Plastic-Mart $135 15 Gallon Conical Tank & Stand

Hi I've been doing some research for the last couple days now on a cheap way to ferment 10-15 gallon batches. I'm considering using a sanke keg and then I saw this conical tank & stand package for a decent price. Dose anyone have any experience using one of these?

I only have a handful of brew batches under my belt so I'm still pretty new at this. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Do you have a link?

 

http://www.plastic-mart.com/item.aspx?id=2800

Is it food grade? I can never keep track of the all the plastic types.

 

Try this one out. http://www.tank-depot.com/productdetails.aspx?part=A-INFD15-19

Here's a link to Spotted Dog's build http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/15-gallon-fermentor-table-build-223291/

And here's a pic of my set up.

 

Thats not a bad deal for someone looking to get into 15 gallon batches.

 

I used one for a number of batches and it worked great! Only issue for me was that I like to transfer under CO2 pressure and I could never could get a 100% seal so that never worked well. It is very simple to clean, just add a gallon or two of warm Oxiclean/PBW water to it and rotate it on it's side every 1/2 hour or so until all the gunk is gone - then rinse clean.

 

That's is sweet, and with out a doubt, it just went to number 1 on my sh!t to get list!

 

I bought mine already knowing it wouldn't seal without some lid modification. I don't even use an air lock on mine. 6 batches in, no infections and no off flavors or smells. Like you said, very easy to clean and sanitize. The 1/2" racking port makes filling kegs fast and easy. I quickly open and then shut the 1" drain valve to get rid of the trube after about 5 days of fermenting and then again 2-3 days before kegging. Spotted Dog made a simple screw in trube/yeast catcher for his and I will be adding that feature soon. No regrets at all making this purchase, in fact, I will be getting 2 more in the near future.

 

Yep, From the website:

FDA Approved Polyethylene Resin

Great For:

-Fresh Water
-Beer Fermentation Tank
-Wine Fermentation
-BioDiesel Tanks

 

Great price!! I'm still putzing around with 5-gal batches.

 

Why wouldn't the lid seal?

 

They're not really built to be air-tight. Even after sealing around the lid base and screw holes, some air is going to escape. The lid gets a good enough seal to ferment in, but not to hold pressure.

This purchase price is great, but shipping cost is relatively high unless you live close by.

 

Shipping Cost for this item, quantity of 1 : $45.64
To my door I think it's still a good price.

 

Can you give me a little more info about the valve and fittings you used? I'm trying to keep this cheap if I can but don't want to ruin the project trying to save a little money.

 

These things are the way to go. I bought two 35 gallon tanks with stands. You can definitly buy alot of them for the same money as a blichman of comparable size.

The plastic actually hasn't stained very brown yet from sanitization. The Lid seal Problem was an easy fix. We just cut our own red rubber gaskets between the tank and the lid. Also removing the threaded part from the tank and packing behind it with food safe silicone probably helped alot. We have had no trouble getting them to stay sealed.

On the large tanks I would recomend putting in two airlocks or high krausen will blow all your water out.

The selling point for us was how dirt cheep these tanks are. If you ever have a problem with one just throw it away and buy another.

 

2" MPT to 1" slip joint reducer, then a short piece of 1" PVC pipe to a 1" slip joint PVC ball valve. I am going to replace this assembly with threaded fittings for ease of cleaning and add a trub/yeast catcher. Got everything at Lowes and I believe it was < $10. For the racking arm I used a SS bulkhead fitting from bargainfittings.com, a 1/2" SS ball valve, a couple of short pieces of 1/2" PVC pipe with a 1/2" FPT to 1/2" slip joint adapter and a PVC 1/2" 90 degree fitting.

 

Conicals are great...

But I'm jealous at the simplicity of your conical stand.
We down here have to go to more elaborate methods...

Dallas summer
Lowest temp 80+
High all week 105+

 

I have a few of the thirty five gallon conicals and they have worked awesome for us. I would remcomend some silicone in the lid as mentioned. I also once the lid is closed wrap the seam in electrical tape to ensure I don't have trouble. The little airlocks that have water in them are a waist of time on a tank this size. Just run a line down into a bucket of water. If we put a half batch in one ferment or it ends up so full that we get a lot of foam through the bucket too. Cheap casters frog harbor freight are also a must!