Anyone purchase one of these?

The price is incredible considering the closest I've seen is $300. The reviews seem good and with it being $11 to ship to my house and payday tomorrow, I'm thinking a lot about this.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=290209879612&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=019

I thought a lot about this on Ebay, too. I decided against it because I enjoy watching what my beer is doing while fermenting. Here is the discussion I posted on it.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=54149

Feedback looks good and it is a good price. I'm thinking about one myself.

Check this out

http://www.winebarrel.com/cart/featured_results.cfm?product_ID=6741

Well I bit the bullet and bought the last one. CYA carboys and siphoning!

Well I bit the bullet and bought the last one. CYA carboys and siphoning!

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First, "CYA?" Maybe acronyms change over time.

Second, let us know what you think after it arrives; he may get more.

Rick

You don't know what CYA means? get with the times man.



Actually if you say it out loud its C YA

Well, I'm the anal-retentive guy who text-messages the kids and spells everything out. In my day, CYA meant "cover your ass" but now that you mention it, I have seen it in text messages I've received.

Rick

Thanks for posting this, this is one of the cheapest pricese I've seen on a conical!

yeah, great price, that's why they're gone!!!

they will be back, and I have heard a lot of bad feedback. Good for the money, and the guy seems to send out a new one when the one you get leaks. It seems that about half the fermenters he sends out leak at badly welded points through out.

really? he has over 600 positive feedback and 0 negative

here is a long thread on those, I personally would not buy one for 5 g batches.

http://forums.moreflavor.com/viewtopic.php?t=26833

Wow, $62 to ship to me. Ouch!

big t said:

I personally would not buy one for 5 g batches.

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Why is that?

big t said:

here is a long thread on those, I personally would not buy one for 5 g batches.

http://forums.moreflavor.com/viewtopic.php?t=26833

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Not sure way you said not for 5 gallon batches? I have the smaller Blichmann conical 7.1 gallon and I love the thing. Racking port is great for taken samples, harvesting the yeast is great. I can pressurize mine and pump the beer into the keg. The only thing I see wrong is I cant to 10 gallons.

I just see little point in spending all that money to make 5 g batches. I am interested in having a couple 12g conicals, but just feel that it is a waste of money for such a convince on the small batches when carboys work just fine.

Same here with $62 shipping to the S.F. bay area.
I'm sure glad this is a friendly forum not like that
other forums replies on the conical. Foul languge
with members ready to jump each other isn't the reason
we're on this forum. As posted above, "too good to
be true" unless a friends giving away their brewing
equipment. I can never be that lucky they make good bier.

big t said:

I just see little point in spending all that money to make 5 g batches. I am interested in having a couple 12g conicals, but just feel that it is a waste of money for such a convince on the small batches when carboys work just fine.

Click to expand...

If you have the money to even consider buying one then I don't think it's that big of a deal. This is a hobby. Like any other hobby, flash often trumps necessity. I don't need it...but I still want it.

for that kind of money you can build yourself two of these:



and still put some change in your pocket

brewhead said:

for that kind of money you can build yourself two of these:

and still put some change in your pocket

Click to expand...

Freaky, what is it?

I'm imagining it connected to the top of my head by aliens instead of that keg...

it's a 15 gallon fermenter. a project i did lastyear:

http://tinyurl.com/2wam8j

How's it working out for you?
Have you made more?

i have two so far. i love em man. i wouldn't go back to carboys EVER! in fact i've given most of my carboys away to fellow brewers.

If only I could find some of those straight side kegs around here... Almost unheard of...

check with the area liquor distributors, because I know that New Belgium does the 7 gallon straight kegs. I know because I have one. What's your plan?

John

i'm really not sure if keg shape would have any adverse effects.

Alright well it arrived today. I'll post some pictures tomorrow as I had it sent to my parents' house. Including shipping, it was ~$240

Pros:

*The price is easily the best non DIY that I've seen
*It is actually considerably smaller and lighter than I envisioned.
*I bought it on Friday and it arrived Wednesday
*Temperature gauge is easy to read
*Overall appears like a really solid rig


Cons:

*The dang thing leaks! Granted it is not leaking at any welds (it's at the bottom valve) so it's just a matter of more teflon tape but come on, this should be a non issue with a new product
*The seal between the lid and the conical leaves something a bit to be desired. I'm sure it will work but it just seems a bit flimsy
*No racking arm
*SS top means you can't see the beer

Overall Impressions:

I'd give it a solid 3.5/5. For the price, it really is a good deal as an upgrade from carboys. I believe in the near future, to cope for the SS top I'll probably fashion some sort of sight glass tube which could also house a hydrometer or replace it altogether with lexan or something. I don't believe that this is an absolute necessity and that there are certainly better conicals out there with all kinds of bells and whistles. However for someone on a relative budget, this is an excellent step in the brewer's evolution.

To me its not about the batch size its about the features of the conical. This is my hobby and as like any hobby you do go crazy sometimes. I rather brew more 5 gallons batches and tweak my methods and improvements rather than have to sit on 10-20 gallons of the same beer.


[/IMG]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Nice setup....

Hi Guys,

I bought 2 of these from this guy. I think they are pretty good for the price. The valves are definitely not tight and I was able to crank them another 1 to 2 turns to get them tight. Not really a big deal. These units are not a formed cone, but fully welded from flat stock. For the most part the welds are pretty good. I took a dremel with a ss brush on the end and touched up some of the welds to make them smoother. These units are made in China and have found the source for them. I used to import items and it took me all of 5 minutes to find the source. I can tell you that these can be had in bulk from China for under $100 each. For those looking for a economical conical, I think these are nice. I do wish it had a port hole or something to look at the beer while it is fermenting. Right now I have a Raspberry Wheat in the conical fermenting. Everything appears to be working well and it is nice to have the thermometer in it to monitor temps. So if you are on the fence, I say go for it, it is worth it. My only question about this thing is how do you add fruit to it without clogging the bottom valve? Do you think putting it in a grain bag might work? Also, since there is no need to transfer to a secondary, is the best thing to do just dump some of the trub off the bottom after about a week or so and let sit longer? Or do you leave it as is? If you guys have any questions, let me know.