Is there anybody out there who's got "that" conical?

[Austinhomebrew]

I don't personally know Forrest, so this is not aimed at him. I can say that my LHBS owner can be pretty pushy. He tried very hard last fall to convince me that his 150 dollar wine making kits were going to be far and away better than making wine from fresh grapes. Maybe he was right, but i just felt like i was being sold. Seemed like to much of a conincidence that dehydrated grape slurry that he sold (that cost 3 times as much) was better than the way that millions of wineries make it.

The wine kits he is referring to are made exactly like a winery does it except the fermentation. The juice has some concentrate in it but they make commercial quality wine. It is very hard to make really good wine from scratch. If you are able to do it I have the utmost respect. Most people want it to be a hobby which means easier to do. I am sure that he has seen many people attempt to do it from scratch and fail.

Forrest

 

[madbare]

I have bought 2 of these from him and also bought 2 of the 9 gal brew pots. Those are nice pots for the price, BTW!

The fermenters have worked great for me. I removed one of the gaskets on the fermenter and left one on the lid. This still seals good and I have one as a spare. The only issue I have had is with the ball valves on them. They tend to leak where they come apart. I have also rearranged the way the assembly is on the bottom to prevent prevent it from getting clogged with yeast. I took off the elbow and put the valve directly on the bottom, pointing down and then put the elbow after the valve and then a barbed nipple. I have run many batches of beer through them with all great results. I even did a batch of wine, but it did not clear properly in the conical, so back to buckets for the wine.

Now I have seen that the price is varying quite a bit. I have looked into the supplier from China and these can be had in QTY for <$100 each. I have actually thought about bringing some in and selling them a lot cheaper, but I don't think now is a good time to be doing that. I also looked into another supplier who had some real high quality ones that looked more like the Blichmanns, but cost before even importing was almost $400. I told them not a chance. At the end of the day I do not regret buying these and 2 of my friends bought some too, they liked them so much. If you like them and think it is a good enough deal, I say go for it. :rockin:

 

[lustreking]

I have bought 2 of these from him and also bought 2 of the 9 gal brew pots. Those are nice pots for the price, BTW!

I got one of the pots maybe two weeks ago. I haven't been able to brew with it yet, but the reason I haven't been able to brew seems to enjoy it!

 

[TerapinChef]

Mmmm.....baby soup

 

[missing link]

I have my first batch in the e-bay conical now. I dumped yeast for the first time yesterday no problem. The only thing missing that the blichman and others have is a racking arm. I guess I will just need to make sure I dump the yeast below the level of the racking port before I actually rack over to a keg.

I also learned that if I use a blow off tube going to a jug on the floor, I can dump yeast and instead of pulling in outside air, it just sucks some water up the blow off tube pulling CO2 back into the fermenter. Then if I waited an hour or so, it would create enough new CO2 to push the water back down the tube. I did this a few times over the course of the evening and got all my yeast dumped without opening the airlock.

Linc

 

[JLep]

I got a conical from the guy, it's lighter duty than the 700 dollar ones, but it's still built quit nice, it works well for me. At that price it was a bargain. I plan to get several more over time and would like a brewpot as well.

 

[dave73ok]

Sorry to rehash an old thread, but I am thinking of getting one of his brewpots, since my keggle is kind of unwieldy for 5 gallon batches.
To those that own one of the pots, are you pleased with it? How is the valve? Handles?

 

[lustreking]

Sorry to rehash an old thread, but I am thinking of getting one of his brewpots, since my keggle is kind of unwieldy for 5 gallon batches.
To those that own one of the pots, are you pleased with it? How is the valve? Handles?

The only issue I've had with it, was the first time I heated water in it, there was a pinhole leak in the weld that slowly dripped water. As soon as I had some wort in there, the sugars plugged it up, and I've had no leaking since.

I also burned most of the rubber off of the valve's handle but that's my fault.

 

[Elfmaze]

the guy lives by me and are related thru a different industry. But he does sound like an awsome guy to deal with from what i've heard adn when i talked to him

 

[Scut_Monkey]

Does anyone know if he will be selling conicals again? I check periodically but it appears he no longer sells anything.

