Conical fermenters??

CornyKegs 728
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Brewby, my beer

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Does anyone use a conical fermenter. It seems like it would make think a lot easier.

I found info on two that are not too expensive.

The first is the Vvessel

http://www.homebrewit.com/aisle/1190

I think I would prefer this if it had a stand.

The second is this one
MiniBrew 6.5 Fermenter

http://www.mivamall.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=store03&Product_Code=f65

I think this second one looks more usefull.

Any one have any experience with either of these or other conicals?

Are there any cheaper 'do it your self' alternitives?

I was also looking at the 'fermentap' for use with a carboy. It's too bad they don't make conical carboys.
 
They are probably nice but i can't think of any good reason why anyone would want one. They are expensive which I guess is a relative term. A family of 2 adults can or is only supposed to brew 200 gals a year and you can't sell it. The prices I've seen run from $469 to $2200.The $469 model brews only 7.1 gals. The $2,200 model brews 24 gals. I think they should supply a warning that if you drink all that beer you will need a liver transplant and maybe new kidneys to boot.
 
The only drawbacks on those are that they are plastic, and you know the arguments against plastic and brewing.

I'd say save up and if you are serious, get a Fermenator or the B3 kind.

I'm saving up for one. Maybe next year this time I'll have one. I'm going 12 gallon too, provided I can find a fridge to put it in.
 
I didn't know they made a plastic conical until I looked up brewby's references in the thread. All of the catalogs I have only have SS conicles. I got a feeling that the plastic ones are junk. I agree with Dude, if you are serious about a conical, save your pesos and buy SS.
 
Dude said:
I'm saving up for one. Maybe next year this time I'll have one. I'm going 12 gallon too, provided I can find a fridge to put it in.
Click to expand...

One of the reasons, besides the price, that keeps me from looking into getting a conical is the problem of cooling them.

Kai
 
davidkrau said:
They are probably nice but i can't think of any good reason why anyone would want one. They are expensive which I guess is a relative term. A family of 2 adults can or is only supposed to brew 200 gals a year and you can't sell it. The prices I've seen run from $469 to $2200.The $469 model brews only 7.1 gals. The $2,200 model brews 24 gals. I think they should supply a warning that if you drink all that beer you will need a liver transplant and maybe new kidneys to boot.
Click to expand...


The two I was looking at were $129 for the Vvessel and $150 for the mini brew

Still a more than I would like to pay.
 
I love my conicals, really I love them, not in any physical way mind you, that would be sick, but I do love them. They are shiny and bright and they hold so much beer. They are also over the top in terms of a needed brewery item. But don't tell my wife that, I am already walking the line with her and all this gear (not really, but I don't want to push it)

The best thing is that they are stainless and clean-up so well. The second is the conical which does allow single vessel fermentation and removal of trub and yeast. A real probelm with them is size and therefore cooling/temp. control. It is easy to put a carboy in the frig, even a keg will fit, but with my units I had to figure out a whole other system, which was fun and is cool, but it hasn't been cheap.

I would be comfortable with spenting so much on a plastic fermenter. I would rather work with carboys or stainless kegs.
 
For those of you with a lot of money to spend Morebeer has an ultimate conical for $2400. It is not only heated but has a cooling power of 50 degrees below ambient temp. You can do lagers in the summer in Florida. You can probably get a discount if you buy more than one. What a deal!!
 
magno said:
My LHBS sells a makeshift cnonical that appears to be this http://morebeer.com/product_images/1/4728.jpg and this http://morebeer.com/product_images/1/1582.jpg. I'm not sure how well it works or anything, but I have been considering a setup like this, possibly making my own stand, as I'm not sure how stable the plastic rings look.
Click to expand...

I think this is called Fermetap and there have been some reviews on this on this board here. They don't work that great and don't seem to be worth the hassle.

Kai
 
Brewpastor said:
I love my conicals, really I love them, not in any physical way mind you, that would be sick, but I do love them. They are shiny and bright and they hold so much beer. They are also over the top in terms of a needed brewery item. But don't tell my wife that, I am already walking the line with her and all this gear (not really, but I don't want to push it)

The best thing is that they are stainless and clean-up so well. The second is the conical which does allow single vessel fermentation and removal of trub and yeast. A real probelm with them is size and therefore cooling/temp. control. It is easy to put a carboy in the frig, even a keg will fit, but with my units I had to figure out a whole other system, which was fun and is cool, but it hasn't been cheap.

I would be comfortable with spenting so much on a plastic fermenter. I would rather work with carboys or stainless kegs.
Click to expand...



