conical fermenters

[brackbrew]

Trying to decide whether it's worth it to move from two-stage glass fermentation to a conical fermenter. With that, I've noticed two kinds (essentially) of conicals are now available--stainless steel conicals by Blichmann and Heavy gauge plastic conicals from minibrew.com. I've always been a little suspicious of brewing in plastic (hence the two-stage glass I've always used) not so much because of off flavors from plastic, but because I'm worried plastic might be so easily scratched. Ideas, comments, opinions are always welcome.

BrackBREW
Primary: None
Secondary: None
Bottle-conditioning: Amber Blossom Ale
Future: Sierra Nevada Clone

 

[kilroy]

I have been brewing wine using 2 stage - Plastic Primary / glass carboy secondary, for about 6 months now. I have yet to scratch the inside of my primary, and I only use plastic spoons/stirrers etc when mixing all.

When I clean it - Dawn soap & a plastic scrubbing brush and hot water.

Like I said - I have not yet had problems, but should I scratch it - for 7 bucks I get another one, no huge deal. Also I have not experianced any flavors merging, nor colors (red & White wines)

Andrew

 

[tnlandsailor]

Like you, I don't trust plastic. Just personal preference. That means a stainless conical. But that's gonna cost some serious $$$$. If you are trying to improve your beer, can that money be spent elsewhere in your brewery to get a better result? This sort of dovetails into the thread on what are the top 5 things you can do to improve your beer.

If I had $500+ to spend in the brewery, I would first go to all grain. Then I would switch to kegging and have a killer kegging fridge with real beer faucets. Then I would either build a fermentation chiller or convert a chest freezer to control fermentation temperature. If there was any money left, I would buy a flask and stir plate to make starters. If you've done all that, maybe the conical is the next step. I think I'll stick to glass......

Prosit!