 

[lustreking]

I thought the same thing, but searched earlier today, and saw that he currently has the conical, kettle, and mash tun.

http://shop.ebay.com/homebrewhousediscount/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1

 

[Scut_Monkey]

I thought the same thing, but searched earlier today, and saw that he currently has the conical, kettle, and mash tun.

http://shop.ebay.com/homebrewhousediscount/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1

Hmmm..... interesting. Might have to consider a conical now. I kind of gave up the idea as I thought he was no longer selling and no one else is even close to his pricing.

 

[malkore]

Huh...for what its worth, that 9gal brewpot is the one I own, and I think he's the one I got it from. Its a nice sturdy pot, and the brewer's gauge on the front is very accurate. Lid was a little damaged in transit, but easily corrected with some brute force.

 

[dontman]

I've been going back and forth on this thing today. For the price I would jump on this if it fit into my brewing regime. One problem is I've got temp control built around carboy size and I don't need it. Another is that I brew on the back porch and I ferment in the basement. I can barely get down the stairs to the basement with a carboy no way I could do it with this thing. So I would have to pump it down to the basement or transfer it once I got it there.

On the pro side, it is shiny and pretty and is just great brewrrphenalia. (sp?)

 

[Scut_Monkey]

I can barely get down the stairs to the basement with a carboy no way I could do it with this thing. So I would have to pump it down to the basement or transfer it once I got it there.

I think the logical answer is to install a service elevator in your house.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

Huh...for what its worth, that 9gal brewpot is the one I own, and I think he's the one I got it from. Its a nice sturdy pot, and the brewer's gauge on the front is very accurate. Lid was a little damaged in transit, but easily corrected with some brute force.

That's good to know that it's decent quality. Wouldn't mind having the brew pot and the conical. I only worry about fermentation temp control with a big bulky azz conical.

 

[Grimsawyer]

I think the logical answer is to install a service elevator in your house.

Naw, just get an old house with a dumb weighter(sp?).

 

[Sawdustguy]

Not for nothing but I have two of these fermenters and they work just fine for 5 gallon batches. The only thing that they could use is a racking arm but I think I could retrofit one into the cover without too much trouble.

 

[Brew-boy]

I bought my conical from Forrest and been very happy with the quality of this fine American made product. Although now that I have had it for a year I find myself still using the carboy more. I am lazy and I hate cleaning all the valves and fittings that go into it.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

I bought my conical from Forrest and been very happy with the quality of this fine American made product. Although now that I have had it for a year I find myself still using the carboy more. I am lazy and I hate cleaning all the valves and fittings that go into it.

Does it take a long time to prepare the conical for fermenation? I never really thought of this issue.

 

[rico567]

I've been going back and forth on this thing today. For the price I would jump on this if it fit into my brewing regime. One problem is I've got temp control built around carboy size and I don't need it. Another is that I brew on the back porch and I ferment in the basement. I can barely get down the stairs to the basement with a carboy no way I could do it with this thing. So I would have to pump it down to the basement or transfer it once I got it there.

On the pro side, it is shiny and pretty and is just great brewrrphenalia. (sp?)

Thanks, "dontman." Now I don't have to post basically the same thing.....

 

[bronzdragon]

I'll preface this by saying that I know this is an extra step that possibly could lead to contamination ... but,

It's always possible to put your wort into a sanitized vessel, such as a bucket -- and put a lid on it, and then transport it to the other area where the fermenter is, and then dump it in the sanitized fermenter.

Just an idea.

~r~

/goes off to wonder about buying a conical some more.

 

[dontman]

True I actually mentioned that as an alternative. But for two things: I really like the service elevator/ dumb waiter idea! and 2. I have made plans to plumb in a transfer system from the back porch directly down into the basement with QDs on both sides.

Both of these ideas are quite silly of course but so is about 3/4 of the beer brewing equipment I have. I'm thinking specifically of the 90 cubic foot fridge I built in the basement because I couldn't get a 9ft chest freezer down the stairs.

Yes, I am quite insane, just ask my wife.

 

[lincolnavebrew]

I know this is an old thread, but does anyone have any more comments or pictures? I am thinking about buying 2 to replace my Mini-Brews Thanks