Speidel Plastic Tanks

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Please bear with me if this is a stupid question; but when bottling directly from these, how do you add the priming sugar without stirring up the trub? I would like to skip transferring to a bottling bucket if possible.
 
Please bear with me if this is a stupid question; but when bottling directly from these, how do you add the priming sugar without stirring up the trub? I would like to skip transferring to a bottling bucket if possible.

I dont bottle, but maybe you could use carb tablets instead?
 
Has anyone seen these or similar stateside? I've seen a few similar vessels to these but all are in Europe. There has to be a company here in the US that makes these or imports them for some other industry. I have one very similar to this that I've had for many years (10+) except it has a green lid and black spigot. I love it but cannot find any replacements.
 
Please bear with me if this is a stupid question; but when bottling directly from these, how do you add the priming sugar without stirring up the trub? I would like to skip transferring to a bottling bucket if possible.

i bottle directly from my speidel tank and i add the priming sugar right into the top. it might stir up the bottom a bit, hard to tell since it's not see through. i don't worry about a little bit of trub since it packs down with the yeast you have in the bottle anyway. the first couple of times i tilted the tank back on some shims to avoid the trub collecting by the spigot and now i just turn the spigot on full blast for about 3-4 oz of beer, then bottle.
 
OUCH. Price went up since you posted that, smokinghole, they're now 25L for $70 ea and 60L for $112 ea.

Too bad the price range I'm shopping in is more like $3, maybe $3.50 each.
 
Ah crap nevermind. Browser was acting funny, so I unknowingly replied to the bottom post on the next-to-last page, and did not see posts #82 and 83. My bad.
(I roll with Display 40 posts per page. I can't be bothered to wait for pageloads all day long.)

I must be rusty at posting on forums. Good god what comes next? Forgetting to breathe or swallow? Yikes. Get your spit together, Chriso.
 
I make 10g batches and ferment them in 5cuft chest freezers. Right now I use this http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_53_147&products_id=12287

Mine have been working well but it seems like others have had problems. I like them because they fit like a glove in the chest freezer.

But if the 60L could fit in the chest freezer I might try one out. Anyone know? I figure I'd have to use a blow-off tube.
 
Heads up! The 60L tanks are back in stock at morebeer as of this posting. I just ordered mine. Good luck!

Looks like it is only the 60L that the site is showing as in stock. Worked for me as that's the size I need. I've been checking the site daily as to not miss out.
 
Wow, those went fast! Shows that they're out of the 60L but now they're showing that the 20L and 30L tanks are available.

Hopefully that wasn't all the 60L tanks for the year. Man I would have been bummed if I had missed it.
 
How is this any better than a $20 plastic bucket with a spigot?

Guess I'll find out. I make 10g batches and currently use the 13g "vittles vault" that austinhomebrew sells as a fermentor. Those are $45 and have a few issues as fermentors, so I'm excited to use something designed to ferment in and figure that for $15 more these might be worth it.

I recently retired one of my three vittles vaults and found cracks in one of the lids where it was drilled for the stopper/blow-off tube, so I need replacements anyway.
 
makomachine said:
Calling them this morning. Anyone figured out a clean way to use a thermowell with these?

Sold out already - overnight! Guess its back to the waiting game and want to confirm the thermowell works before pulling the trigger anyway.
 
Gameface said:
So is that it for the year? Man I'm glad I didn't miss it. I've been eagerly awaiting these for months.

Said they were getting more in next month. They are checking the stopper size to confirm I could drill out a new one for the thermowell - my concern is depth/headspace vs length of the thermowell from morebeer. It's about 15 in long and 5.25 gallons seems that might not be long enough with the 30L. Anyone with info here is appreciated as I use a fermentation chamber and separate heat wraps on each brew to hit ideal temps. Outside the vessel is inherently wrong in my experience when ambient temp is much lower and I'll pass if I cant get this to work.
 
Also, if someone could give the total height, including airlock, that would be appreciated. My chest freezer has limited height to work with in that regard and want to insure it can accommodate. Thanks!
 
Also, if someone could give the total height, including airlock, that would be appreciated. My chest freezer has limited height to work with in that regard and want to insure it can accommodate. Thanks!

I know you're looking at the 30L, but I'll be sure to update this thread with the total height of the 60L with airlock attached (pretty sure I'm not going to be able to use the airlock in the chest freezer).
 
Morebeer got back to me and said the stopper size for the 30L is a #7.5 stopper, so should be able to drill it out to accommodate a thermowell. That said, I'm still concerned about the headspace with a 15" thermowell and 5.25 gallons filled in the 30L that it will be too short.
 
