Critique my beer brewing setup

Apart from posting in the "Introductions" section, this is my first post about my actual plans on getting involved with beer brewing. Below are the items I'm thinking about purchasing to complete my setup. Any tips, comments, and advice is very much welcome. If you think I'm doing something wrong say something!

I'm going all SS right off the bat. First thing is the Blichmann fermenter looks the best deal for a semi-serious brewer. I'm thinking about putting a bid on this:

7-Gallon SS fermenter:
 Blichmann 7gal Stainless Steel Conical Beer Fermenter - eBay (item 160331812213 end time May-09-09 07:30:03 PDT)

Then I was thinking about this pot:
BREWER'S EDGE 40 QUART BREWKETTLE @ Williams Brewing

This burner to heat the pot:
HURRICANE STOVE @ Williams Brewing

And this wort chiller:
WORT CHILLER @ Williams Brewing

So that's the basic of my setup. I'll get the necessary extras like thermometor, sanitizers, bottles, etc. What do you guys think?

I'm not 100% in love with your choice in chiller... I'd go with something a little longer like a 50 ft just in case you plan to expand... But all in all I like your set up...
But you could save some cash and not get a Conical Fermenter...

I have one... and to be honest... I don't use it all that much...

I would say instead of dropping coin on that I would buy a March Pump instead or get a larger Boil Kettle so that you have the option of doing 10 gallon batches...

Really its up to you but If i could do it all over again I wouldn't have bought my Conical.

Looks great! Good choice on the kettle and the burner, and that conical is beautiful. Like bowtiebrewery said, the chiller is just "ok". Something a bit larger would be great, and a 50' would still work for you if/when you move to brewing larger batches. You might want to look at doing some DIY for a chiller, it's pretty easy and copper tubing is cheap right now. You'd end up spending the same amount of money and getting a MUCH better chiller.

50' 3/8" Copper Tubing: $28.32 (CopperTubingSales.com :: ICS Indsutries ::)
8' 3/8" Vinyl Tubing: $0.45/ft. = $3.60
2 Hose Clamps: < $1
Hose Repair Kit: < $5

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/immersion-chiller-tutorial-video-60522/

I assume that you are starting with extract brewing? If that is true, everything looks good except for maybe a longer chiller. The longer chiller will cool your wort down much quicker. It's a great hobby and lots of fun. Best of luck to you.

Thanks for the replies so far....

I'm looking into the longer chiller (coil) as some of you mentioned. Might try and make my own since after reading some instructions it doesn't seem too difficult.

In terms of the SS conical, I haven't seen too many disadvantages so I'm wondering why Bowtiebrewery didn't like it. I figured it would make it easy to drain the contents in the different stages. Also wouldn't it double as the conditioning tank as well?

I was also curious to know how dangerous it is to pour the hot and heavy pot into the conical? I'm thinking it might be a good idea to keep the pot elevated, then run a tube into the conical when I'm ready to transfer the wort.

And I assume that I will begin with extract brewing, then maybe down the road get a little more involved with the grains and steeping bags.

I would buy bigger, everything but the Hurricane. If you fall in love with brewing you will want to do 10 gallon batches at some point. SS fermenter would not be big enough in that case. The boil pot is rather thin and limiting @ 10 gallons if you do go bigger. If you are at all handy, go with a weldless fitting and check out Update Intl SS pots at waresdirect or instawares.com . They are more heavy duty pots and if you decide to lift a full pot you will appreciate the difference in construction.

With the fermenter keep in mind you might need a way to temperature control it at some point. Fermentation chamber, spare fridge or freezer - so size matters. You might be better off with smaller HDPE plastic pails or containers. I would go plastic to start so you can see what makes sense without dropping a lot of cash on SS conical. I am using a 15+ gallon inductor tank conical on wheels and while it works well it is a challenge to keep it at constant temps!

I have a collection of mini, small, medium & large size pots, etc. - wish someone had told me to buy big! Of course I did not ask because I know everything (LOL).

