Cash in Pocket looking to upgrade.

[2BitBBQ]

I have some cash to spend and am looking to upgrade my fermenters. Using 5 gal carboys at the moment but would like to go bigger. With the amount I have I can by a fairly nice 27gal SS conical plus stand and attachments. Or I can buy several 10-30 gallon plastic ones and would be able to do more variety. with decent quantities or one large batch.

Two questions:

What would you recommend?

Is the a noticeable difference in brewing quality between plastic and SS?

Thanks

 

[mrduna01]

Or you could buy 1,000 plastic buckets and call it a day. but seriously if I had the money you can't beat stainless. When cared for properly stainless will last a lifetime. Plastic will not.

So many beers... so little time.

 

[mrduna01]

Oh and there is no difference in quality of beer from stainless vs plastic, only longevity.

So many beers... so little time.

 

[SavoryChef]

I have two 15 gallon plastic conicals and one 30 gallon and love them. Total cost around $1000 for everything, fitted with ss tri clamp and butterfly valves. Then of course you need stand up freezers to put them in.

 

[fpweeks]

I just replaced my plastic conical with two brewhemoths. My biggest issue with the plastic was that there are extra ridges, lips, nooks , crannies, etc that you must be diligent about cleaning after watch batch.

Personally if you have the cash available go for the best out of the gate. I wish I had. In the end I spent quite a bit on the plasti conical by the time I was done.....that cash would have covered a hunk if the brewhemoths I just bought two years later.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Beergnomes]

I have a conical stainless from more beer that does everything but wipe my tush. The only draw back is, I have to empty it before brewing another so I spend a lot of time wishing bottling day would come so I can brew again. Still, I wouldn't trade it. Remember though, if you get a unit that heats and cools you can't use that cooling feature if you're not going to fill it. Example; my 14 gal needs 10 in before I can use cooling element. Heating works with 5 gal batch.

 

[insanim8er]

It's probably not the advice you're looking for, but I ferment in some cheap ass $25 kegs. I couldn't be happier.

I know professional breweries that use 15.5 gallon kegs with a stopper and bubbler for their experimental batches.

I'd invest that money in the brewery equipment.

 

[experimike]

+1 to the comments of stainless over plastic for cleaning and durability. The yeast don't much care as long as the vessel is sanitary and the temperature is correct.

Actually I've been happy with my flock of 6.5 gallon carboys (other than lifting them!). I use CO2 to push the beer into kegs and it is so easy.

I suppose some further information is needed.

Do you do big batches of the same beer? Or do you do lots of 5 gallon batches to enjoy variety?

I do the latter and it is nice to have several different batches in the pipeline. I also do split batches so I can test different yeast strains or flavor additions. My fermenting "cellar" has 5 different ale chambers - each individually temperature controlled to +/- 1 *F, a lager chamber. and a cold crash/lagering chamber at 30*F. Gives me the option for volume or variety.

A bigger fermenter would be nicer if you make fewer but larger batches of the same beer. Of course, a 27 gallon SS conical takes up quite a bit of room and moving it around could b a challenge. Wheels seems like a useful accessory.

BTW, when I make a starter, I make it a little larger (2 stage) and reserve some of the yeast for the next use. I never reuse yeast from a fermentation. Using this process my yeast sees minimal trub and no hops debris so it is cleaner and healthier. That way I don't worry about harvesting from the fermenter. Harvesting yeast seems to be a selling point for conicals. So there are options on yeast processing.