Ideal for 5 Gal Batches – Home & Craft Brewers Fermentation Bucket

First off, the fermenter I got is apparently different from some other reviews - mine came with a full sized bung hole, centered in the lid big enough for an auto siphon if you needed one. Plus the black Chapman sticker on the front, is now an embossed stainless logo (embossed into the same metal as the kettle). The graduation markings are embossed as well, so no worries about scraping them off (half gallon markings).I received my fermenter about 3 days after ordering it, but unfortunately, the ball valve assembly was missing. I understand that this could happen. Mistakes happen. I contacted the seller, and a ball valve was sent out.FYI the ball valve has a 1/2 inch NPT female connection, and you need to supply a 1/2 inch barbed nipple - preferably stainless also. I went with 1/2 NPT to 3/8 O.D sold on Amazon. PS - you need some Teflon tape also (plumbers tape).I boiled 5 gallons of water in my setup, to clean it and check for leaks. Tossed it straight onto my gas range on full flame, no problems. Beer bubbling now!

For fast click clips allow practically instant access to brewing material. High quality stainless ball valve for bottom drain of the tank. Nice, easy to clean, glossy finish of stainless steel. Cover equipped with a center hole for mounting of airlock. A perfect tool that will serve you for many years.

This is my initial impressions after just receiving this fermenter yesterday. I haven't used it yet and haven't even filled it with water to confirm it won't leak, but I'm fairly confident thus far.First thoughts are that it looks too small to be 7 gallons. But I'm going to assume it's the shape. It fits nicely inside my temperature control freezer, with room for a 5 gallon glass carboy as well, very nice!.The stainless looks good. Everything was smooth and polished. I took the ball valve apart and it looks solid. Comes with extra rubber gaskets for the port and the lid's hole for the airlock. I am thinking I'll drill out the top to allow for a regular drilled stopper. That will allow me to use my auto siphon for bigger brews that have lots of yeast and will likely settle above the port.All in all, I really like the look of this and can't wait to brew and fill it with its first batch. I'll be sure to update once I've done that and had a full fermentation completed and racked to secondary.***************************************************UPDATE: 5/20/16I've used this for my first batch - a Double IPA. I had no issues with the fermenter. Sealed well and after a week I racked to secondary with an Auto-Siphon to see if the port was buried in yeast/trub. Yep, it was completely covered, so the port wouldn't have worked on that batch - maybe a more simple brew with less surgar/hops. I kept the original bung for the airlock. Worked fine, but I'm still leaning toward drilling it out to use a standard drilled bung and to allow for my auto-siphon to fit without having to take off the lid.I've pre-ordered a 7 Gallon Chapman Brewing fermenter without the port - they are back ordered at this time - I'll use this as secondary for all but my most basic brews. It works well, but the port is just too low for most of my needs. Otherwise, a well made product that is pretty darn nice.I'd say 4 starts is fair due to the port being a little low and the gallon markings being a bit off.

Awesome fermenter

The ball valve is of poor quality. It leaks like crazy. The stainless steel is very thin. On brew day i leak tested it. ( I wish i would have tested it before i brewed, if i had. I never would have used it. My Mistake.) There was a steady drip coming from the exterior washer. I drained it, then upon further inspection i noticed that the metal around the port was slightly warped. I really did not want to use the fermenter, but being that i had 5 gallons of wort, i was not about to waste it. Long story short. I had to use some channel locks to really torque the lock nut down. I just finished bottling a few hours ago. As i was doing so, i noticed a drip coming from behind the exterior washer. It had dried. It made me think. I had really torqued this thing down with some channel locks, until i could not turn the lock nut anymore, & it still leaked. I threw the whole thing away. Don't waste your money like i did. Don't buy this.

Thought I was in for a good time with this vessel but unfortunately after just a couple months of use the interior started rusting. No good, and can't return it.