Brewpastor what are the copper coils on the top of your conicals and have you ever considered making a small fermentation room for them using a small window air conditioner?
 
flhrpi said:
Brewpastor what are the copper coils on the top of your conicals and have you ever considered making a small fermentation room for them using a small window air conditioner?
Click to expand...

Those are coils that actually hang the other way, down in the brew. Gylcol runs through them to cool. I had considered the cold room idea but I wanted better independent, isolated control for each unit.

The big, box unit is the glycol chiller. Before my old brewery partner offered me that piece I was planning to pump glycol out of a reserve tank in my freezer.

One of these days I will get off my lazy butt and post more recent pictures of the whole glycol system hooked up.
 
Brewpastor said:
Those are coils that actually hang the other way, down in the brew. Gylcol runs through them to cool. I had considered the cold room idea but I wanted better independent, isolated control for each unit.

The big, box unit is the glycol chiller. Before my old brewery partner offered me that piece I was planning to pump glycol out of a reserve tank in my freezer.

One of these days I will get off my lazy butt and post more recent pictures of the whole glycol system hooked up.
Click to expand...

Man do you have it going on, I thought I had a pretty good setup but your's rocks. How much do you brew a year?
 
flhrpi said:
Brewpastor what are the copper coils on the top of your conicals and have you ever considered making a small fermentation room for them using a small window air conditioner?
Click to expand...

I had excactly that Idea when I realized, that I have an old unused window airconditioner lying around. I guess once I move to a new house I may think about this idea.

Kai
 
Brewpastor said:
One of these days I will get off my lazy butt and post more recent pictures of the whole glycol system hooked up.
Click to expand...

Yeah, do this. Though my set-up may not change for a while, I like to see what options are out there and what the advantages/disadvantages are.

Kai
 
Kaiser said:
I had excactly that Idea when I realized, that I have an old unused window airconditioner lying around. I guess once I move to a new house I may think about this idea.

Kai
Click to expand...

I've got a Brother in Law that does sheetmetal work and he was going to make me some conicals, that's when I lookes into the cold room I found a site were a guy did it in his basement and it was pretty sweet. Now I can't find that site plus I have just become unemployed and might be moving to Tx for a new one so all my projects (for brewing) have been put on hold.
 
I have a friend that build what is more like a cold box as opposed to a cold room for his connicals. It works very well. I have also seen guys put them in refrigerators.
 
Brewpastor said:
I have a friend that build what is more like a cold box as opposed to a cold room for his connicals. It works very well. I have also seen guys put them in refrigerators.
Click to expand...

I would think your method would be the most energy efficient compared to cold rooms; mutliple fridges etc right? Although perhaps not as efficient for the wallet to build...
 
desertBrew said:
I would think your method would be the most energy efficient compared to cold rooms; mutliple fridges etc right? Although perhaps not as efficient for the wallet to build...
Click to expand...

I think it all depends how well you can insulate those conicals if your cool them from the inside. The big advantage for BrewPastor's method is, that you can set the temp for each of these seperately. That would be a pretty importrant requirement for me as well.

Kai
 
Kaiser said:
I think it all depends how well you can insulate those conicals if your cool them from the inside. The big advantage for BrewPastor's method is, that you can set the temp for each of these seperately. That would be a pretty importrant requirement for me as well.

Kai
Click to expand...

Agreed on the independence; like the breweries got going on... BP - Myself and I'm sure others would love a detailed explanation with pics of those buggers someday!
 
I think the internal coils connected to a recirculating loop with a heat exchanger and a reserve tank both in the bottom of a freezer wouldn't be too expensive. Just an immersion copper coil, hose, clamps, pump, a copper coil heat exchanger, a bucket with a lid and a thermostat and the same freezer you already have in the garage anyway.
 
Yesterday i put together a minibrew plastic conical fermenter, and brewed a Dunkel Weizen. I must say that im impressed with the quality of the product. the surgical grade plasitic is about a 1/2 inch thick and it is sturdy. aslo it comes with a stand that will fit a quart jar under the valve for harvesting yeat etc. i dont worry to much about fermenting in plastic, ive done it for years in buckets with fantastic results. I just always remember to wash it with a non abrasive sponge and sterilize it with hot water, and then iodophor. For $150 i can let the trub settle out, harvest yeast with ease, save about an hour by not having to rack into secondary, and monitor my beer throught a racking port(and it looks cool). Stainless MAY be better, but it also is $300- $400 more....and my wife wont go for that!
nick
 

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