FASTFERMENT - FastFerment 7.9G CBall FastFerment Yeast Harvesting Collection Ball - No More Sediment Contamination! Flat Bottomed Design for Your Home-Brew kit. Rubber Bung and Teflon Tape Included (Collection Ball 7.9 Gallon)

Appears virtually identical to the original. Fast ferment name, website and phone now embossed on product. Looks slightly thinner but that may be because it's new. I weighed them and the new one is .1 oz heavier.The stopper is a nice touch but not really usable for storage. Any yeast activity will blow the plug. Store yeast in a loosely closed mason jar. Actually that is why I needed a new one. I had shut off the valve during fermentation. Pressure built up in the ball and stretched the ball out of shape leaving a thin area ready to break. The old one never actually burst.For those that need to do more than moderately hand tighten the ball to the valve. I'll take your word for it that you used the tape on the threads when joining the parts that remain together. I suspect that you have lost the small rubber O ring that fits in a groove at the bottom of the valve. With it missing there is only flat plastic touching flat plastic and you are relying in the untaped threads for a seal.CHECK FOR A MISSING O RING.

Having the FastFerment has really helped me fine tune my brewing. I use it quite often and it really works well.One of the strengths of the system, as with any conical, is the ability to harvest yeast. True, this saves you from having to buy new yeast for each batch, but this is a secondary benefit. The real benefit is how yeast behaves, or more properly how it changes. Reuse yeast enough and you find that it will start adapting to your own little brewing environment, and in short order you'll have your own "house strain" that simply can't be duplicated with commercial strains. It's kind of a nifty thing to have happen.Historically keeping your own yeast cultures was a, well, big pain. Having the extra collection ball makes it pretty easy. One modification I did make was to replace the solid bung included here with a stopper that had a hole drilled for a fermentation lock. If you're keeping yeast under beer in one of these, you really want to be able to let gas escape.Other than that, it's a neat innovation that has simplified the process for keeping yeast. I'm a big fan.

My original blew a hole in the side after I closed the valve and left it so I could get ready for bottling... I believed the yeast was done eating, but apparently it wasn't... so the pressures built up and the seal was so good it blew out the side using a weak spot (the round round plastic on the side).. this was a perfect fit/replacement.

My reviewed is biased, as I love my FastFerment Conical! In fact, I own two. Once you get past the few product hiccups, they work awesome. Ease of use, no secondary transfer, clearer beer, and easy to clean to name a few of the benefits. I have found that having a spare collection ball makes switching to secondary fermentation easier. The old way, you had to remove the ball, clean it, sanitize it and then replace it. The clean part takes a few hours as it involves soaking in PBW. With a spare ball you just sanitize it and replace the dirty collection ball. You can then clean the dirty one at your leisure.

If you have their conical fermenter, I think you already know why you need this!I might say that I did have the stopper come loose sitting in the fridge and I had to dump batch of yeast. It's a bit too firm if you ask me. I'd rather have a thread on cap. If I could find the mason jar adapter, I might go that route.

I thought that it would be helpful to have an extra collection ball for use in wine making. As it turns out, the extra one is just as sturdy and seals just as well as the one that came with my FastFerment. I don't know that having an extra unit is essential, except maybe in beer making where people reuse the yeast, but this does offer a little more flexibility and convenience.

I do like the product and it is nice to have the extra collection ball. Unfortunately mine didn't come with a stopper. I had to order one that would work. (Size 5 solid rubber stopper) Disappointing... but the world is not a perfect place. Cheers.

Bought this as a set for brewing beer.