Haven't brewed in 15 years!

[mggray87]

I'm eyeballing spikes solo kit with conical fermenter. I'm one of those people when they are set on doing something they go all out overboard. Do it right once. Well tons of ways to do it right but spend the extra money first. Or to some including myself. Waste money first lol!

I'm eyeballing the 15g spikes solo system. I've read the basket is hit or miss or actually bags are better. So instead of buying the solo system I'm thinking about building it without the basket it comes with. No hoist in my garage. Lol and doing arborfab mash basket for it. My idea would be to use that and similar to the solo system just have the silicone tube filling on top of that stainless mesh basket for entire mash and then pull it let it drain maybe filter over the top as it drains for further clarity if needed. Any ideas or direction would be great. I'm in no rush to purchase it. I want to make sure I have it all planned out first. I'm getting into this because I just finished my keezer build which will have local beers on draft but the idea to brew and keg my own instead of bottling cases of 22oz bottles really got my interest lol!

Ps. I'm glad I found this forum/community. I've read way to much the last few weeks!

Mike

 

[madscientist451]

Welcome to HBT! So looks like you have a keezer, maybe get another freezer with temperature control for a fermentation chamber? You don’t need a conical or any kind of brewing “system“ to make decent beer. But if you have cash to burn, go for it. My 2 cents is keep it simple, small and easy to clean. Get a simple mill and buckets for grain storage. The easier it is to brew and clean up, the more likely it will be that you’ll keep brewing…..

 

[mggray87]

I want to have 5g finished to keg so I was looking at the 15g spike kettle. Mill I didn't even think about. I was hoping I can order the grain milled and fresh lol

 

[mggray87]

Welcome to HBT! So looks like you have a keezer, maybe get another freezer with temperature control for a fermentation chamber? You don’t need a conical or any kind of brewing “system“ to make decent beer. But if you have cash to burn, go for it. My 2 cents is keep it simple, small and easy to clean. Get a simple mill and buckets for grain storage. The easier it is to brew and clean up, the more likely it will be that you’ll keep brewing…..

My house stays at 75* in CA summer because AC. And 68-70 in winter. That being said. I thought about that. But due to space I'd prob have to spend money on a chiller for the conical fermenter eventually.

I also read spike has the prv to pressure the conical fermenter that also helps ferment at slightly hotter temps? But for lager. Yes id have to get a chiller for the fermenter

 

[madscientist451]

Ferment in a keg for $200, way easier to clean and cheaper than a conical, and you have plenty of $ left over for a mill, grain and buckets...
https://www.morebeer.com/products/kegmenter-fermentation-keg-76-gal.htmlTo make wort for 5 gallons, an 8 gallon pot and a BIAB bag work fine.

 

[mggray87]

Ferment in a keg for $200, way easier to clean and cheaper than a conical, and you have plenty of $ left over for a mill, grain and buckets...
https://www.morebeer.com/products/kegmenter-fermentation-keg-76-gal.htmlTo make wort for 5 gallons, an 8 gallon pot and a BIAB bag work fine.

I have never seen these. Conical look badass but dam the prices are nice lol. So our of curiosity with these once it's done. Sending it to a keg how do u make sure u only get the clear beer and no junk from bottom?

I'm assuming this won't work for chilling while fermenting? Like a conical will do

 

[Dr P]

I have the SS Brewtech conical fermenter, don't use it much because I lack controls for it. I have an old dorm fridge that will handle buckets, so prefer those to be honest.

 

[Early8]

If it helps, I took about 15 years off before getting back into it 10 years ago. I went the 8 gallon pot route with a grain bag, BIAB was just getting going back then. I built a four tap keezer and bought a bunch of used corny kegs. The general idea for me was to keep it simple, as madscientist suggests. The two things that mattered most in my experience were, in order: fermentation temperature control, and rapid wort chilling.

I used my old glass carboys for fermentation and a second freezer with a RaspberryPi, Arduino, and BrewPi software for fermentation temperature control. I would say here that when I see the temperature plot that the PID control sets, it becomes immediately obvious why temp control is important. Lots of info here on all of it from the great community on Homebrewtalk.

And for what it's worth, I switched from glass to SS two years ago when I cracked a carboy and decided to up my safety and reduce oxygen exposure when transferring to kegs. I also prefer to avoid plastic, so SS bucket fermenters were the logical choice for me.

Oh, one more thing, I do have a fancy kettle now as well, and I don't use the ball valve for anything more than cleaning. I use a siphon to transfer. A simple quality pot is all I really need, unless of course you like to collect beautiful shiny hardware, in which case there are a lot of fun choices out there and this community can support that hunt as well.

 

[Dr P]

After brewing a little in college, went all grain when I entered the hobby during Covid. Have a Brewzilla 65L, can't imagine brewing on anything else as easy it makes it. Also started with glass carboys, and switched to buckets, both plastic and picked up a used Anvil SS one on marketplace. All work, buckets more friendly. The Brewzilla Gen 3's are out there at very reasonable prices, and love the 220V over the 110. My Brother in Law has the smaller unit, works the same, but that extra burner makes a big difference.

 

[apache_brew]

I have never seen these. Conical look badass but dam the prices are nice lol. So our of curiosity with these once it's done. Sending it to a keg how do u make sure u only get the clear beer and no junk from bottom?