I would pass on the Blichmann conical fermenter. It's a very nice unit, but you can only ferment a single beer at a time. I prefer to primary in buckets and secondary in carboys. As samc suggested, a pump might be a better option at this point. That's some serious change for a fermenter.

The advantage of a conical fermenter is that there is no need to have a secondary fermenter. At almost $400 on at this time on ebay, I think it would be wiser to spend your money on other items that would optimize your setup (ie: pump, larger vessel, better chiller etc).

mancavebrew said:

In terms of the SS conical, I haven't seen too many disadvantages so I'm wondering why Bowtiebrewery didn't like it. I figured it would make it easy to drain the contents in the different stages. Also wouldn't it double as the conditioning tank as well?

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First: Its not that I don't like that particular conical... Its freaking beautiful...

However... I can name a few disadvantages:
I have had trub clog my drain ports with a conical
You can't see the fermentation... (I love to watch beer ferment)
Much more to clean when its all said and done
SS Can become really dirty and pit and you have to really maintain it to keep it looking nice...

When its all said and done... I love my conical but to be honest I hardly ever use it because I can't stick it in my chest freezer... (Too Tall, although I could chop the legs down a bit...) and its a ***** to clean have to disassemble the parts and valves and clean it...

With my Carboy's or buckets I just rinse them out let them sit in some oxyclean I rinse and I'm good to go.

I think almost everyone will agree with me on the fact that you could easily spend your money much better than on that piece of Bling... A March Pump or a really nice chiller set up is worth its weight in Gold and you really need to make sure you get down to pitching temps quickly... The faster you accomplish this, the better your beer will be.

I think the advantages of a conical are far outweighed by the advantages of the many supplies you could buy if you didnt purchase one...

JMO

Bowtiebrewery said:

First: Its not that I don't like that particular conical... Its freaking beautiful...

However... I can name a few disadvantages:
I have had trub clog my drain ports with a conical
You can't see the fermentation... (I love to watch beer ferment)
Much more to clean when its all said and done
SS Can become really dirty and pit and you have to really maintain it to keep it looking nice...

When its all said and done... I love my conical but to be honest I hardly ever use it because I can't stick it in my chest freezer... (Too Tall, although I could chop the legs down a bit...) and its a ***** to clean have to disassemble the parts and valves and clean it...

With my Carboy's or buckets I just rinse them out let them sit in some oxyclean I rinse and I'm good to go.

I think almost everyone will agree with me on the fact that you could easily spend your money much better than on that piece of Bling... A March Pump or a really nice chiller set up is worth its weight in Gold and you really need to make sure you get down to pitching temps quickly... The faster you accomplish this, the better your beer will be.

I think the advantages of a conical are far outweighed by the advantages of the many supplies you could buy if you didnt purchase one...

JMO

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I disagree about your thoughts on the conical fermenter. They are very easy to clean, at least easier to clean than a carboy. Trub should be filtered before you put your wort in the fermenter. Stainless steel if properly taken care of, will not pit, especially the 316 grade stainless used in that conical. You are correct that it is difficult to fit in a fermentation chamber. I do however agree that his money would be better spent improving his setup.

Wow, I do love Blichmann but they are pricey.

Now then, I'm gonna chime in and agree with others that your money would be better spent on other items. I'd also suggest you buy big enough so if you really get in to this awesome hobby you can expand to 10 gallons if the time comes. I listened to the owner of my LHBS on this and am so thankful I did because I eventually moved up to AG and 10 gallon batches. By the way, I love my March Pump.

Not a bad idea of looking in to building the wort chiller these days. When I priced mine I couldn&#8217;t build it any cheaper than I could buy it. And since I didn&#8217;t have the time for another DIY project I just purchased it.

Good luck on whatever you decide and enjoy!

Much thanks for the replies thus far! I'm starting to get torn on what exactly I will want/need.