Also, if someone could give the total height, including airlock, that would be appreciated. My chest freezer has limited height to work with in that regard and want to insure it can accommodate. Thanks!

30L is 65cm to the top of the Speidel airlock and you might need a bit on top of that if there's heavy activity.
 
DeGarre said:
30L is 65cm to the top of the Speidel airlock and you might need a bit on top of that if there's heavy activity.

Thank you - that's giving me a few inches to spare in the chest freezer, so that's great news.
 
Got my 60L tanks today! I had a little scare when I wasn't sure if it would squeeze into the 5cuft chest freezer. It's a very tight fit and the side has to flex in a little to get it in there. I'm worried that full of 10+ gallons of wort I won't be able to pull it out. I'll have to give it a test run to find out.

The quality is very good. I've only just handled the tank a little bit, but I like what I'm seeing.
 
Gameface said:
Got my 60L tanks today! I had a little scare when I wasn't sure if it would squeeze into the 5cuft chest freezer. It's a very tight fit and the side has to flex in a little to get it in there. I'm worried that full of 10+ gallons of wort I won't be able to pull it out. I'll have to give it a test run to find out.

The quality is very good. I've only just handled the tank a little bit, but I like what I'm seeing.

Very nice! Pics are appreciated!
 
Just got informed by Morebeer that these are back in stock. It was a long wait (6 or 7 months) so when they state..... once the stock on hand is depleted they are gone for a LONG time, take them at their word. It isn't some kind of marketing spiel. I purchased one last summer and once it arrived and I saw how easy it was to work with I tried to order a second one only to find that they were out of stock. Well the beginning of this week ( 7/2012) that status changed. And Kudos to morebeer and speidel.........the price remains the same a year after my first order. With a small $15 addition to the order the shipping becomes free which cross country takes about a week. I just love the speidel. Ease of cleaning is a huge plus. The wide opening allows for entire arm insertion to reach the bottom so that no hoses or bottle brush'es are needed. Very study handles on the sides for easy moving a second. My brewing has been with already hopped LHME and I have had very little problem with buildup at the bottom of the container at the end of fermentation. Never up to or over the spigot level so beer draws down from the top and allows almost complete emptying down to the trub/yeast cake top. The small amount of beer left on top is about perfect for swirling and taking out through the spigot without clogging up the tap for yeast re using. The saving in new yeast $$$ has paid for the fermenter over a years time. I will find out shortly by using pellet hops and unhopped LME, DME whether or not there is an increased problem with clogging but do not anticipate it being so. I have the 30L size. While this at first seems large for a 5 gallon batch it has provided the anticipated head room so that no problems anywhere near the airlock and as far as I can tell no problems with excessive oxygen in the fermenter. The 5 gallon batch size seems to be reasonable for one person to move about via the handles without undue stress on yourself. Much larger and you would probably be best seeking a helper to move it any distance.......your mileage may vary.
All in all I love the Speidel. Would I like to have one of the shiney conicals.........absolutely. But like most with limited funds the difference in cost between under $50 and from just under $300 to up and well over $800 is significant for me. At this point I will choose the less expensive route and I have.

Hope that some of this info is helpful to the group.
 
I just got the e-mail that the 30 qt. were back in stock......and I'm glad it took 6 or 7 months. Last year, after looking at these, I was all hot to get a couple. But then I started reflecting on how much fun it was going to be to move those things around and down into the basement with the handles on the sides, as opposed to the single handle on my US Plastics 7 gal. buckets, and I decided to just stick with the "ale pails." And if I want spigots, that's easily accomplished on a plastic bucket with the correct size (new, sharp) wood / paddle bit.
 
I have not found this to be a problem in almost a year of use. A little soaking and a nylon scrub pad have done the job......several batches didn't even require soaking. Your mileage may vary!

I can't stand plastic, it's a real PITA to clean
 
The alert does work a year later. My guess is that the remaining stock went so fast there was not a chance for the alert to kick out to everyone. Just a guess. Over several months I hit the alert me button and shure enough this week I was alerted with multiple alert emails as to the stock status change all at once.

ORDERED! Thanks for the reminder. Their remind/alert me crap obviously doesn't work.
 
What I do is boil up some bottling sugar water/beer, cool it down and then add the 'correct' amount of liquid to each 2L plastic bottle that I use for my beer. So far so good...........
Please bear with me if this is a stupid question; but when bottling directly from these, how do you add the priming sugar without stirring up the trub? I would like to skip transferring to a bottling bucket if possible.
 

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