Conical VS carboy

[SanAntone]

Are there any benefits to using a conical vs. non-conical fermenters? If so, what are they?

Thanks

 

[kanzimonson]

I don't have a conical but I was obsessed with getting one for awhile. Finally I decided the cost wasn't worth it. I didn't have a method to control the fermentation temp, and the biggest benefit I see in a conical is the ability to dump trub and yeast. I admit, this is by far the biggest factor I was interested in.

I'm sure there are many other benefits and I'd still love to get one - I just refuse to do it until I can build some sort of fermentation locker for one.

 

[JNye]

of course, lots of benefits, a few negatives too. You'll be the guy with the conical, thats the biggest draw. I wouldn't want one, but I have a small house.

 

[SankePankey]

IMHO, I think a conical is better for folks who want to do 1/2 bbl and up batches. I cant really see thinking a 7 gal conical is worth it, but I guess those tend to be the most popular, so what do I know..

IMO, the best cheapest stainless vessel for 15 gallons is a refurbed 15 gallon corny for $200. Who cares if you have to turn it upside down to harvest the yeast (or alternately, put the longer original dip tube back in and push it out with CO2. You'll have to cut a dip tube to use it as a fermenter, so why not get an extra one instead of cutting the original one.....) Anyhoo, one of these is my second fermenter and I do what I just described without any issues.

 

[nostalgia]

According to Googlefight, conical crushes carboy.

Everyone has their own preferences, but I want a conical for a few reasons:

• Bulk fermenting - I'm moving to 10 gallon batches and am growing weary of having carboys littering my house
• Ease of racking - I don't have to stand around with a siphon and can easily push beer under CO2 pressure
• Cooling - once I finish my glycol chiller I won't need to have 14 freezers lying around my house cooling batches of beer
• Lifting - this ties into the cooling one. I won't have to lift full carboys in and out of my chest freezer
• Shiny - they're shiny

-Joe

 

[stevedasleeve]

My opinion is that it is a good bait for your money but seems like just an expensive toy over a glass carboy unless you (I) decide to brew much larger volume, in which it is probably quite necessary.

IMHO and YMMV and WTF,
Steve da sleeve

 

[BrewThruYou]

IMHO, I think a conical is better for folks who want to do 1/2 bbl and up batches. I cant really see thinking a 7 gal conical is worth it, but I guess those tend to be the most popular, so what do I know..

It would be cool to have a conical, but I like to brew almost every weekend...therefore, I have 4 buckets with different brews in each. If I bought one conical, then my other 3 beers are still getting the bucket treatment. So, do I need 4 conicals? That would be insane price-wise.

The advantages of conicals are apparent, but two make me choose not to get them: price and lack of portability.

 

[joety]

It would be cool to have a conical, but I like to brew almost every weekend...therefore, I have 4 buckets with different brews in each. If I bought one conical, then my other 3 beers are still getting the bucket treatment. So, do I need 4 conicals? That would be insane price-wise.

The advantages of conicals are apparent, but two make me choose not to get them: price and lack of portability.

You could go with two conicals and transfer them to a bright tank on day 14. I'm sure the old codgers will complain that's too soon, but I think you'll be fine from my experience.

Since I'll be doing 10 gallon batches, I would probably rarely brew more than 2 out of 3 weekends.

 

[meadowstream]

For ease of use, cleaning, moving, racking, a plain old 15.5 gallon sanke keg works nicely. You can use the simple nippled orange cap from your LHBS during fermentation, and use a stainless tube for racking, or you can use the nice thermowell/blowoff/diptube tri-clamped setup from brewers hardware. Cost of a stainless sankey is $50-$120 instead of $300-$600 for the conical.

I do covet the yeast dumping and racking features of the conical, but the shape of the keg, the ease of sanitizing (boil a couple of gallons of water in it while mashing,) and its handy form factor keep me from getting too excited about making the change.

 

[El_Exorcisto]

http://www.mbaa.com/Districts/MidSouth/presentations/Wheat_Beer_Yeast__Fermentation2.pdf

These guys seem to have data saying conicals make inferior beer to shallow open fermenters...

 

[stevedasleeve]

http://www.mbaa.com/Districts/MidSouth/presentations/Wheat_Beer_Yeast__Fermentation2.pdf

These guys seem to have data saying conicals make inferior beer to shallow open fermenters...

Bullsh!t. Read it twice. Idiots and evangelicals.

sds

 

[weirdboy]

Mainly the reason I would want one is for easier yeast and fermentation management. Much easier to recycle yeast, and also much easier to take mid-fermentation samples if you were planning to, for example, raise the temperature after a certain amount of attenuation.

Of course there's a few big drawbacks in my opinion. As already mentioned, temperature control can be a pain in the butt, especially if you're like me living in an apartment with no chance of buying a separate fridge to stick one in. Also, moving a conical around sucks compared to a bucket or carboy, which is something I do all the time.

 

[StMarcos]

A pyrex conical would be cool.

 

[joety]

MoreBeer just had their 14 gallon units as the Deal of the Day. The $100 off is not as great a deal percentage wise as they usually offer for the "deal of the day", however, since I was planning on buying one anyway it pushed me over the line. The discount will make it a lot easier to explain to SWMBO when a large package arrives in six weeks.