Conical Fermenter Advice

[amrmedic]

Ok, I was given a bonus at work, which I was not expecting, so of course its going to my addiction er I mean hobby.

First thought is a conical fermenter. I use plastic buckets and glass carboys now and think a conical would be a great addition.

Now, which one to buy.

I have found plastic conicals like this which are relatively cheap.
http://www.minibrew.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=5

I found this on E-bay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/CONICAL-FERMENT...ultDomain_0&hash=item43a5f20452#ht_720wt_1141

Or should I go for a 7.5 gallon Blichmann?
http://www.homebrewing.org/Blichmann-Fermenator-7-Gal-Conical-Fermenter-with-NPT-Fittings_p_836.html

Now with Blichmann, its like 200 dollars more for tri clamp fittings.


I also was looking at Blichmann Brew kettles with a false bottom to replace my boil kettle and cooler MLT. But I have a 10G brew kettle with valve and pick up and the cooler MLT works great, but the kettle/mlt would be great to do step mash/decoction mashes.

Thanks for the input

BTW I have never used a conical so any advice or tips will be appreciated.

 

[StMarcos]

brewhemoth

 

[RMitch]

I always wondered...since you're draining from the bottom, what happens with the yeast cake?

 

[Benthic]

You're not draining from the bottom--you're draining from the side of the cone. So the yeast cake stays in the bottom.

Personally, before I bought a conical I would want to make sure I had a way to control the temperatures of my fermentation. So if you've got a fridge that the conical will fit into, then I'd say go with the Blichmann (of the ones you listed). But I'd rather ferment in buckets or carboys that are in a temperature controlled space, than ferment in a conical that is at the mercy of ambient temperature.

That said, I love my conical and have no regrets about buying it. Easy to use, and easy to clean.

Brian

 

[HollisBrewCo]

http://conical-fermenter.com
I have one 27 gallon blichmann i will be getting a jacketed conical from here next. Price is competitive with blichmann and the stout tanks guy is on HBT i believe

 

[RiverCityBrewer]

Personally, before I bought a conical I would want to make sure I had a way to control the temperatures of my fermentation.

Sounds like a winner to me... once you have ferm temp control, then go brewhemoth. If you want tri-clamp its the best per-dollar value around.

 

[RMitch]

You're not draining from the bottom--you're draining from the side of the cone. So the yeast cake stays in the bottom.

Personally, before I bought a conical I would want to make sure I had a way to control the temperatures of my fermentation. So if you've got a fridge that the conical will fit into, then I'd say go with the Blichmann (of the ones you listed). But I'd rather ferment in buckets or carboys that are in a temperature controlled space, than ferment in a conical that is at the mercy of ambient temperature.

That said, I love my conical and have no regrets about buying it. Easy to use, and easy to clean.

Brian

Huh? The one's I've seen have the drain spigot at the very bottom of the cone.

 

[Benthic]

Look closely at this image.

See how there's a valve at the very bottom of the cone, and then another valve about halfway up the side of the cone? You rack the beer off through the valve in the side of the cone, leaving the trub and yeast in the very bottom of the cone (between the two valves). That gets dumped or harvested via the bottom valve after the beer is gone.

This photo shows the same two valves, but from the inside of the fermenter. The one with the tube is the racking port for the beer. You can rotate the tube so that you can collect beer right down to the very top of the trub & yeast. In my experience, it works quite well.

Brian