Brewer's Hardware jacketed conical / unitank. Full Review

[mcl]

They may be the only homebrewing conicals with stainless jackets but Ive been using soft jackets on my stainless conicals for years.. along with silicone heating strips

BTW these conicals are available direct from china on places like alibaba from different manufacturers and resellers besides the ones mentioned above. others including myself have purchased them this way..

Do you happen to have a link. I have looked and haven’t found them. My order has been in since early summer and the delays are getting old.

 

[augiedoggy]

Problem with China is when stuff arrives after a month or so and a part is welded 15* crooked your "SOL". The customer service from Darrin and Brewers hardware has been top notch and they WILL make sure you are happy with it.

To each his own, I'm just mentioning it as an option for those who rather buy direct.
I myself, am very happy when I dont over pay for something. I know I saved just under $5,500 on the three 3.5bbl unitanks I just bought directly from the manufacturer vs going through a middleman for the same product welded by the same people. For those kind of markups I'll take my chances and hire our welder to fix a crooked weld if it somehow actually impacts functionality.. I already know I saved $4500 (no exaggeration it was literally less than $600 short of being twice the price) on my brewing kettles with accessories from the same manufacturer vs buying them from the popular american reseller and waiting 3 extra months for them. And I had no issues with them quality wise but if I did I have no reason to believe id be SOL anyways. Its really just about which point of view you take.. there are some that would rather buy a used car from a dealership and pay extra and some that dont even consider it and would rather buy directly from the original owner. they each have their benefits.

 

[augiedoggy]

Do you happen to have a link. I have looked and haven’t found them. My order has been in since early summer and the delays are getting old.

I'll look tomorrow and message you. I found these exact tanks twice before so they should still be up there unless somethings changed.

 

[effeffe]

They may be the only homebrewing conicals with stainless jackets but Ive been using soft jackets on my stainless conicals for years.. along with silicone heating strips

BTW these conicals are available direct from china on places like alibaba from different manufacturers and resellers besides the ones mentioned above. others including myself have purchased them this way..

You're right, that's another option, thanks. There is a bit less choice at the homebrewing size, but there a few options there. I have to say the pictures/descriptions are not always precise and professional though, which kinda sucks for expensive equipment.

Problem with China is when stuff arrives after a month or so and a part is welded 15* crooked your "SOL". The customer service from Darrin and Brewers hardware has been top notch and they WILL make sure you are happy with it.

Living in Europe, I guess I'm gonna be out of luck anyway if I receive some defected item, whether it's from China or USA.

Slightly off-topic: what does "15*" mean?

 

[augiedoggy]

I believe he means 15 degrees..

I totally understand and respect wanting to buy from someone who takes responsibilities to correct any issues a person might have vs taking your chances with the actual manufacturer or chinese reseller as they might not be likely to take cosmetic defects as seriously. In this hobby we all have vastly different expectations. Also to be fair I do believe if my memory serves me right, that the price that brewers hardware charges for these is actually very reasonable compared to what the sellers on alibaba wanted with customs and shipping but its been a couple years since that thread so my memory is hazy.
Keep in mind these are really supposed to be for making beer not the mancave decor many see them as. The manufacturers are used to dealing with resellers or breweries where such things are usually not as much of a priority unless its some sort of showpiece. in the early days of this kind of equipment I remember seeing pics of non sanitary weld and such but in this case we are taking about pros here that make this stuff for the vendors like the ones mentioned in this thread.

Going by the complains I sometimes see shared I think some people can be a bit petty with expectations, then again, I guess If I was paying some of the prices I see I think id want cosmetic perfection too.. but for the prices I like to pay, I just expect it to do what I need and want it to. I'll let the picky people drive up the prices for others

After just looking at options on alibaba I can see there are actually a LOT of choices for jacketed unitanks under 100 liters... most in the 60l range go for around a grand plus customs and shipping so unless your buying in bulk it may not even be worth it for one fermenter.

 

[mcl]

Thanks for looking. That echos my experience looking on my own.

 

[Elfmaze]

When I bought mine in 2014-2015(?) I did search China pretty extensively and never found a similar product. But Much has changed since then. I don't even think SS brew tech had their stuff out yet. But the one conical I was referencing was a guy I was talking to that had bought one from BH and one of the triclamps was welded so jacked up that he could hardly get the band on it. BH I think sent him a whole second unit for the trouble. Mine was good out of the box, but cemented my decision to go with BH.

 

[mcl]

I received mine last week. First run was Sunday. So far it works great. I have the glycol cooling and heating rigged in a temporary manner. I need to build a box to get it cleaned up.

 

[Steve Schmitt]

We do get some people that use our 15 gallon conical for 5-6 gallon batches, but 6 gallons usually hits at the bottom of the temperature port. So you might not be able to use the thermometer on the front, but you can clamp one of our tri clover thermowells into the lid and use a temperature probe to come in from the top for smaller batches.

Here are some volume levels for the 15 gallon conical:

• 1/4" gallon to the end of the racking arm.
• 1 gallon to the ferrule of the racking arm.
• 4 gallons to the top of the cone.
• 6 gallons to the bottom of the temperature port.
• 7 gallons to the top of the temperature port.

What connectors do you recommend to the input and output for the glycol lines? Looking at insulated lines and trying to figure out best way to connect hem to the conical fermenter and also the glycol chiller. I have my 15 gallon jacketed conical on order and planning out all the other components!

 

[Elfmaze]

Quick disconnects might be nice, but if you're not moving at that much it doesn't matter. I used off-the-shelf Lowe's, I believe quarter inch threaded to barb fittings. Lowe's also sold foam pipe wrap that I used to cover the lines from the cooler back to the conical. That's been working for 6 years or so

 

[Brewers Hardware]

What connectors do you recommend to the input and output for the glycol lines? Looking at insulated lines and trying to figure out best way to connect hem to the conical fermenter and also the glycol chiller. I have my 15 gallon jacketed conical on order and planning out all the other components!

What @Elfmaze said is pretty right on. The glycol ports are 1/4" Female NPT so you could do quick disconnects or just a 1/4" Male NPT x barb will work.