Quick question regarding conicals

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

LilManBrewing

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2012
Messages
89
Reaction score
1
Location
Ventura County
So I'm looking into purchasing a 14.5 gal conical (I'm thinking Stout Kettles) and moving away from carboys. I'm going to start brewing on a ten gallon level so I chose the 14.5 gal conical. My question is... Do I REALLY need a fermentation chamber? I live about 3 miles from the beach and I am fortunate in that my city does not really experience seasons. The climate is constantly cool here. The reason I'm asking is because I would really LOVE to have the temp controlled conical from more beer but my money tree is not producing much money. Comments please!
 
2 carboys with temp control is better than 1 conical. unless your ambient temperature is suitable for every beer style you ever want to brew.

i got a 7G conical from my very well meaning dad as a christmas gift last year and I feel terrible because it just sits in the corner while I use my carboys that I can temp control much easier.
 
thegerm said:
i got a 7G conical from my very well meaning dad as a christmas gift last year and I feel terrible because it just sits in the corner while I use my carboys that I can temp control much easier.

Make yourself feel better; send it to me :)
 
^^^
Haha!
I actually do not have my carboys temp controlled either :( I keep them in the dining room which stays a fairly consistent temp. It's 11:30am right now and the dining room is at 61.2 degrees and it will not get a whole lot more warmer.
I'm honestly holding out until I can get up enough money for a temp controlled conical.
 
Here's why it's so obvious to me:
brand new 7 cubic ft chest freezer = $230
2 x Brand new 6.5 gallon glass carboy = $84 round to 100 for accessories.
prewired temperature controller = $84

$414 to fully temperature control a 10 gallon batch.

vs $1900 for the morebeer temp controlled 14 gallon conical.

the temperature controller is a TEC cooler that's only capable of a limited 20 or so degree differential... so you can't crash cool, and forget about lagering.

as far as the benefits of using a conical fermenter in and of itself, for a homebrewer, I don't see them. Autolysis isn't the same kind of issue for small homebrew batches as it is for large pro batches with high pressures on the yeast cone. Also the benefits and cost savings from yeast harvesting may be significant but probably only if you're brewing with the same strain multiple times per week.
 
Ok, I'm liking what I'm reading so far. I can also double the freezer as a storage for my 5 gal kegs. Will this be enough space to grow into a 20 gallon batch? Any store you recommend? I usually get my stuff from northern brewer. Thanks for the direction!
 
a 7 cu ft chest freezer just barely fits 2 carboys. you could probably find a pretty massive used chest freezer on craigslist for pretty cheap. i like the ranco ETC-111000. but you might want a dual stage controller, like the etc-211000. morebeer has a pre-wired etc-211000 dual stage that looks nice to me, but that's only if you feel like you'd want to try to maintain 2 separate temps inside your chest freezer. northernbrewer, morebeer, austinhomebrew, midwest supplies are all well regarded suppliers.
 
Thank you for your knowledge. I'm going to start my homework now. I need to figure out how to go about this. I did talk with the floor manger at more beer, he assured he that I can "brew a lager on a hit summer day no problem". So I'm not sure if it's lager worthy or not.
 
you may be able to ferment a lager(noun) at 50. but you can't lager(verb) a lager(noun) at 31F.
 
a 7 cu ft chest freezer just barely fits 2 carboys. you could probably find a pretty massive used chest freezer on craigslist for pretty cheap. i like the ranco ETC-111000. but you might want a dual stage controller, like the etc-211000. morebeer has a pre-wired etc-211000 dual stage that looks nice to me, but that's only if you feel like you'd want to try to maintain 2 separate temps inside your chest freezer. northernbrewer, morebeer, austinhomebrew, midwest supplies are all well regarded suppliers.

The dual stage isn't for maintaining multiple temperatures. There's only one temperature probe. It's dual-stage in that it will turn one outlet on when the temp goes too low, or the other outlet will turn on if the temp goes too high.
 
The dual stage isn't for maintaining multiple temperatures. There's only one temperature probe. It's dual-stage in that it will turn one outlet on when the temp goes too low, or the other outlet will turn on if the temp goes too high.

oh ok. my mistake.
 
Here's why it's so obvious to me:
brand new 7 cubic ft chest freezer = $230
2 x Brand new 6.5 gallon glass carboy = $84 round to 100 for accessories.
prewired temperature controller = $84

$414 to fully temperature control a 10 gallon batch.

vs $1900 for the morebeer temp controlled 14 gallon conical.

the temperature controller is a TEC cooler that's only capable of a limited 20 or so degree differential... so you can't crash cool, and forget about lagering.

as far as the benefits of using a conical fermenter in and of itself, for a homebrewer, I don't see them. Autolysis isn't the same kind of issue for small homebrew batches as it is for large pro batches with high pressures on the yeast cone. Also the benefits and cost savings from yeast harvesting may be significant but probably only if you're brewing with the same strain multiple times per week.


So i took your advise with the chest freezer. I found a 9 cubic ft freezer at lowes for $276. Is there a link on how to hook up a digital controller to it? I have not done anything like this before so i want to make sure i'm going to do it right the first time.
 
Hey there I live in Ventura too.:mug: I think you still need some sort of temperature control. You don't want your fermentations to be ping ponging around. I see you are looking to brew 10 gal. batches which is what I brew. Here is what I do for fermentations...I ferment in 15.5 gal sanke kegs. The kegs are put in large rolling buckets and filled with water. I then use an aquarium heater to keep the temperature of the surrounding water at the temp I want. Since I am using stainless kegs their is direct temperature transmission between the water and the beer. Essentially I know that the water and beer are the same temp. When you need to rack out of the fermentors into kegs you can either push with CO2 or an auto siphon works. My whole set up costs about 125 bucks....it was cheap enough that I have two. When it does get warm you can always throw in some frozen water bottles. This summer I am going to build a cooling kit though. PM me if you want to see it...
 
get an extension cord with ground prong and just google etc 111000 wiring guide. there will be some guides that eliminate the ground prong, ignore those. it's pretty straightforward. you just need a wire stripper and a screwdriver.

that's for the ranco anyway. the johnson controls version works just as well from what i have read. the important part is to tape the temperature probe directly to the glass of your fermentor and not let it dangle in the air.
 
Back
Top