Conical for Christmas--Help Please

[Skipper74]

I would really appreciate some advice for someone who has experience with conical fermenters.

My very generous wife surprised me with a 7.3 stainless conical from Stout Tanks and Kettles for Christmas. Unfortunately, I have no experience with conicals. I brew outside using BIAB in a ten gallon kettle and ferment in my basement, which has no sink. Currently, after cooling the wort, I dump it into a bucket fermenter, lug it to basement to ferment, then lug it back upstairs in a few weeks to rack to keg or bottle. It seems to me that the conical may not work for me, as I will have to figure out a way to get the wort to the conical, then rack in the basement. I think cleaning may be complicated by the lack of a sink in the basement. Unfortunately, under this scenario, I am not sure if the conical will provide any advantages to me, or if it will just end up creating extra work. Is there something I am missing? I am afraid that I am going to need to try to return this awesome gift, which I'd rather not do if there is any way to make it work. Any suggestions?

 

[Doongie]

Cleaning it without hauling it to have access to a sink drain seems to be the biggest issue. Removing trub through the bottom valve before racking should help make cleanup much easier though.

I believe I would be finding a way to enjoy the labors of hauling 5 gallon buckets of cleanser and rinse water.... The cleanser doesn't need to be a full 5 gal, a toilet brush or something similar helps. Rinse water can be collected in the cleanser bucket after the cleaning is finished, or a 3rd empty bucket so it can be used for a second rinse. Fittings can then be removed and soaked elsewhere. Sounds like maybe a couple extra trips up and down the stairs, and hauling a couple gallons of water and cleanser.

I use a spray bottle for sanitizer, so that is a non issue to me in terms of volume for hauling.

I got a Blichmann hop Blocker for Christmas. It is designed to be used in a kettle with a drain valve, which mine does not have. You can bank on it, I will be finding a way to use it, particularly since it was given to me by my wife. Even if I have to spend a few bucks and put a valve in my kettle.

My 2 cents.

 

[PintoBean]

Assuming your water comes into your basement, tee off the line somewhere and install a cheap wash basin sink. You would also have to tee into your drain stack, which I also assume runs into your basement.

Or, do what I do. I clean my conical in my back bedroom. I bought a spray ball that goes in the top tri-clamp fitting on my conical. Then I make a bucket of hot pbw, and use a pond pump with garden hose to pump into the spray ball. I place the bucket beneath the bottom dump valve so it just circulates. Works great, and no scrubbing involved. I then switch the bucket out for one with clean water for a rinse, then add a little iodophor to the rinse water to sanitize for storage. Next brew day I just open her up and give a quick spray down with star san and I'm good to go.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[PintoBean]

Like this...

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[Skipper74]

Thank you very much, to both of you. It looks like I can make this work pretty well using some of these suggestions. I have now started to look the fermenter over and two questions immediately arise:

1. The side outlet on my fermenter has a hose barb clamped to it. There is no valve that I can see. How do I seal off the side outlet while the wort is fermenting?

2. My conical does not have the extension legs that Pintobean uses. As a result, I could not imagine how to get a bucket under the bottom dump valve, other than a very shallow pan. Does anyone use a conical without the extension legs, or are they (or some other type of stand to increase the height) a must?

Again, I really appreciate the info, as you saved me from returning this out of frustration.

 

[Skipper74]

I am an idiot and after staring at the fermenter for several minutes, I just answered Question #1 myself. The two butterfly valves were both on the bottom dump valve for shipping. I moved one of them to the side port and now that issue is resolved. Of course, now I also have more room to get a bucket in under the dump valve. Although it leads me to another question--without the extension legs, the side port of the conical is much lower than the corny into which I will eventually be racking the beer. I assume that I need to get extension legs or build a stand to get the conical higher than the corny for racking purposes?

 

[Doctor_M]

I don't know stout conicals inside and out but Google transferring the beer to the keg using pressure. Depending on how your conical is designed it may require slight modifications. When I say pressure I mean 3-5 psi max.

 

[slarkin712]

I have that same conical from Stout. Cleaning it has not been a problem for me. I ferment in the basement in a fridge. When finished I rack to a keg from inside the fridge, as the valve is just high enough. That is gonna be a problem for you. You'll definitely need some leg extensions, or transfer the beer with c02 pressure. I'm going to add a sight glass to the dump outlet, so I need to raise the conical up higher through some kind of leg extension. I think I'm just going to get a 4x4 and drill large holes into the top. Or build a 2x2 surrounded by 2x4's. Either way should works.
As far as cleaning, after the beer is racked and the trub dumped out the conical is not very heavy. I move mine up to my sink in the kitchen and clean it there. It comes off the stand and fit nicely into the sink.

 

[maurof78]

Ha, that is funny. I have the same "problem" as you. I also received a 7gal conical for Christmas. I have been trying to see how I can make it work. I am used to the ease of using plastic buckets. The conical fermenter looks really cool. Hopefully it's better in the long run. I like the spray ball idea for cleaning. Thanks for the idea. Maybe I can give that a try.

How about temperature control? Will the FermWraps work on these?

Also, just wondering.. Would a 14gal conical be a better choice to be able to do 5 and 10 gal batches? I see that it does not cost much more.

Thanks!

