I would really appreciate some advice for someone who has experience with conical fermenters.
My very generous wife surprised me with a 7.3 stainless conical from Stout Tanks and Kettles for Christmas. Unfortunately, I have no experience with conicals. I brew outside using BIAB in a ten gallon kettle and ferment in my basement, which has no sink. Currently, after cooling the wort, I dump it into a bucket fermenter, lug it to basement to ferment, then lug it back upstairs in a few weeks to rack to keg or bottle. It seems to me that the conical may not work for me, as I will have to figure out a way to get the wort to the conical, then rack in the basement. I think cleaning may be complicated by the lack of a sink in the basement. Unfortunately, under this scenario, I am not sure if the conical will provide any advantages to me, or if it will just end up creating extra work. Is there something I am missing? I am afraid that I am going to need to try to return this awesome gift, which I'd rather not do if there is any way to make it work. Any suggestions?
My very generous wife surprised me with a 7.3 stainless conical from Stout Tanks and Kettles for Christmas. Unfortunately, I have no experience with conicals. I brew outside using BIAB in a ten gallon kettle and ferment in my basement, which has no sink. Currently, after cooling the wort, I dump it into a bucket fermenter, lug it to basement to ferment, then lug it back upstairs in a few weeks to rack to keg or bottle. It seems to me that the conical may not work for me, as I will have to figure out a way to get the wort to the conical, then rack in the basement. I think cleaning may be complicated by the lack of a sink in the basement. Unfortunately, under this scenario, I am not sure if the conical will provide any advantages to me, or if it will just end up creating extra work. Is there something I am missing? I am afraid that I am going to need to try to return this awesome gift, which I'd rather not do if there is any way to make it work. Any suggestions?