dmcman73
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A little background: I own two Spike kettles and two SS Brewtech Chronicals (a 7 gallon and a 14 gallon) which I've been pretty happy with....I say pretty happy and you'll see why below.
Sometime ago, the guys over at Spike contacted me to see if i was interested in beta testing their new conical, I took them up on their offer and they sent out a pre-production unit. I am comparing the 14 Gallon Spike against my 14 Gallon SS Chronical. The SS Chronical I have is NOT the BME model when I first purchased it but the the upgrades I made to it (butterfly valves, installing the chilling coils through the wall of the conical, etc) brought it up to the BME they sell.
- The Spike one has a larger foot print then the SS ones. You might be asking why this matters. I have all of my conicals on a heavy duty stand and when I finish brewing, I hook up a hose from my CFC to the port on the SS. On a few occasions, I've had the SS one's tip from the weight of the hose and I've had to hold them until they were part way filled. The one from Spike has yet to tip on me and, it's actually even further from my kettles then the SS ones.
EDIT: Both the SS and Spike have almost the same foot print for the leg spacing, the body of the SS is a little narrower and taller then the Spikes (spikes is "fatter" and shorter which probably makes it a little more stable then the SS). The tipping I stated was more on my 7 gallon SS, the 14 gallon doesn't exhibit the same type of tipping issue.
- Welded ports. Since purchasing my SS conicals, I was always worried (and still am) on the durability on the welded TC port, mainly the racking port. Each time I open and close the valve on it, the entire port moves flexing the conical walls. I usually try to hold the valve and apply opposite pressure on it just before opening the valve to stop the flexing. On the Spike one's there is NO flexing at all and the bore on the Spike TC's are actually larger then the SS ones.
- Domed Lid. The SS lid has a slight advantage over the spike. The SS one has a rolled lip on it that always centers itself onto the body of the conical, no guess work, just pop it on and it will sit perfectly on the body of the conical. The Spike one is just "flat", you have to take a little more time to center it onto the body of the conical and then clamp it down with the spring band clamp. When I purchased my SS ones, they came with a single 1.5" TC ports on the lids. Later on, they came out with the ones with a single 3" TC ports. The Spike has an over sized 4 inch port in the center, perfect for using to dry hop through and to use the cooling coil they have. The Spike also has a higher dome then the SS Chronicals and there is also a 1.5" port on the spike one that I use primarily for the blow off. As I mentioned, the lid on the Spike is held on with a giant spring band clamp, think of it like an over sized TC clamp that flexes. The SS has multiple clamps that act as springs to hold the lid on. The SS ones is supposed to be safer then the Spike since if you over pressurize the Conical or your blow off tube becomes clogged, the clamps of the SS will flex to release that pressure without causing an unsafe situation. The clamp on the Spike is tight and that thing is not moving but, it's made that way to provide, I believe, 15 PSI pressure transfer. Spike
- Conical body. The Spikes have a thicker wall over the SS ones. Both look great, but, the Spike one is a bit more durable as I described earlier when describing the welded ports (flex).
- Thermowell. I hate....HATE the weldless thermowell on the SS. To be fair, I hate weldless fitting on any of my equipment especially on a Fermentor. The SS USE to have a welded thermowell (from what I was told) and I'm really not sure why they changed to the weldless. Also, and this is my own regret and fault, I drilled out the body of the SS conicals to install their cooling coils through the body, the same way they have their Brewmaster models so now there is an additional piece on my concials that are weldless fittings.
- Valves. The Spikes come with Butterfly valves out of the box. The SS ones (unless you purchase the Brewmaster edition) comes with ball valves. Most won't care, but a good majority do not like ball valves on their fermenters because of the amount of time needed to properly clean them and sanitize (you really have to dismantle them to clean them well). Butterfly valves are dead simple and quick to clean and sanitize (nothing to take apart). If you choose the SS one, either purchase the BME unit that comes with butterfly valves or purchase after market ones as an upgrade (like I did).
Now, SS came out with a Uni model that looks bad ass, is completely sealed (one piece) and the only access into it is a large TC port at the top (which might make cleaning a bit of a pain), looks to have all welded fittings and supports a cooling coil that mounts from the top of the dome just like the Spike model. It also has three TC fittings on the top VS the two on the Spike units. I haven't used this model since the price of it is way out of my budget, around $999. Spike is selling their 14 gallon conicals for around $625 and perform like Unitank type conicals because of their spring band clamp that locks their lid on tight. A true unitank Is one that's made out of one piece (hence the name Uni), no lids, which allows higher working pressures.
Both Spike and the SS ferment beer perfectly and have the options for temp control. The spike ones are a little easier to clean and sanitize over the SS Chronicals since it has all welded fittings whereas you need to dismantle the weldless fittings on the SS to clean and sanitize it properly. Both come "ready to use" out of the box. If you go with the BME model of the SS, you can get it at basically the same price (and similar features) as the Spike conical plus Spike temp control coil (the spike coil is sold separately where as the BME model from SS comes with it). The downside to the BME model (as I mentioned my hate for weldless and my regret for setting mine up like this) is that the coils are mounted through the wall of the conical in a weldless fashion and you have to "unbolt" the coils to really clean and sanitize it properly. Currently, SS has available an add on temp controller and pump to complete the temp control setup (it's sold separate) and Spike is still developing their controller and pump (still not available). I built my own controller and pump for a lot less money.
I hope this was helpful!
