Cornical™ Modular Keg System

[GreatFermentations]

Hey HBT Peeps -

Bryan here from Great Fermentations. I’m a retailer of Blichmann's so I'm a bit biased on this topic, but thought I'd lend a few points/opinions on the convo. Posting dissenting comments on these threads always seems to rattle a hornets nest, so be gentle with me

1. Forget for a second that it is designed as just a corny keg with a fermentation bottom; at the end of the day, it's a Stainless Steel conical for $499. That's a pretty darn good price compared to others out there (SS Brewtech - which we sell, and Spike), and you have the added benefit of the keg portion.

2. The Cornical keg is made in Italy, the cone is MADE in the USA and assembled in the USA. The others are made in China. This used to mean something a bit more than it does today unfortunately, but this definitely helps support American industry. Just saying

3. Adding onto #1, I think the biggest advantage of the Cornical is that it ferments the way you want it. You can do the traditional rack and transfer (remember it's still just a conical fermenter), OR the fast and simple flip/switch/carbonate (the added benefit/feature of the Cornical).

4. Yes, you do carry over sediment if you flip/switch/carbonate in the keg. If you're concerned about that, use it the traditional way. Or just add finings in the keg and push out the sediment with the first pint a day or two later. It’ll take that long to carbonate anyway.

5. If you use the flip/switch/carbonate method, once you are done fermenting and moving onto carbonating, your fermentation bottom is available. For only $174.99 you can buy an additional Cornical keg, and you have yourself a second fermenter. Two stainless steel fermenters for roughly $675 vs. ~$1000 for some of the other brands.

6. Oxidation can be minimized by pressurizing the Cornical before sampling or dumping so no air is drawn in. Very simple to do on the Cornical, but more cumbersome on other conicals WHICH DRAW IN AIR WHILE DRAINING. Then when you flip, only CO2 is in the head space so there is no O2 pick-up there. Then quickly switch from the cone to the keg bottom to minimize O2 pick-up. Invert gently, then immediately pressurize and purge any O2 out of the head space.

7. Want to counter pressure from the Cornical fermenter into another Cornical keg or traditional corny keg? Simple to do with the Cornical. Difficult to do with low pressure conicals.

8. Want to push your beer through a filter into another keg? Easy to do with the Cornical since it’ll handle up to 50 PSI.

9. To wrap things up, if you’re a 10 gal batch brewer then, a 7 gal fermenter probably isn’t a good choice for you. BUT if you’re looking for an amazing 7 gal conical, or a simple solution for eliminating a transfer into another keg, or the other benefits I've listed above, the Cornical is something you should definitely consider. OR IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A KEG THAT IS SUPER EASY TO CLEAN.

Cheers!
Bryan

 

[WPStrassburg]

Has Blichmann had this assembly pressure tested and certified or are they assuming that the keg is certified so they must be good? I didn't see any stampings on the vessel anywhere and I believe anything over 15psi needs certification.

 

[jmark]

Some of those points seem reasonable although I don't really see any real advantages over a regular conical. However, I do have to counter with the following.

#3 I don't see flip/switch/carbonate as an added 'benefit'... just a way to introduce O2 into the mix
#4 No thanks... it's not just the yeast and trub from the bottom you have to worry about... your keg has also now mixed in that nice krausen line into your beer too during the flip.
#5 doesn't make sense at all... you do NOT have two fermenters - you have one bottom and two kegs... how does that add up to two fermenters?
#6 When doing a pressurized transfer you're drawing in CO2, not O2.

Does this have a market? Maybe... but personally I'd rather have a traditional conical than this. To each their own though.

 

[akthor]

I think Blichman just wanted an excuse to use the name "Cornical"

 

[crhall41]

How do you control temperature without a thermowell port? I suppose you could add one but that would likely reduce how much pressure you can apply to the cornical for transfers.

 

[akthor]

If your someone who doesn't mind the flipping over part I guess temp control is probably the last thing you're concerned with....

 

[duelerx]

How do you control temperature without a thermowell port? I suppose you could add one but that would likely reduce how much pressure you can apply to the cornical for transfers.

A friend of mine uses the Tilt for temperature and gravity control in his keg with no problems.

 

[GreatFermentations]

Some of those points seem reasonable although I don't really see any real advantages over a regular conical. However, I do have to counter with the following.