Couple quick questions:

1) Some people have mentioned getting a pump. At first I didn't understand why I would need one but then I started picturing my setup in my head. If I use gravity to transfer liquids I will obviously have to place the wort pot above the conical. That can be tricky (and potentially dangerous) having liquids boiling ~6ft in the air on a shelf or something. So, are people suggesting using the pump to transfer liquids from the wort pot into the fermenter? Or is it to circulate the water in the copper chiller? Both?

2) I have also noticed that some people wished they went with a bigger conical at first. If that's the case and I go with a 14 gal Blichmann, what are the cost differences in brewing extract-style vs a 7 gallon? I realize different beers will vary in costs, but ballpark numbers would be good so I get a gist of what I'm getting into.

I really appreciate you guys helping and sorry for sounding like a newbie!

1) No need to use a pump to circulate water in the chiller. The pressure from the hose will do that for you. The idea of the pump is so you can keep the boil kettle at a reasonable height, then pump the wort into the fermenter.

2) Unless you buy bulk DME and convert recipes that call for liquid extract, you're looking at twice the price for most extract brews. Most homebrew shops sell recipe kits for 5 gallon batches, so you'd need two kits to make a 10 gallon batch. If you try buying liquid malt extract in bulk, you'll find that it doesn't store well and tends to darken dramatically with age. You might save a few bucks in yeast, but the real savings are going to come when (when, not if) you start brewing all grain. Buying grain in bulk equates to huge savings.

Also, I'll be the umpteenth person to say you should skip the conical and use that money for other gear. Hell, buy a dozen better bottles and call it a day. When you have 60 gallons of beer ready to drink instead of 5, you'll thank us.

I purchased that kettle you listed and I would not recommend it, especially if you are going to do extract brewing. The metal is basically about as thick as a glorified beer can, even on the bottom, so thin in fact that the whole pot flexes slightly if you lift it while full of liquid. I would imagine that would only cause you more difficulty with scorching issues.
The bottom is also not flat, it has a bit of a convex curve which means it wobbles on the burner. When I first tried out my pot on my smooth top kitchen stove (which I don't usually use to brew), as the water heated up the pot began to rock violently back and forth and almost walked itself completely off the stove.
anyway, the quality of that pot is on the complete opposite end of the spectrum from the fancy Blichmann fermenter.

The other issue with conical's is that they take more space than carboy shaped vessels(i have switched to better bottles from glass before someone gets hurt). I can ferment 8 6 gallon better bottles in the same fridge, that at best could hold a single 14 gallon conical...that might seem like a silly number, but if you go to 10 gallons(probably will if you are looking at conicals) you are going to want to brew more beer, and more beer == more primary or secondary containers. The blichmann limits you to a single fermentation(including secondary) as that's the purveying logic these days, just leave it on the yeast for ~4 weeks...

The ported better bottles are dead nice, i am just into my second round of beer in them, so i am yet to see if all the claims of longevity are true, but $50 is alot cheaper than 400 for the same effective amount of fermenting wort, IMHO.

I struggled with the same decision for a long time, i would just get a big shiny poster of the blichmann, and put it up on the wall..spend your money on fermentation temperature control, either fridgerator's, rancos, pids, bcs's...whatever, all would relate to better beer more significantly than the conical, and all would fit into any fridge better as well...

(i do think they are sexy, and had even gotten the household blessing to buy one, but backed away as I got closer to entering the cc # into any website order form...)

mancavebrew said:

1) Some people have mentioned getting a pump.

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Depends on your setup. My brew stand is varied in height so my HLT is approximately 3ft. lower than my mash tun. Reasons why I built it like this aside, I use the pump to get the water from my HLT to sparge my grain. I also use the pump to circulate ice water through my Wort Chiller. Yes the pressure from the water hose will force it through but here in the southwest the temp of the water in July will not cool wort as fast (or as efficient) as I like. I then use gravity to fill my boil kettle as well as my fermenting buckets.