Carboy conical.... Maybe

[madewithchicken]

I am sure that this is either a bad idea or someone has done it before me.
***EDIT***Forgot to mention that I have NOT built this yet.

Of course You would have to either build something to hold it upside down or buy something. I just have a lot of time on my hands at work and this is what I came up with for a cheap (almost free if you already have a carboy and carboy cap) conical.

Of course when you flip it after filling it you will have beer in the racking cane. That should not be a problem. I would just unhook the hose for a second and that should get rid of most of it.

The "in-line valve" is for getting rid of the sediment of course.

 

[Brewin_Bob]

I think it would depend on how liquid-tight you could get that carboy cap. To me, it seems like the hose clamp might not be enough. But, then again, I'm not a structural/aquatic engineer. I like the idea though.

 

[PseudoChef]

Fermentap.

Guy in my club has/d it and says it doesn't work well at all, since carboy shoulders are vastly different than conical shoulders. Would really need to use Fermcap on your wort if you're prone to blowoffs, as well.

 

[ChshreCat]

Something like this?
Fermentap | Fermentap

 

[Revvy]

We were talking about this at TAFTHB Day on saturday....Someone posted a commercial version of these last Friday...and the reviews were terrible.

I'd be interested in a WORKING version of something like this, but I was wondering if there were a way to open the bottom (now top) of it and seal it like on the SS conicals...Rather than filling it from the normal mouth and flipping it.

I also thought if that were the case, I wondered if a plastic funnel could be somehow glued inside to give it a true inner conical shape to direct the yeast downward to the trub valve.


But I wouldn't trust a carboy cap to stay connected with the pressure of 5 gallons of liquid bearing down on it even with the hoseclamp...

 

[TerapinChef]

I wanted to think about using something like this as my bottling bucket...any thoughts on this?

 

[Revvy]

Here's the thread from last week...it didn't go too far...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/poor-mans-conical-fermenter-85155/

 

[madewithchicken]

I am pretty sure the hose clamp around the carboy cap will hold at first. But I am not sure the it will remain that way for weeks on end.

And the shoulders were a concern. I agree it is not the same as a conical.

May test it with water if i bother to get something to hold it upside down.

 

[madewithchicken]

Yeah that pic is pretty much what I had in mind. I prefer the glass carboys however. Which means I would have a harder time mounting the fermentation lock hose to the top like they did.

 

[Revvy]

I wanted to think about using something like this as my bottling bucket...any thoughts on this?

And here is the person and part of the conversation we had on Sat.




I think it would be an interesting idea.

 

[DuckAssassin]

Also, In the example in the "poor man's" version if the blow off got clogged, it would probably just blow out the stopper as usual. In your design if the racking cane/tube assembly got cloged the pressure would build up until either the cap/clamp assembly failed or the carboy burst. Either way, it would be ugly.

 

[Revvy]

Here's a pic of the fermcap parts...

 

[PseudoChef]

How would it be advantageous over a normal bottling bucket?

 

[Revvy]

How would it be advantageous over a normal bottling bucket?

The geek/DIY factor of course!

 

[TerapinChef]

Plus I see the process being easier with this type of setup on a taller basis to sit on the counter eliminating the need for setting my bucket up on milk crates...plus it would eliminate the need for my cool new bottling bucket pickup tube, and I feel like my glass carboys are way more sanitary than my plastic bottling bucket with it's plastic valve...

 

[knarfks]

KISS, too many worries about plastic not being sanitary. We are talking beer, not surgery.

 

[madewithchicken]

Also, In the example in the "poor man's" version if the blow off got clogged, it would probably just blow out the stopper as usual. In your design if the racking cane/tube assembly got cloged the pressure would build up until either the cap/clamp assembly failed or the carboy burst. Either way, it would be ugly.

Maybe other people have had hoses clog but I have not. Of course I have had fermentation locks clog, but if you just run the hose into a jar of clean water during the first day or two of fermentation I don't think it is likely to clog.