Fermentation Freezer vs conical + glycol chiller

[crooow]

I just moved from the Midwest to Nashville. My old house had a nice basement that basically stayed in the 60s all year long. I was able to brew ales and lagers by using a brew bag. Now in TN, my brew space is in my garage, where it's hotter than a whorehouse on nickel night.

I've been looking into some ways to keep my temps down, and I've been drooling over SS Brewtech's conicals and their new glycol chiller. Part of me feels like the obvious choice is to stick with my carboys and get a craigslist chest freezer. It's cheap and dirt simple. The other part of me looks at these conicals and I lose all sense of reason. Even though they'd be a pain to maintain and clean, and even though the setup would be expensive, I still want it.

I'm posting partly to get pros and cons for these setups, but mostly I need to be talked out of blowing a wad of cash on the conicals.

 

[dsniegocki]

hotter than a whorehouse on nickel night.

LOL'd at that, nice

 

[speeddemon11L]

I just went through a similar decision now that I am able to get back into brewing. I used to ferment in a chest freezer with buckets and carboys. It was perfect for 5 gallon batches and had absolutely no issues. If I was still going to brew 5 gallon batches, I would have absolutely gone that route again.

This time around I am brewing 10 gallon batches. I would need a gigantic freezer to hold 4+ buckets/carboys at a time. It seemed the perfect time to jump up to conicals. The next decision was to put each conical in a beverage cooler/upright freezer or go for a glycol chiller. Depending on the price, I MIGHT have been able to get two uprights for the cost of one BVL chiller. Extra stress on the "might" as it would likely have been more expensive for the freezers. I chose the BVL to chill two conicals since is allows me the room to expand to a third if needed at no additional "cooling" expense. Plus...BLING!

 

[jddevinn]

I have the SS brew conicals and they are good..... I built my own glycol chiller out of a window A/C MUCH cheaper.

 

[crooow]

I just went through a similar decision now that I am able to get back into brewing. I used to ferment in a chest freezer with buckets and carboys. It was perfect for 5 gallon batches and had absolutely no issues. If I was still going to brew 5 gallon batches, I would have absolutely gone that route again.

This time around I am brewing 10 gallon batches. I would need a gigantic freezer to hold 4+ buckets/carboys at a time. It seemed the perfect time to jump up to conicals. The next decision was to put each conical in a beverage cooler/upright freezer or go for a glycol chiller. Depending on the price, I MIGHT have been able to get two uprights for the cost of one BVL chiller. Extra stress on the "might" as it would likely have been more expensive for the freezers. I chose the BVL to chill two conicals since is allows me the room to expand to a third if needed at no additional "cooling" expense. Plus...BLING!

That's very helpful. I too do 10 gallon batches, and I'm not in love with the idea of having an enormous freezer in the garage. How much time do you end up spending fiddling with the glycol chiller and doing conical cleaning?

 

[SMPress]

I currently have two chest freezers, and am also playing with going the route of 2 conicals to replace them. I need some space back.

How does the Glycol work? Does it pump through a sleeve on the outside, or through coils on the inside? I saw some SS buckets at NHC that had a coil inside, and it looked like you pump ice water through.

 

[BorderBrewer]

I currently have the SS brewtech 14 gallon conical with the BVL Glycol Chiller. I love the chiller as it sure beats my old fermentation chamber with frozen bottles. Yes, the conical has a coil inside through which the glycol flows. I used to ferment in 2 sanke kegs that I welded corny keg tops to. This arrangement worked very well for fast transfers under pressure. They are also easy to clean. I always transferred to a secondary to get the beer off the settled lees, but the downside of the sanke set up was yeast collection. The conical makes trub removal and yeast collection a breeze, but cleaning and set up are more involved and transfers under pressure take longer since you should only apply 2-3 psi to the conical. I hope this helps.

 

[Goolsbymd]

You don't have to use glycol. Granted it's way nicer and more professional looking. I however pump ice cold water through the chronical that is chilled in my keezer next to it.

 

[Jim311]

I was wondering why I couldn't just use icewater from a keezer. Are any of these chronicals insulated? I just wonder if I could hold 60 degree temps when it's 100+ degrees in my garage on really hot days.

 

[Goolsbymd]

I don't think any are insulated some have neoprene jackets/covers you can put on them but that won't do to much. The cooling coil is nice as it should change temps and hold temps quicker and easier than just relying on convection heat transfers. The suction line in a crushed ice water keg in a keezer should work very well and cheap

 

[jddevinn]

With the glycol mixture at 20°F (and a 10°F range) I can easily hold a 32°F (with a 1°F) range in a 75°F room, with the black neoprene directly in the sunlight, with a cycle on the conical cooling turning on about every hour and running for about 5-10 minutes.

 

[Photopilot]

That's very helpful. I too do 10 gallon batches, and I'm not in love with the idea of having an enormous freezer in the garage. How much time do you end up spending fiddling with the glycol chiller and doing conical cleaning?

I picked up a smaller upright freezer from Craigslist a few year back. My new to me 17 gallon conical got left filled with my first brew in it. So it was pretty messy. It would have been ugly to clean any other vessel left in this condition.

I figure it took about 15 minutes to clean it up. Using some warm water and oxyclean, I scrubbed the krausen ring off and then drained the gunk out the bottom. Gave another rinse and scrub then pulled off all the Tri-clamp hardware and soaked in a cleaner while i did something else then came back and brushed it all and then rinsed and reassembled. Having a smooth stainless surface you can reach into and scrub makes cleaning a professional brewing vessel easier to clean than the sankes and carboys and buckets I have used in the past. The brew buckets would provide the same advantages also.

My fermenter is on wheels but lifting it into the keezer when full was an unhappy event. I have a wheeled platform I added a raised level to so i can wheel the platform to the brew rig and fill it then put the lid on, which is a little tricky, thus the need to have the fermentor out in the open. I can then wheel platform with the fermentor on top over to the freezer and roll the conical straight in. It is still a new system to me but I have never had an easier brew day.

When I was doing 10 gallons or less a chest freezer and glass carboys kept me and my beer happy, but it was a lot more work. Rolling 15 gallons into the fermentation chamber without lifting anything heavy all day makes me even happier.

I am trying to figure out how to get a glycol system pumped out of the fermenting freezer to a second sanke fermenter wrapped in a blanket. I am hoping i get my keezer filled again before the urge to build more gear overcomes me.

 

[Dcpcooks]

They are easy to clean if you get the spray ball with the 3" tc fitting. Hot water rinse, PBW, hot water rinse, star San or acid 5. Five gallon bucket, 1/3 hp sump pump...

 

[Photopilot]

They are easy to clean if you get the spray ball with the 3" tc fitting. Hot water rinse, PBW, hot water rinse, star San or acid 5. Five gallon bucket, 1/3 hp sump pump...

How big is your fermenter, and how much water does it take to pump 4 courses of fluiid through the fermentor?

 

[Dcpcooks]

How big is your fermenter, and how much water does it take to pump 4 courses of fluiid through the fermentor?

It"s a half barrel from SS. I use 3-4 gallons per course in a bucket. I use a 1/4 submersible sump pump rated at 1350GPH I saw a thread where guys were just using a closed loop with a pump and less water.