Conical Fermenters+Temp Control Questions

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ARC Brewing
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So.... In the never ending quest to increase the ease of brewing, I am looking into conical fermenters, but my main concern is temp control. Main issue is where i live, and the summertime is almost impossible to ferment below 72 without a keezer/fridge/ type environment. Not opposed to any of these solutions, but.... most conicals would make it hard to be in a keeze type of enviro. Any suggestions?:mug:
 
So.... In the never ending quest to increase the ease of brewing, I am looking into conical fermenters, but my main concern is temp control. Main issue is where i live, and the summertime is almost impossible to ferment below 72 without a keezer/fridge/ type environment. Not opposed to any of these solutions, but.... most conicals would make it hard to be in a keeze type of enviro. Any suggestions?:mug:

No, that's why I don't have a conical, either! A 7 gallon would fit in a refrigerator, but a 14 gallon won't. I don't have the money/time/ability to make a cold room or run a glycol system.

Check out Brewpastor's system if you are a DIY type. I think it's a homemade glycol chilling system for his fermenters.
 
Yes this is exactly why conicals are just not practical. I think you'd be better off with buckets or better bottles. If you really want stainless and your doing 10 gallon batches, think about fermenting in a 15 gallon Sanke keg. Any of those would fit in a standard fridge.

IMHO temp control is so much more important then a shiny conical.
 
It depends on the conical - I know Blichmann conicals fit in a fridge, and Stout Tanks makes a "short one" that's basically the size of a sanke (slightly taller). Then, of course, there's the DIY plastic conicals that folks seem to be having success with, those are 19".
 
It depends on the conical - I know Blichmann conicals fit in a fridge, and Stout Tanks makes a "short one" that's basically the size of a sanke (slightly taller). Then, of course, there's the DIY plastic conicals that folks seem to be having success with, those are 19".

yes but those are all for 5 gallon batches. With 10 gallon batches the logistics are much more difficult.
 
Nope, those are 14 gallon sized conicals. The "short" Stout Tank is 15.75" wide and 33" high (alhtough their regular one is 23" wide, which is cutting it fine), and the Blichmann is 18.5" wide and 31" tall (or so). Granted, these won't fit in a mini fridge, but most standard top freezer refrigerators are 30" wide (total) and can accommodate one of these. (The plastic Norwesco tanks are 19" wide, 24" high, plus another foot to add legs and space for the dump valve).

Don't get me wrong tho - you still do need a (full size) fridge to act as a fermentation chamber to control the temps accurately.
 
Nope, those are 14 gallon sized conicals. The "short" Stout Tank is 15.75" wide and 33" high (alhtough their regular one is 23" wide, which is cutting it fine), and the Blichmann is 18.5" wide and 31" tall (or so). Granted, these won't fit in a mini fridge, but most standard top freezer refrigerators are 30" wide (total) and can accommodate one of these. (The plastic Norwesco tanks are 19" wide, 24" high, plus another foot to add legs and space for the dump valve).

Don't get me wrong tho - you still do need a (full size) fridge to act as a fermentation chamber to control the temps accurately.

The width is not a problem it's the height. I don't think that height fits in most standard fridges. Also, the drain is too low and once it's full it's nearly impossible to move. So filling and emptying it while it's in the fridge sound like a real PITA.

I don't see a significant advantage over something as cheap as a pair of better bottles or even some plastic buckets.
 
Full-size fridges usually have 35-36" of vertical clearance inside. The 14G Blichmann is just over 31" tall. It fits. I would think fitting into a standard fridge would be one of the design criteria.
 
The blichmann site has a picture of the 40 gallon conical in an upright freezer.

B3 makes (for quite a bit of money) heated and cooled conicals that do not require a refrigerator.
 
The width is not a problem it's the height. I don't think that height fits in most standard fridges. Also, the drain is too low and once it's full it's nearly impossible to move. So filling and emptying it while it's in the fridge sound like a real PITA.

