why did YOU buy a conical fermenter?
- Thread starter HopOnHops
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I've seen people talk about how easy it is to lift and pour fluid volumes while others swear by pumps. Some people HERM and some people just infuse in a cooler. It's a personal decision I'd suppose.
Bit of gear lust, bit of professional envy, minor increase in ease of use and sanitation, and a whole lot of personal preference.
I don't have a conical, but if I had the funds and space to add one I sure as heck would.
Bit of gear lust, bit of professional envy, minor increase in ease of use and sanitation, and a whole lot of personal preference.
I don't have a conical, but if I had the funds and space to add one I sure as heck would.
Varmintman
Well-Known Member
I would love a conical for the ease of harvesting yeast but I think the hassle of trying to control the temp with a odd shape would make it a winter use only.
I would still love one:rockin:
I would still love one:rockin:
Stainless - will last the rest of your lifetime and probably your kids too. No transfer to secondary. Easy to harvest yeast without opening the container. Pressurized ferments. AND THEY LOOK COOL AS HECK. Just a couple of the reasons I'm looking.
However you are right that you can get many many carboys for that price along with a bunch of other cool toys, so it's a matter of priorities.
However you are right that you can get many many carboys for that price along with a bunch of other cool toys, so it's a matter of priorities.
I brew 30 gallon batches. I used to ferment in three 15 gallon HDPE barrels. I used a pump to fill kegs. I got tired of cleaning the 3 barrels and using a pump to keg. Now I have a 40 gallon Stout conical and use a pump to CIP and sanitize. Kegging is a snap - use CO2 to push to kegs.
hunter_le five
Sheriff Underscore
I liked the idea of fermenting in stainless, the ability to dump yeast/trub out of the bottom port, and a little bit of bling factor. I certainly love my conical, but it is cost prohibitive. I'm not sure if I will be buying any more any time soon, I may continue to ferment in buckets too for a while.
I wouldn't buy/use one until/if I ever go pro. I prefer brewing 5 gallon or smaller batches since I like having a variety of beers to choose from. I have a couple favorites that I brew but honestly it would take me forever and a day to finish off 10 or more gallons of a single batch of beer and I'd probably hate it by the time I got done drinking it.
I'm getting to old to lift F'n carboys... No... well yes but that was not the main reason. I just got mine, More beer 14.5, and only have one batch that is just finishing up so don't have much experience yet with it. I've been brewing 10 Gallon batches for a while now and spliting the batches was getting to me, the extra step of evenly distributing wort and yeast was a one reason. But I think the main reason was the ability to do a clean in place step, and transferring beer under pressure. Yeast harvesting is super easy, and it just looks sooooo nice!
Another reason for me is space, with carboys I need at least one freezer chest to ferment in, but dont have any place to age or store full kegs, so with my conical I had a chiller fabricated. and can just have a reservoir of cold water to pump through.
Another reason for me is space, with carboys I need at least one freezer chest to ferment in, but dont have any place to age or store full kegs, so with my conical I had a chiller fabricated. and can just have a reservoir of cold water to pump through.
Very nice on the chiller. Can you tell us more about it? Other than it is on a giant spider web. I would hate to see the size of the spider.
That a picture from Stainless steel brewing, its on its way right now so I have not had a chance to use it. It is a 1/4" ss coil that fits through the 3" Tri-clamp ferule on the top of the more beer conical. It has a 1/2" coupling in it too, so I can attach a thermo well to. Im going to post more about it when I get it all up and running, hope fully in a week or two I'll be brewing with it.
oldstyle69
Well-Known Member
id love to have the space and ability to fill one up. with in the next 3 years for sure. the idea of dumping trub and harvesting yeast is way more appealing then having to re-buy yeast on the reg. i do love the better bottle and i love my glass carboys.
Im also making 10 gal batches for a while now but i see fermenting in two separate carboys as an advantage rather than a problem. I almost always use 2 different yeast or hops for DH or fruits ect resulting in 2 beers at the end.
Varmintman
Well-Known Member
Man looking at all these beautiful brew rigs and things make me embarrassed of my ghetto brewing......Nah I am a redneck but a redneck who appreciates cool brewing stuff
You could use the 1/2" coupling for a spray ball too, for CIP.
Thats what I was thinking too, but the threads don't go through to the inside, so I might have to get creative with the plumbing. When I get it Ill be able to figure it out better...
Resone #5 I got a conical...I'm a stainless steel junky!
MaxOut
Well-Known Member
I started with 6.5 gallon buckets because I liked the ease of cleaning and they are easier to move around compared to a carboy style fermenter. I started brewing larger 1 bbl batches. Cleaning and sterilizing 6 buckets at a time was becoming a real pain. Same thing when it came time to dry hop or transfer to keg. This was the main factor that helped me decide to get conicals. I wanted to simplify the fermentation process and also do closed pressurized fermentation/transfers. I can also use them as brite tanks, secondary and carbonate in them. The conicals fit nice in separate True refrigerators and are efficient. I love the conicals but I will still use buckets for smaller batches and when I try new recipes. If I was doing strictly 6 gallon brews I would still be using just buckets. (Sorry blurry photo)
Wow, that is awesome, then again I would love to come over and just drool over all your brew setup.
holy crap, are you Jesus?
