Nizza
Well-Known Member
is there a big advantage to using the vortex (http://www.vortexbrewer.com/) vs a regular diy (http://www.uos.harvard.edu/fmo/landscape/organiclandscaping/build_tea_brewer.pdf) brewer?
vortex vs harvard brewer
- Thread starter Nizza
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farmerjoe420
Well-Known Member
i think if it was better, harvard would be using it instead of there design. by the way, the vortex 60 gal brewer is about $2500.
1337hacker
Active Member
Vortex rotation is an unproven science at best.
Most microbiologists with a scope agree that either way (given proper aeration) will produce a quality tea.
You can make vortex brewers with the same parts you make a typical aerated brewer using the air lift technique. Try both and tell us which one you like best
farmerjoe420
Well-Known Member
the point i was trying to make was, if the vortex design was superior to the type of brewer harvard uses now, harvard would probably built a vortex style brewer. you dont need unidirectional flow to produce good compost tea. i think anyone who would pay $2500 for that brewer is a fool or doesnt know what to do with there money.
whattup everyone I just wanted to give you my two cents on the subject. I have been making aact for about a year now in a traditional bucket with airstones system. the problems i have been having is the tea goes bad in about the 3rd or 4th day of brewing and sometime s even earlier than that if you don't clean the equipment right. which causes lots of waste and extra work. since i have made my own vortex brewer; just about two weeks now, I have been able to brew the tea for about 8 days now and is still good on my first run of this system. the only reason I stopped and cleaned on the 8th day is just to clean it out and observed what was going on with the system. I found that it is important to clean the airstones at least once a week to keep up the airflow in the system and to at least use up half of the tea during the week with adding more water and molasses to the brewer to top it off to the full line without dumping the tea and cleaning the brewer, this will allow a perpetual brew with less cleaning sessions. Im on my second brew already 4th day in brew and tea smells sweet and earthy unlike brewing in the bucket. hope this helps thenks for reading.
farmerjoe420
Well-Known Member
you really dont need to brew for that long. 24-48 hrs is all you need.
Vortex rotation is an unproven science at best.
Most microbiologists with a scope agree that either way (given proper aeration) will produce a quality tea.
You can make vortex brewers with the same parts you make a typical aerated brewer using the air lift technique. Try both and tell us which one you like best
Sorry, Biodynamics research is outside the scope of my interests. I was merely pointing out a part of the theory. Furthermore, as I understand it, conventional microbiology has nothing to do with the idea behind vortex creation.
Nizza
Well-Known Member
very nice, a lot of my questions are being answered. yes, i like the idea of the DIY vortex brewer. I already have a resevoir, but then i saw the harvard idea and wasnt sure if the vortex would be worth it. from what i hear a waterfall like effect creates much more oxygenation, but i know that it could just be overkill and that harvard one seems very easy. would it be worth it to go the extra mile or just too much effort for nothing really that much extra ?
Nizza
Well-Known Member
oh yeah and check out harvards compost brewer... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlcX2WpnQWI somewhere in the middle of the video.
farmerjoe420
Well-Known Member
the vortex looks like a nice brewer but i doubt its better than the harvard one or the harvard one is better. the harvard design uses a 9000 cubic inch per minute pump so i doubt your gonna get much more oxygenated than that. what i was saying before was the people at harvard would definitely be smart enough to know weather or not the vortex style brewer was scientifically better or not. if it was, they would probably be using that design instead. if it were me i would use the harvard style brewer because it eaiser to build, probably less money to build and it obviously works. i think either way you cant go wrong but thats what i would do.
1337hacker
Active Member
just read here...
microbeorganics.com
then it won't be so much guess work !
he recommends brew times for teas of different compositions, and recommends the amount of dissolved oxygen you will need per mL of water. Also he tells you which size pumps you should be using. Read through it!
farmerjoe420
Well-Known Member
i dont understand why you wanted me to read this page even though ive read that info a few times before. good read for sure but i think when it comes down to it, there are many different setup's you can choose from to brew a tea. in the end as long as you have a sufficent amount of air, good compost and food for the microbes, your gonna brew a good tea weather its a vortex brewer or a setup with an air pump. i dont think using the harvard design would be guess work at all.
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