3 in 1 idea feedback please

currently Biab. I am thinking about purchasing a stainless conical fermenter like (http://www.ssbrewtech.com/collections/fermenters/products/chronical-14-gallon-fermenter).
I was wondering if i coupled this with a hotrod stick (https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/hotrod.htm) and a heating element, if i could Biab in the fermenter, let the wort cool and then ferment all in the same vessel. There are products that perform this but they are pretty pricey. Has anyone tried this? I welcome all feedback.

 

What is keeping you from doing the same thing with your standard kettle. Heat the water to strike temp, put the bag in and stir the grains into the water and leave it for the mash period. Pull the bag out and heat to boil. Add hops at the appropriate times, chill (or even no-chill) and add yeast. Pop a top on and let it ferment.

The only real advantage to the conical is that you can dump yeast or harvest yeast easier. If you don't plan to harvest the yeast (and you still can with the flat bottom pot) it seems like a lot of expense for little gain.

 

I don't see why not.

 

Good point, I'm going through the thought process, I probably won't change a thing, other than going electrical eventually with a hot rod. Anything I do will cost more money than I want to spend.

 

I have been single vessel BIAB with heat sticks for a few years, after the boil and chilling the wort, I ferment in the kettle with the lid on and sealed with a sheet of plastic.

This idea of using airlocks during primary fermentation kinda baffles me. Had an airlock clog at high krausen many years ago and blew a mess all over..."never again" as Quint says.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9S41Kplsbs[/ame]

 

I've been looking at going a similar route. I'm currently using a 3 tier propane setup, but thinking of setting up an electric boil kettle/fermenter in a conical. The SSbrewtech fermenters, as they say on their site, are not recommended for this. Of course, if everything we did were recommended we probably wouldn't have some of the awesome gadgets we have for brewing.

I wonder if anyone out there has successfully converted an SSbrewtech fermenter into a boil kettle/fermenter combo? My main concern would be if the kettle wall is thick enough/durable enough. I've never seen one in person and they don't advertise the wall thickness.

 

Humm...why would wall thickness concern you? Certainly do not want it aluminum foil thin.

To use as a 3 in 1 does it need to be thicker than necessary for a conical? I would think any good quality conical could be converter...

 

I'm just thinking in terms of durability. Until I found that SS BrewTech specifically warns against using them as a 3 in 1, I hadn't thought about it. They're cheaper because they've figured out how to cut corners somewhere, so is it in the thickness of material? Or is that it's not a seamless vessel? Or maybe they just don't have an electric bill or rent to pay, and the other companies do.

I wouldn't want it to pop a leak in the middle of a rolling boil... but I think you're right, there's no reason for it to be thicker than any quality vessel.

 

I find the folks at SS Brewtech respond very quickly to email inquiries....why don't you email them and ask why?