MaxOut
Well-Known Member
daveb1 said:
30 gallon Glacier Tanks.
MaxOut
Well-Known Member
Bsquared said:
You could get a 3"-1 1/2" end cap reducer and use a http://m.glaciertanks.com/product.cgi?group=1711&product=22731,1/2" tri-clamp spray ball. Just remove the coil and insert the spray ball to clean. I fill my conical about 1/3 of he way with boiling hot water and PBW. Insert spray ball and pump from bottom dump back to top spray ball. I let t run for 20 min and it is almost spotless.
Brewskii
Well-Known Member
MaxOut said:
Dude! You never showed us where you put the conicals. Man, I hate you!
MaxOut
Well-Known Member
Brewskii said:
The original idea to use a chiller changed coarse when I scored a couple True GDM-26 coolers on the cheap. I'm going to update my build thread when I get time to finish a few more things. This is a sneak preview of where the conicals ended up. I had a couple strings of self adhesive LED lights left over from another project and installed them in the doors of the True refrigerators. Less annoying than the fluorescent lights and more efficient too. I'm skinning the boxes with stainless to cover the Coke stickers and removing the front lighted signs in favor of some stainless MaxOut Brewing signs to give them a custom shiny look. I will update my original build threads when I'm done.
MaxOut
Well-Known Member
AussieBrewerInColorado said:
Your post number is 444. Funny that is my lucky number and how I named my first house lager Triple 444. I prefer to be called Keith but thanks anyway.
Brew-wood!
Please tell me the red light comes on if it is heating and the green light if chilling....and that a lighted digital display of "just right" comes on the rest of the time.......
Thats a hell of a setup. I would have to win the lottery twice fir my wife to let me do that haha
Thats a hell of a setup. I would have to win the lottery twice fir my wife to let me do that haha
Brewskii
Well-Known Member
MaxOut said:
Would you ever consider adopting a middle aged man from VA?
MaxOut
Well-Known Member
NewBrewB said:
Love it!
Funny you say that because I was thinking some RGB- LED's red-heat, blue -cool & green - just right
Then I would tie them to a switch in the cooler for white when i need extra light. The ones in use now are powered from a small transformer and tied to the factory thermostat cool output circuit for now. I have the True boxes wired to the BCS to execute cooling schemes based on current use. Honestly I have not needed heat yet so I may not add it. It would be nice for ramping a D rest but the heat from the recirculating fans provide just the right amount of heat so far.I don't know...I think fermenting in Sanke kegs is almost as good. I have two and they only set me back 100 bucks. The same set up would have been almost 1500 dollars. Sure I can't harvest yeast as cleanly but I can buy a lot of yeast with the 1400 dollars I saved.
Honestly, I bought mine because I wanted one and knew I was getting a really nice bonus this year so I had no problems dropping some cash on a luxury item. I did have a few practical reasons for wanting one, but there was no legitimate need.
My main desires were to stop having carboys in my home office, have temp controlled fermentation and the switch batch and forth between 6gal and 12gal batches easily.
Everything else is just gravy, pressurized fermentation, the ability to drop trub, the ability to harvest yeast at different periods of fermentation and the ability to fully transfer under pressure without the beer every touching oxygen to name a few.
My main desires were to stop having carboys in my home office, have temp controlled fermentation and the switch batch and forth between 6gal and 12gal batches easily.
Everything else is just gravy, pressurized fermentation, the ability to drop trub, the ability to harvest yeast at different periods of fermentation and the ability to fully transfer under pressure without the beer every touching oxygen to name a few.
burgieburgie
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Honestly don't know why I bought mine. But I love em...
MaxOut
Well-Known Member
Sanke kegs offer a great value for a stainless 15.5 gallon fermenting vessel’s and can be converted as simple as removing stem and add a carboy cap or stopper with airlock. They are also capable of holding pressure for pressurized fermentation, transfers and serving if equipped with 2” modified tri clamp cap and clamp. Better yet do like Sabco and weld a larger tri clamp for better access.
That being said kegs have quite a few disadvantages to conical’s and it’s not just about harvesting yeast.
Here’s a few others.
- No need to transfer to secondary.
- Racking port with arm for clean transfers.
- Easier to clean, pitch yeast, dry hop, and inspect with larger opening.
- Used kegs are harder to obtain legally without holes in them and new kegs are $150.00 plus
- Used kegs could possibly have beer stone build up on the inside walls, could be difficult to remove and could harbor bacteria.
- Coned bottom tank encourages flocculation and easier separation for removal of the yeast and hop trub.
- Conicals are available in larger than 15.5 gallons.
To me these disadvantages add up to a significant value in increased functionality and time savings. The icing on the cake is conicals are beautiful.
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