Conical fermenter

[drifter001]

Hello all

So I've recently got the urge to buy a conical fermentor and wanted your guys' input. I was looking at the ss brewmaster edition (either in 7 or 14, haven't decided yet) but came across the spike brewing that should be releasing soon. I wanted to start a batch soon and use the fermentor but not sure if the spike would be worth the wait or not. Any help and input would be great!

 

[Bensiff]

Not rushing the purchase of something that large based on eagerness for the next batch, is my best advice. When I bought 1/2 barrel conical I looked at all the ones on the market at the time and put their features down on a spreadsheet to compare them side by side. If cost were not a consideration I probably would have gone with the Brewers Hardware. However, ended up with the SS Brewtech. My biggest issue with it though is that it uses a weldless fitting for the thermowell. I'd much prefer the sanitary option. Granted I have never had an infection; but, its still a lot more work to tear down and clean every batch than a TC would be. So, to that end, I would be very interested in the Spike version. In the meantime, it doesn't take a conical to make great beer, so take your time deciding....I'm sure you have plenty of carboys to keep the pipeline happy.

 

[brick_haus]

I have a blichmann 14 and a brewershardware 20. Both have worked good for me for several years.

 

[drifter001]

Not rushing the purchase of something that large based on eagerness for the next batch, is my best advice. When I bought 1/2 barrel conical I looked at all the ones on the market at the time and put their features down on a spreadsheet to compare them side by side. If cost were not a consideration I probably would have gone with the Brewers Hardware. However, ended up with the SS Brewtech. My biggest issue with it though is that it uses a weldless fitting for the thermowell. I'd much prefer the sanitary option. Granted I have never had an infection; but, its still a lot more work to tear down and clean every batch than a TC would be. So, to that end, I would be very interested in the Spike version. In the meantime, it doesn't take a conical to make great beer, so take your time deciding....I'm sure you have plenty of carboys to keep the pipeline happy.

Definitely what i realized today. Even with the conical, Im still gonna be using my buckets and carboys, all its gonna do is increase my current fermenting capacity. In the long run, I think the spike will be more bang for the buck.

 

[MidAtlanticBrew]

I've been holding off the purchase of my second conical until the Spike release. I have a 14 gallon SSBrewtech BME that has about 20 batches on it. I love it but like Bensiff, I too would prefer welded connections. The BME has 4 o-ringed connections, two for the coils and one each for the thermwell and sampling valve. I know I should, but I don't always tear the first three connection points down between batches. I always tear down the TC fittings and valves

I gained some confidence in this approach based on a post by mfabe who went at least 10 batches without teardown on his SSBT Chronical using a CIP. I don't CIP for clean and sanitize, it's manual but it's probably as good or better job then a CIP. I haven't had an infection and I repitched my yeast up to 4 times. That said, I don't know if I've been lucky and so, to tear down or not, is always on my mind. I'd rather just have welded fittings that Spike offers..... and so I wait