Conical, Blinkman vs. Stout Tanks

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Salmonhouse

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So i'm looking to upgrade from carboys to a conical fermenter so i can harvest yeast and reuse it.

I live in Seattle and am torn between aquiring a Blinkman 27 gal

http://store.homebrewheaven.com/27-gallon-fermenator---conical-bottom-p1048.aspx

or a Stout Tanks 27 gal

http://conical-fermenter.com/products/conicals/

The Blinkman i can get just outside of town at Homebrew Heaven and the Stout tanks will require me to drive down to Portland (which would be a fun trip and all) and i believe i will have to make a special order. The stout tanks one is all triclamp fittings and the blinkman cost extra for those. I dont know if i really want to go to triclamp fittings although i know that they are better for sanitation and cleaning. Any thoughts on this from some people who are experianced with these products to share with me??

Thanks,
-Brad
 
Well i guess it doesnt matter that much anymore, i talked to John of Stout Tanks and he pretty much quelled any concerns i had, will have to wait till June for my conical but i went ahead and put down a deposit on one.
 
I have the blichmann and I wish I had gone with the stout tank, the rotating racking arm leaks. Only a little bit but its stressful watching beer come out of a 27 gallon conical
 
I had John make me 2 custom kettles for my new system... He is a good guy and the kettles turned out great.
I would go for all triclover fitting..
 
I have two Blichman conicals and my racking arms do not leak. In any case, I'm sure if you called Blichman up they'd do whatever it takes to fix the problem.
 
I went onto the Stout site today for the first time in a couple of months. Has his prices gone up? The standard 7.3g seem to be about 20% higher.
 
Salmonhouse said:
Do you find the racking arm to be useful?

Yes, but the rotation feature has not been necessary in the dozen batches I've brewed in them so far. The solids have always been below the level of the tube bottom in the straight down position. After brewing a low gravity beer I rack into kegs then pour the next,higher gravity batch, on the remaining lees. I'll brew two beers that way before discarding the yeast.
 
My only concern here, maybe someone here can put to rest. Should I be concerned about availability of parts for the Stout ones? My LHBS can source blichmann parts, but I'm concerned about the stout ones.

Specifically, for some of the more potentially consumable pieces (gaskets, seals, etc.)
 
I think all the fittings are standard tri-clamps.

I'm still waiting for my conical from stout tanks. Got the word that i wont be seeing it until the end of August. That means a 5 month wait for me. So maybe take that into consideration too.
 
Not the original poster but thanks for the feedback on the Stout Tanks equipment. I just e-mailed them this morning about customizing some 15 gallon equipment.
 
I love my Stout Conical. I have had it over a year and it is easy to use and easy to clean. The inside looks as good as the day I bought it. For anyone concerned about sanitation, all you have to do is take apart one of John's ball valves or simply take a tri-clamp fitting off after a brew. There is always some leftover brew there waiting for my next batch if I could not clean it. Being able to easily clean John's equipment is a big plus and makes me want to go with tri-clamps and John's ball valves for every piece I have. I am waiting on my new 40 gal Mash Tun. I have a Blickman 20 gal brew pot (as well as a 10), and would like to clean the valves, but they are a pain. I am going to change them over to tri clamp so that I have ony one thread to worry about. Wish I had gone Stout all the way. As a side note: I have bought some tri clamps form other vendors and John's are better quality. I will stick with Stout from now on.
 
I finally got my stout tank in September, 6 months after purchasing it! So i basically forgot about it and brewed many batches in carboys this summer. I wasn't expecting such a long wait and i always was told just one more month kinda thing. Other than that it's a pretty nice piece of equipment. There seems to be some tarnishing under the leg joints, as if it was too tight of a space for the fabricator to properly polish but besides that it is a mirror finish inside and out. I have used it for 3 batches now and it is easy to clean even the thickest krausen bits with a soft sponge. The gasket on the lid is a pain because it will not stick in place if either it or the lid are the slightest bit wet. The valves disassemble and clean easily but the threads are sharp so be wary of cutting yourself on them. I haven't figured out a way to transfer it ALL without getting some yeast mixed in there, so i transfer the first bits into a carboy and when it's clear i switch to my kegs. I dump the bottom of my cone with the remaining beer/ yeast into that same carboy and let the yeast settle out so i'm still doing a little secondaring even with a conical. It is nice to harvest yeast although the bottom valve sits parrallel to the ground so the last bits never drain out and i have to flush and leave it with a little bit of star san in the valve. It's pretty convenient otherwise and considering i had a carboy blow up on my hand this last weekend i'm glad to be using it as my primary fermenter. It's nice to have all your batch in one container. All things considered, I wish i had another one so i could let my beer sit in it for longer than 2 weeks.
 
I have the blichmann and I wish I had gone with the stout tank, the rotating racking arm leaks. Only a little bit but its stressful watching beer come out of a 27 gallon conical

Call them, mine has never leaked. Put a little silicone food grade grease on the o- ring and it will last for years. Mine is new but buddy has had one for years and never leaked, if the o ring is dry and you rotate it that's your problem.
 
I ordered a 2bbl system from John last year...everything is spectacular. However the shippers somehow bent some of my lids. The lids for these things are very very heavy duty stuff and they were extremely well packaged and protected, im not sure how the shippers managed to bend them like they did but they were no where close to fitting. John was very pleasant to work with and did the right thing and sent me new lids to replace the bent ones...all on his dime. You can imagine how I felt to wait 6 months and get bent lids because of the worthless shipper. Again, John did the right thing and sent me brand new ones quickly. I cannot say enough good stuff about him. I cant wait to do business with him again. And anyone that is thinking about buying from him, I would strongly suggest it, YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED with the quality of the materials or the way he does business! Thanks again John!
 
Amen to that. As far as Blickman versus Stout, Stout wins hands down. I also had a bent lid and it was replaced, no questions asked. The gauge of the steel is so much better than Blickman's that you could compare it to "economy" to commercial quality of the Stout equipment. . I have leaks with my Blickman weldless fittings and the side of the hole has actually bent. I had to take a mallet and pound the Blickman “straight” again so the weldless fitting would only drip a little. The lead time is frustrating, but since this is a “big” purchase for most of us, planning is essential. My steps for acquiring the perfect brewery:
1. Plan.
2. Save for the deposit.
3. Order from Stout. (use Pay Pal Bill Me Later) and you can stretch out the payments)
4. Save for the Final Payment and Shipping.
5. Christmas in May ( if ordered in January).
6. Brew!
He does carry some stock now so some lead time for those items is nothing.
Stainless Steel Home Brew Conical Fermenters And Kettles - Stout Tanks and Kettles
 
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