I have two pieces of Hobby Beverages equipment: the 15 gallon conical and MLT.
So far, I am only somewhat pleased with the conical... I am generally down on conicals anyhow right now for a couple of reasons. The first is the difficulty in keeping them clean and sanitary even without threaded connections.
They are just BIG. It's not easy bringing them into and out of my fridge AND they tie up my entire fridge. Second, either the plastic or the metal conicals that have threaded connections... you really need to take them apart in between batches to clean them or make sure your cleaning and sanitizing is absolutely impeccable.
Overall, their conical works as advertised. However the lid of the plastic 15 does not seal without an optional surround. When the ferment is going strong and producing moisture, little beads form on the top of the lid and either roll out over the edge and down the outside of the conical or they bead up and drop into the ferment when you open the lid. This is not good.
The 15 gallon minitun is also about what you expect but not better than using a cooler. The 1/2" ports really need to be 2" ports with a bushing to shrink them to 1/2" ports. This at least gives you options. Also, the MLT comes with a plastic screen. This screen sags under heat and pressure of the grain - which allows the lip to come up and grain to get sucked under the screen... so.... what is the point?
Overall, I would say... don't bother. Buy a 15 gallon Aluminum and use that for your HLT.
I've looked into the Mini Brew systems also. Overall, they look like fairly good systems. My only concern would be how scratch resistant are they and how well does it hold heat? I think either one of your choices will require you to insulate, but at least with the MiniMash, you can always recirculate and heat the mash as needed instead of worrying about constant temps.
The HighGravity website states it will raise temp of 15 gallons by 160F every hour.
I call BS on any figure they mention about the insulating properties of their MLT and HLT. The conicals seem to do better since they are made of a thicker plastic. I had to wrap my MLT in reflectix and I am thinking about adding another layer.