#3 I don't see flip/switch/carbonate as an added 'benefit'... just a way to introduce O2 into the mix
#4 No thanks... it's not just the yeast and trub from the bottom you have to worry about... your keg has also now mixed in that nice krausen line into your beer too during the flip.
#5 doesn't make sense at all... you do NOT have two fermenters - you have one bottom and two kegs... how does that add up to two fermenters?
#6 When doing a pressurized transfer you're drawing in CO2, not O2.

Does this have a market? Maybe... but personally I'd rather have a traditional conical than this. To each their own though.

Thanks for chiming in! It's pretty clear you don't like the idea of exposing the beer to oxygen (albeit for a short period of time). In that scenario, you are basically just comparing conicals. So, in that sense, what is the Cornical missing at that price point?

Cheers!
Bryan

 

[Stealthcruiser]

In that scenario, you are basically just comparing conicals. So, in that sense, what is the Cornical missing at that price point?

Cheers!
Bryan

A market?.....

 

[GreatFermentations]

A market?.....

Ha!

Ba Dum Tss

 

[Nate R]

Hey HBT Peeps -

Bryan here from Great Fermentations. I’m a retailer of Blichmann's so I'm a bit biased on this topic, but thought I'd lend a few points/opinions on the convo. Posting dissenting comments on these threads always seems to rattle a hornets nest, so be gentle with me

1. Forget for a second that it is designed as just a corny keg with a fermentation bottom; at the end of the day, it's a Stainless Steel conical for $499. That's a pretty darn good price compared to others out there (SS Brewtech - which we sell, and Spike), and you have the added benefit of the keg portion.

2. The Cornical keg is made in Italy, the cone is MADE in the USA and assembled in the USA. The others are made in China. This used to mean something a bit more than it does today unfortunately, but this definitely helps support American industry. Just saying

3. Adding onto #1, I think the biggest advantage of the Cornical is that it ferments the way you want it. You can do the traditional rack and transfer (remember it's still just a conical fermenter), OR the fast and simple flip/switch/carbonate (the added benefit/feature of the Cornical).

4. Yes, you do carry over sediment if you flip/switch/carbonate in the keg. If you're concerned about that, use it the traditional way. Or just add finings in the keg and push out the sediment with the first pint a day or two later. It’ll take that long to carbonate anyway.

5. If you use the flip/switch/carbonate method, once you are done fermenting and moving onto carbonating, your fermentation bottom is available. For only $174.99 you can buy an additional Cornical keg, and you have yourself a second fermenter. Two stainless steel fermenters for roughly $675 vs. ~$1000 for some of the other brands.

6. Oxidation can be minimized by pressurizing the Cornical before sampling or dumping so no air is drawn in. Very simple to do on the Cornical, but more cumbersome on other conicals WHICH DRAW IN AIR WHILE DRAINING. Then when you flip, only CO2 is in the head space so there is no O2 pick-up there. Then quickly switch from the cone to the keg bottom to minimize O2 pick-up. Invert gently, then immediately pressurize and purge any O2 out of the head space.

7. Want to counter pressure from the Cornical fermenter into another Cornical keg or traditional corny keg? Simple to do with the Cornical. Difficult to do with low pressure conicals.

8. Want to push your beer through a filter into another keg? Easy to do with the Cornical since it’ll handle up to 50 PSI.

9. To wrap things up, if you’re a 10 gal batch brewer then, a 7 gal fermenter probably isn’t a good choice for you. BUT if you’re looking for an amazing 7 gal conical, or a simple solution for eliminating a transfer into another keg, or the other benefits I've listed above, the Cornical is something you should definitely consider. OR IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A KEG THAT IS SUPER EASY TO CLEAN.

Cheers!
Bryan

Hi Bryan. New to brewing, new to this forum (posting at least. Used this to get odeas to build my keezer a while for commercial kegs).
I got the Cornical... seemed like a less expensive option since a decent stainless conical and one corny was coming up to $600 or more...

Two questions- i really like the idea of being able to "hot transfer" wort- i.e. fill it up, purge it, then let it cool before pitching. Have you heard of this?

#2- i want to ferment under pressure. I assume i need a "spunding valve" for this? If so- do you drain the trub after primary then attach spunding valve? This is the #1 reason i got the cornical- the ability to have a stainless weldless brite/unitank for $500!!

Oh- and the fact you can clean this without a bottom on it? Super easy!!

Thanks!