Sometime ago, the guys over at Spike contacted me to see if i was interested in beta testing their new conical, I took them up on their offer and they sent out a pre-production unit. I am comparing the 14 Gallon Spike against my 14 Gallon SS Chronical. The SS Chronical I have is NOT the BME model when I first purchased it but the the upgrades I made to it (butterfly valves, installing the chilling coils through the wall of the conical, etc) brought it up to the BME they sell.
- The Spike one has a larger foot print then the SS ones. You might be asking why this matters. I have all of my conicals on a heavy duty stand and when I finish brewing, I hook up a hose from my CFC to the port on the SS. On a few occasions, I've had the SS one's tip from the weight of the hose and I've had to hold them until they were part way filled. The one from Spike has yet to tip on me and, it's actually even further from my kettles then the SS ones.
EDIT: Both the SS and Spike have almost the same foot print for the leg spacing, the body of the SS is a little narrower and taller then the Spikes (spikes is "fatter" and shorter which probably makes it a little more stable then the SS). The tipping I stated was more on my 7 gallon SS, the 14 gallon doesn't exhibit the same type of tipping issue.
- Welded ports. Since purchasing my SS conicals, I was always worried (and still am) on the durability on the welded TC port, mainly the racking port. Each time I open and close the valve on it, the entire port moves flexing the conical walls. I usually try to hold the valve and apply opposite pressure on it just before opening the valve to stop the flexing. On the Spike one's there is NO flexing at all and the bore on the Spike TC's are actually larger then the SS ones.
- Domed Lid. The SS lid has a slight advantage over the spike. The SS one has a rolled lip on it that always centers itself onto the body of the conical, no guess work, just pop it on and it will sit perfectly on the body of the conical. The Spike one is just "flat", you have to take a little more time to center it onto the body of the conical and then clamp it down with the spring band clamp. When I purchased my SS ones, they came with a single 1.5" TC ports on the lids. Later on, they came out with the ones with a single 3" TC ports. The Spike has an over sized 4 inch port in the center, perfect for using to dry hop through and to use the cooling coil they have. The Spike also has a higher dome then the SS Chronicals and there is also a 1.5" port on the spike one that I use primarily for the blow off. As I mentioned, the lid on the Spike is held on with a giant spring band clamp, think of it like an over sized TC clamp that flexes. The SS has multiple clamps that act as springs to hold the lid on. The SS ones is supposed to be safer then the Spike since if you over pressurize the Conical or your blow off tube becomes clogged, the clamps of the SS will flex to release that pressure without causing an unsafe situation. The clamp on the Spike is tight and that thing is not moving but, it's made that way to provide, I believe, 15 PSI pressure transfer. Spike
- Conical body. The Spikes have a thicker wall over the SS ones. Both look great, but, the Spike one is a bit more durable as I described earlier when describing the welded ports (flex).
- Thermowell. I hate....HATE the weldless thermowell on the SS. To be fair, I hate weldless fitting on any of my equipment especially on a Fermentor. The SS USE to have a welded thermowell (from what I was told) and I'm really not sure why they changed to the weldless. Also, and this is my own regret and fault, I drilled out the body of the SS conicals to install their cooling coils through the body, the same way they have their Brewmaster models so now there is an additional piece on my concials that are weldless fittings.
- Valves. The Spikes come with Butterfly valves out of the box. The SS ones (unless you purchase the Brewmaster edition) comes with ball valves. Most won't care, but a good majority do not like ball valves on their fermenters because of the amount of time needed to properly clean them and sanitize (you really have to dismantle them to clean them well). Butterfly valves are dead simple and quick to clean and sanitize (nothing to take apart). If you choose the SS one, either purchase the BME unit that comes with butterfly valves or purchase after market ones as an upgrade (like I did).
Now, SS came out with a Uni model that looks bad ass, is completely sealed (one piece) and the only access into it is a large TC port at the top (which might make cleaning a bit of a pain), looks to have all welded fittings and supports a cooling coil that mounts from the top of the dome just like the Spike model. It also has three TC fittings on the top VS the two on the Spike units. I haven't used this model since the price of it is way out of my budget, around $999. Spike is selling their 14 gallon conicals for around $625 and perform like Unitank type conicals because of their spring band clamp that locks their lid on tight. A true unitank Is one that's made out of one piece (hence the name Uni), no lids, which allows higher working pressures.
Both Spike and the SS ferment beer perfectly and have the options for temp control. The spike ones are a little easier to clean and sanitize over the SS Chronicals since it has all welded fittings whereas you need to dismantle the weldless fittings on the SS to clean and sanitize it properly. Both come "ready to use" out of the box. If you go with the BME model of the SS, you can get it at basically the same price (and similar features) as the Spike conical plus Spike temp control coil (the spike coil is sold separately where as the BME model from SS comes with it). The downside to the BME model (as I mentioned my hate for weldless and my regret for setting mine up like this) is that the coils are mounted through the wall of the conical in a weldless fashion and you have to "unbolt" the coils to really clean and sanitize it properly. Currently, SS has available an add on temp controller and pump to complete the temp control setup (it's sold separate) and Spike is still developing their controller and pump (still not available). I built my own controller and pump for a lot less money.
I hope this was helpful!
. What would you say the minimum dimensional requirements for your CF10 setup would be for a cool box (width and depth)? Turbo Air make a 27"W x 66-7/8"H model which I think has an inside width of 23" and depth of 21-7/8" -- is that enough? Also, how did you make/procure that gorgeous signage at the top of the unit?