 

[Skipper74]

Cool, sounds like we're in the same boat. Everyone's help has been awesome, helped me to see this can work. I am having trouble figuring out how to pressurize the Stout Tanks conical in order to transfer the wort to a keg, as there is no valve on the lid. I have not found anything online that is specific to the Stout Tanks. Has anyone successfully transferred under pressure using this fermenter?

 

[Doctor_M]

Cool, sounds like we're in the same boat. Everyone's help has been awesome, helped me to see this can work. I am having trouble figuring out how to pressurize the Stout Tanks conical in order to transfer the wort to a keg, as there is no valve on the lid. I have not found anything online that is specific to the Stout Tanks. Has anyone successfully transferred under pressure using this fermenter?

I'll look into it a bit tonight and tomorrow, I've seen mention of people doing it with your size conical from stout but no specifics. That being said if you go on their website they sell their 14.5s with a barb on the lid. I would suggest you call them and ask if maybe they can sell you a lid with a barb already welded on. Hang in there you'll get it figured out and in the end you'll really be able to fully appreciate this awesome gift your wife has gotten you!

 

[Skipper74]

I exchanged emails with the owner and it sounds like a pressurized transfer is not possible without some creative modification of the lid, which is probably beyond my capability. I think I likely will build some type of stand to do a gravity transfer..

 

[Doctor_M]

I exchanged emails with the owner and it sounds like a pressurized transfer is not possible without some creative modification of the lid, which is probably beyond my capability. I think I likely will build some type of stand to do a gravity transfer..

Did he say it was because of sealing problems? If it's because they won't sell you a lid I'm sure one of the vendors on here that deal with stainless steel could weld a barb on the lid for you.

 

[Skipper74]

Did he say it was because of sealing problems? If it's because they won't sell you a lid I'm sure one of the vendors on here that deal with stainless steel could weld a barb on the lid for you.

He said that the transfer would be possible, IF I could figure out a way to get a barb in place. I guess that means he does not have a way to do it. I think rather than try to get a custom lid, I will build a simple stand to raise the fermenter as much as necessary for the gravity transfer.

 

[Doctor_M]

He said that the transfer would be possible, IF I could figure out a way to get a barb in place. I guess that means he does not have a way to do it. I think rather than try to get a custom lid, I will build a simple stand to raise the fermenter as much as necessary for the gravity transfer.

Gotcha and I understand not wanting to go the custom route. Now get to brewing and fill that bad boy up! :rockin:

 

[Snausages01]

He said that the transfer would be possible, IF I could figure out a way to get a barb in place. I guess that means he does not have a way to do it. I think rather than try to get a custom lid, I will build a simple stand to raise the fermenter as much as necessary for the gravity transfer.

Remove the airlock. Get another stopper (or use the one the airlock is pushed into) and just push a barb fitting into it and push in the hole in the lid. Now you are setup for pressurized transfers.

 

[Skipper74]

So I decided that I would keep my conical on top of a table in order to raise it up enough to do a gravity transfer. While positioning the table in my basement where I ferment, I noticed the FIOS cable running up the wall into into the garage where I brew. It occurred to me that I could drill a larger hole and insert a PVC pipe to act as a conduit to the garage. After some testing, I drilled a hole for a 3/4 inch PVC pipe, which I caulked into place. The pipe is just wide enough for the 1/2 inch vinyl tubing attached to my auto siphon. I then bought a 25-foot length of tubing, which I attached to the siphon. Now, after I chill my wort in the garage, I can simply run the auto siphon tubing from my brew kettle, through the conduit, and into the conical in the basement and siphon the chilled wort directly into the conical. Problem solved--no more hauling 5-6 gallons of wort down the stairs and I don't even have to hoist it up into the conical on the table.

 

[Doctor_M]

So I decided that I would keep my conical on top of a table in order to raise it up enough to do a gravity transfer. While positioning the table in my basement where I ferment, I noticed the FIOS cable running up the wall into into the garage where I brew. It occurred to me that I could drill a larger hole and insert a PVC pipe to act as a conduit to the garage. After some testing, I drilled a hole for a 3/4 inch PVC pipe, which I caulked into place. The pipe is just wide enough for the 1/2 inch vinyl tubing attached to my auto siphon. I then bought a 25-foot length of tubing, which I attached to the siphon. Now, after I chill my wort in the garage, I can simply run the auto siphon tubing from my brew kettle, through the conduit, and into the conical in the basement and siphon the chilled wort directly into the conical. Problem solved--no more hauling 5-6 gallons of wort down the stairs and I don't even have to hoist it up into the conical on the table.

:rockin:

 

[Doongie]

Now you're thinking!

 

[Skipper74]

Now you're thinking!

Thanks. I tried out the system for the first time on Saturday and it worked like a charm. Here's a few photos showing the conical, the conduit that I installed between the garage and the basement and the end result.

 

[mforsman]

How do you properly clean & sanitize that length of line?

 

[Skipper74]

How do you properly clean & sanitize that length of line?

To sanitize:

1. Remove tube from auto siphon, coil and submerge in Star San to sanitize the outside. (This may be unnecessary, but it's what I did.) Spray siphon with Star San.

2. Feed siphon tube through conduit into basement. My wife (in the basement) dunked the end of the siphon into a small container of Star San with her. I then funneled some Star San though the tube to sanitize the inside. Attach hose to sanitized siphon and you're good to go.

To clean the tube after siphoning, I simply took a bucket and emptied my wort chiller water into it, added some Oxiclean, and then siphoned the Oxyclean through the tube.