Blichmann vs morebeer conical

[MaynardX]

Thanks to my kind family and friends through christmas and birthday gifts, I recieved enough money to buy a basic 14g conical fermenter. My only problem is deciding which one to buy. Im looking to, over time, add on such things as legs and a heating and cooling system. Anyone have any suggestions on which brand would be a better buy?

 

[dmfa200]

I would go with the morebeer.
After dealing with leaky fittings a local brewery had me weld sanitary fittings into four of their 42 gallon Blichmann fermenters.
They also have two morebeer fermenters that they said, wanted me to convert the Blichmanns to be the same way the morebeer fermenters were made, with 1.5" dump port and 1" racking port.
They also had me fabricate racking arms for the Blichmann fermenters just like the morebeer fermenters use.
They are using these fermenters for test batches FYI.

Blichmann touts the weld free interior but I think their just trying to save money by not having to pay a welder and still charge a premium price. Who wants to have to disassemble and reassemble those weldless fittings every time you have to clean?

Their claim that "all" welds have cracks and porosity is BS!

If Blichmann's design is superior, then why is it that food, dairy, pharmaceutical, etc. use welded sanitary fittings in their equipment and processes?

I'm not bashing Blichmann. They do make a nice product but I think morebeer offers a closer example of a commercial size fermenter.

 

[hinke]

I went with the morebeer conical because of welded fittings and the tri-clover fittings. It's a real nice conical.

 

[MaynardX]

I was leaning towards a Morebeer myself, but my biggest concern is the upgrades, specifically adding on some sort of cooling device like a peltier cooler. Do to cash restraints, it would be something i would have to add on a year or two down the road, but i cannot find any info on it. I know you can buy a unit with a peltier already installed, but does anyone know if they sell peltiers seperatly?

 

[hinke]

I store my morebeer conical in a fridge which is temperature controlled.

Wouldn't you have the same problem with a Blichmann conical?

 

[mors]

I just bought a 14.5 gallon conical. It was between MoreBeer, Blichmann, and Stout.

When I emailed Blichmann some questions the responses I got didn't make sense. They say all sanitary welds have cracks and thus can hold infection...but they are using a threaded bolt! How do you remove this fitting without scratching anything? Seems to me even with a rubber wrench you could still scratch the inside of the fermenter or the 'nut' in the fermenter.... So I think the Blichmann fermenter fails fundamentally on design...but I do love some of their other products.

The MoreBeer ones are really nice. I was looking to get a conical and put it in an upright freezer for temperature control. The Stout conical beat out the MoreBeer one based on 2 facts. It was cheaper and it had 'better' dimensions for fitting in a freezer. The welds on the Stout fermenter are awesome. Only thing I would change about it...the lid needs a tri clamp fitting.

So basically I went with the Stout fermenter over the MoreBeer or Blichmann. If you have already ruled out Stout then I would def go with the MoreBeer conical over Blichmann.

EDIT: MoreBeer does not sell the peltier stuff as an add on. The stuff they have to do to attach them to the fermenter properly is why their temp controlled femrenters have those crazy high prices.

 

[Lennie]

Don't forget to consider Brewhemoth too.

 

[t_met]

I have the Blichmann 7 gallon. If I would do it over again, I may go to something that was welded. It's one less thing to check.

One thing that I thought I regretted, but now I'm glad I did was get the 7 gallon opposed to the 14.5 gallon. There is such a small price difference between the two, and I thought that I had made a mistake not going with the bigger one. However, in my new house I often ferment in the basement and the stairway is steep. I don't know how I would have moved the 14.5 gallon down the stairs. The 7 gallon is difficult as it is.

 

[Beer:30]

I have the Blichmann 7 gallon. If I would do it over again, I may go to something that was welded. It's one less thing to check.

One thing that I thought I regretted, but now I'm glad I did was get the 7 gallon opposed to the 14.5 gallon. There is such a small price difference between the two, and I thought that I had made a mistake not going with the bigger one. However, in my new house I often ferment in the basement and the stairway is steep. I don't know how I would have moved the 14.5 gallon down the stairs. The 7 gallon is difficult as it is.

I ferment in the basement also. I installed a pipe through my foundation wall to the back deck where I brew. I run a sanitized tube from my chiller right into the fermenter: no more stair nonsense.