I don't see a significant advantage over something as cheap as a pair of better bottles or even some plastic buckets.

Well, as outlined, it fits in a standard fridge (as arturo pointed out, I'm sure it's a major design criteria of people making homebrew equipment to have their stuff work with what your average person will have access to.)

In terms of the benefits over Better Bottles/carboys, the main ones for me would be:

a) Get a full 10-gallon batch in one vessel. (no more having to split yeasts, worrying about one half turning out different than the other, etc.)

b) Dumping trub - I use a plate chiller, so my fermenters end up with lots of cold break, in addition to the usual trub. Being able to just ditch all that after it settles out 12 hours into fermentation is nice.

c) Harvesting yeast (yes, doable with any vessel with effort and patience, but being able to easily snag a jar of yeast will help something like this pay for itself over time!)

d) The ability to push via CO2 means I can run the beer through a filter on the way to the corny (Right now if I filter I have to rack to a corny, then push from there to ANOTHER corny)

e) Stainless, so it's sanitary, scratch resistant, and no light can pass through

f) Easy to open up and clean (scrubbing kreusen off the domed upper part of a Better Bottle, especially one that's a bit warped from having hot PBW put in there, is a royal PITA!)

I know a lot of people ferment in sankes, which address several of the issues above (being able to push with CO2, having a sealed, stainless environment, full batch in one vessel) but the ability to dump trub and harvest yeast are big for me, as well as the ability to open the whole thing up and thoroughly clean it.
 
Full-size fridges usually have 35-36" of vertical clearance inside. The 14G Blichmann is just over 31" tall. It fits. I would think fitting into a standard fridge would be one of the design criteria.

Are you talking about a regular fridge with a freezer on top? Cause I have 3 of those (1 for food, 1 for serving beer and 1 for fermenters) and none of them have enough space to fit a 31" tall conical. If you measure (I did) from the crisper up you've got 27-28" tops. If you remove the crisper you have a big hump to deal with. I can't see how a 31" conical would fit in a regular fridge.

The Blichmann 14 gallon is NOT designed to fit in a standard fridge. Even on the Blichmann site they recommend an upright freezer. Those freezers are much harder to find used and many of them have coils in the shelves making them impossible to use for a fermenter. Basically your probably gonna need to by a brand new one for about 400.00. Compare that to finding a cheap fridge on craigslist for 50.00 or so. Or finding a free one on the street corner that somebody has throw in the trash cause the upgraded their appliances. So I stick by my earlier statement that conicals do not fit in a fridge and are a PITA to temp control.

On the bright side a 15.5 gallon sanke keg will fit in a regular, top freezer style fridge with no problems. So do 2 or more corny kegs or 2 better bottles or possibly 2 plastic buckets.
 
The Blichmann 14 gallon is NOT designed to fit in a standard fridge. Even on the Blichmann site they recommend an upright freezer. Those freezers are much harder to find used and many of them have coils in the shelves making them impossible to use for a fermenter. Basically your probably gonna need to by a brand new one for about 400.00. Compare that to finding a cheap fridge on craigslist for 50.00 or so. Or finding a free one on the street corner that somebody has throw in the trash cause the upgraded their appliances. So I stick by my earlier statement that conicals do not fit in a fridge and are a PITA to temp control.

On the bright side a 15.5 gallon sanke keg will fit in a regular, top freezer style fridge with no problems. So do 2 or more corny kegs or 2 better bottles or possibly 2 plastic buckets.

chest freezer + collar = win
 
chest freezer + collar = win

I've done the chest freezer in the past. I'm not a fan. Access is very difficult. Getting carboys and kegs in and out is a back breaker. Also, they have serious moisture / mold issues.

But they are easy to find cheap and used. And they have a ton of space and the collar is an easy upgrade.
 
A big bump? Oh shvt, that ruins everything!

Yeah I think the compressor or some other important refrigerator part is under there. Either way it will block you from using the space under the crisper as it takes up roughly a third of the floor space.
 
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