I'm assuming this won't work for chilling while fermenting? Like a conical will do

Have never used a conical, however lots of experience fermenting with "Kegmenter" style fermenters. I built my own with a 6" TC opening. At a minimum you want to use a floating silicone dip tube with a pickup screen to siphon beer from the top. This eliminates drawing yeast cake. Secondly, you want to cold crash via refrigeration to flocculate as much as you can inside the fermenter before transferring. (Cold crashing needs pressure/vacuum considerations when doing so) Thirdly you can either fine in the keg/on the yeast cake prior to transferring, or what I do is just add bio-fine to the serving keg and transfer the finished beer onto it. If your kegs are stationary in your kegerator, you can get away with this because the fining sludge will settle to the bottom of the keg. If you need to transport finished kegs, you'll want to rack into another keg before doing so if you need crystal clear beer immediately.

Chilling, or temperature control of keg during can easily be performed by placing it inside a dedicated freezer with temperature controller like an Inkbird 308 with the probe duct taped to the side of the keg and covered with insulation.

 

[Early8]

I moved into SS Brewbuckets. If I think I have excess traub, I will simply rotate the racking valve so that the pickup is rotated to the upward position. I find this rarely happens though and generally leave the pickup in the downward position.

The SS brewbuckets are no heavier than a glass 6.5 carboy and they have folding handles. As I did previously with carboys, I put them in my 7 cubic foot freezer turned BrewPi Fermentation chamber.

One of the things l have discovered is that I can do closed transfers with the buckets. I run a gas line from the gas post to the airlock port and a liquid line to the "out" port on a purged purged keg. I can even use the pressure in the keg to purge both lines prior to the transfer.

 

[pvpeacock]

For what it's worth, I started brewing in the early '90's and quit after a few years because I hated bottling, the beer was only okay (IMO due to limitations in access grains, hops, yeast and equipment). When I got started again 20 years later, it was a whole new world of ingredients, equipment, knowledge etc. When I restarted, I dusted off my old gear and quickly discovered that it was lacking, so I bought new, but cheap gear. I wasn't sure I wanted to spend much until I was sure I really wanted to get back into it and the beer was actually good. Over time, I bought new equipment, upgraded that equipment multiple times and made a lot of mistakes in the process. Having said all that,
IF a tornado destroyed my garage brewery tomorrow (which is impossible in Southern California) and I was not concerned too much about cost, the big items I would buy to replace it would be:

• a 240v electric, computer controlled mash/kettle set up like my Grainfather G40;
• two 7 gallon temperature controlled stainless steel conical fermenters (two so you can do split batches or single 5 gallon batches);
• a glycol chiller to cool both conicals;
• a large capacity keezer with multiple taps + gas set up; and,
• a dozen corny kegs.

 

[mggray87]

For what it's worth, I started brewing in the early '90's and quit after a few years because I hated bottling, the beer was only okay (IMO due to limitations in access grains, hops, yeast and equipment). When I got started again 20 years later, it was a whole new world of ingredients, equipment, knowledge etc. When I restarted, I dusted off my old gear and quickly discovered that it was lacking, so I bought new, but cheap gear. I wasn't sure I wanted to spend much until I was sure I really wanted to get back into it and the beer was actually good. Over time, I bought new equipment, upgraded that equipment multiple times and made a lot of mistakes in the process. Having said all that,
IF a tornado destroyed my garage brewery tomorrow (which is impossible in Southern California) and I was not concerned too much about cost, the big items I would buy to replace it would be:

• a 240v electric, computer controlled mash/kettle set up like my Grainfather G40;
• two 7 gallon temperature controlled stainless steel conical fermenters (two so you can do split batches or single 5 gallon batches);
• a glycol chiller to cool both conicals;
• a large capacity keezer with multiple taps + gas set up; and,
• a dozen corny kegs.

im on the fence. i hate buying stuff and upgrading later. (my hobby of saltwater reef tank) for sure demonstrated that. I rather buy what I can upfront and save on the upgrades or having to sell used hopefully around here to get what I want. I definitely do not want to store old gear LOL. Which is why im working on a modified spike 15g solo electric and just like you said 7g conical jacketed ferms for glycol. I have my 3 tap Keezer now. I HATED bottling when i tried brewing in 2014. ill spend a few thousand upfront. hopefully I enjoy it. I definitely don't drink enough to brew all the time. but, I Have a feeling ill enjoy the making of it and will be giving away 5g kegs just to brew more. lol

also in Northern CA.. so if I don't get stung by the bug and the hobby takes off.. remember me. ill have equipment to pawn off LOLOL

 

[madscientist451]

I have never seen these. Conical look badass but dam the prices are nice lol. So our of curiosity with these once it's done. Sending it to a keg how do u make sure u only get the clear beer and no junk from bottom?

I'm assuming this won't work for chilling while fermenting? Like a conical will do

You could use floating dip tube or cut an inch or so off the existing dip tube. I use a small chest freezer with controller for temperature control and can chill/cold crash if I want to. If I'm not brewing I can use the freezer as a freezer or a cold storage for fruit and vegetables. A glycol unit for a conical would be great, but too complicated and costly for me and not as versatile as my chest freezer set up. If you are making 1/2 bbl or larger batches I would say a conical and glycol chiller would be a good option (but not the only option) but for 5 gallons at a time you just don't need it.