I am going to weigh mine as I put it together later. Right not, stripped without lid and any fittings but with the neoprene and heater pad it is 18 lb. Brewbuilt X2 7 gallons, no extra legs, no wheels.
I think you missed the decimal point?
Depending on the recipe - a 6.5 g should be able to handle a 5 g batch to the fermenter. Might wanna use some foam "chill" drops. Can't recall the name. Been doing 5 g in 6.5 corny with no problems but all lower ABV recipes (5.5% or less).
With the bottom fittings on- 30.6 lbs This includes an elbow and sight glass which are 34 oz. Also thermowell, racking cane, and gas stone.
So, it could be a mere 18 pounds to carry to the sink except you gotta keep the bottom fittings (elbow, butterfly valve) on, so a bit more weight semi-stripped. Not so heavy that CIP is necessary, yes?
I understand. Moving full glass fermenters was ordinary for me until I got a Spike Flex+. Now I only carry full kegs (and the empty fermenter.)
Oh, I thought you were referring to your Brew Bucket! Ok but that's the shipping weight, also useful to the OP but not the actual weight. SS Brewtech states a weight of 32lbs for a Chronical 2 assembled (7 gallon). Is that the Chronical you have? SS Brewtech provides a fair number of accessories too but I would say that's still a little underestimated. If you have a decent human scale you could weigh you while holding the conical and then without. The X2 feet just fit on mine and then I was able to weigh parts on my grain scale.
Yes, it could be just 18lbs to the sink. I can handle mine fine at 30.6 and will be soaking it freestanding. I could clean in the sink with it standing up technically but it's easier in the driveway. Plus my fermentation control panel is a short distance directly across from the sink which is a pinchpoint walking through. If you click my profile then the Media tab, that's my current setup. Sink is out of sight left. (It's a basic plastic laundry sink w/a demo'ed bathroom vanity next to it. Butt-ugly and always a disaster area!) Using an extra hose and ball lock jumper to pump wort from far right BK to the leftmost fermenter and the ones between. Package to kegs, take the fermenter lid off. Move X2 to floor, soak in driveway. Strip remaining fittings, wash in sink. Stripped fermenter back on table, reassemble X2. The 14 gallon is on wheels and leg extensions. Too big for my sink! I am only just brewing my first batch now in it. I'm not trying to push a conical here either, just providing a detailed example for comparison.
Wow, that's quite a rig. You've got stuff there that I can't even say what it is!
That works for you, which is great. OP may need to use a different method, of course.
Thanks! I mean I can clean in the sink, it's not as tight as my keggles. But yeah, definitely individual specific.
I’ll let SHO answer the question if he wants to but he’s not inflating the weight of his fermenter. The shipping weight is the actual weight of the unit, it’s an incredibly well built pro-level product. FYI the 10 gallon size is 158lbs which is why I made the earlier comment about some conicals approaching 200lbs when they are all kitted out with multiple butterfly valves, stainless blowoff tube, PRV etc. It’s great to see that the consumer grade stuff is lighter though, that allows a lot more flexibility in cleaning etc.
Yeah, maybe I shouldn't start with something quite like that yet. Not that I wouldn't want to.
Shoengine mentioned to me in an older private message that he has a Brew Bucket and Chronical. The wording in the post he responded to made me think it was the Bucket weight, but rereading I see it was the conical he was referring to.
"There are almost as many ways to brew as there are Homebrewers."
I'm disabled and have to adhere to some pretty strict ergonomics and even then I tend to do things that my body should not be doing...one of the things is handling heavy loads. My favourite fermenters are my Fermonsters and Sankes. Like in @Hunky 's picture, I have a smallish laundry sink that I do many brewing tasks in....to the left of mine is my washing machine and I've taken my full-sized and heavy all steel 15.5G sanke, set it on a sponge pad on my washing machine, poured sterilized water in and swished it around to tilt it over and harvest yeast in a pitcher in the laundry tub, and then proceded to wash it out with a hose (followed by PBW soak and more rinsing) in the laundry tub. My physical bar is very low so if I can do it, most others can.
.....just sayin'...but I think we've given the OP a dizzying array of options!
My personal recommendation is still: Start Cheap and see what you can do (with my own bias toward sanke's with no extra attachment other than a head with a floating diptube) and see how you feel with it. (Biased side note: Poly top/bottom kegs are really lightwieght and easy to handle.)
Something about how you wrote that reminded me so much of why I like the Spike Flex +. I’ve got bigger fancier conicals but I really think the flex hits the sweet spot for price, functionality, weight, features etc. I have read that the old lid seals were a little difficult but I have the newer seal and have never had a problem with mine. The only negative is the lack of a bottom dump valve but a lot of people with conicals never use that anyway. As you mentioned earlier there are even other ways to harvest yeast. Yes you need a bottom valve for CIP, but you don’t need CIP with something light and small enough to lift into a sink and clean with a 2 minute sponge wash. I know Spike has them in their bargain cave from time to time and they come up used a lot in the $4-600 range. Maybe a private sale from the lower 48 with shipping is a possibility?
Ah, I was wondering where that came from. I do have those but I also have a Brewers Hardware 8 gal. Cleaning is a cinch but without a drain is a bit more onerous. CIP would be great but would probably take me than the 15 minutes it takes me to clean currently.
Aha and one of those too. OK got it!!
I have a friend here that has a couple Vevors. They ship free from Amazon to here.. for around $168. The Anvil bucket ships for around $220 plus (186 plus 24 shipping plus sales tax) - sometimes if watched, one can find perhaps a bit cheaper deals. I wasn't sure about the quality of the Vevor.. thinking it was a knockoff. But if built by SS, then perhaps it is in the running. 3/4" bottom drain.. have to probably spray hose it and get the trub in suspension before draining it thru that.. or else tip it to the sink or driveway. One caveat:
I do have a good floating dip tube setup but haven't used it yet.. and I have the Cold Crash Guardian. I usually just pour my dry yeast into the wort, but your method could get me doing starters. I'm usually a bit afraid of shippng liquid yeast up here.. you should see what happens to chocolate bars if shipped in the summer, or back when wine clubs would ship here (they used UPS which worked but switched to FedEx which doesn't - they won't ship here anymore). Pic shows corks forced out by freezing I guess.
Just seconding everything @Whisky River said.
You'll be fine with a 1.5" bottom port.
For me the weight of the conical isn't an issue, I haven't weighed it but I don't think it is much heavier than a empty corny keg and I think it's lighter than a glass carboy, maybe I should weigh it. Mine is a 7 gal. SS Brewtech, with no jacket, basically what I would call their "intro" version.
I weighed my 1/4 slim. No ball lock adapter or any accessories. 18.7lbs. so twice the weight as a corny. Still very manageable while empty compared to other options. Just sucks to lift when full
When I make purchases, even small ones, I look at the overall costs (including shipping) along with the stability of the company.
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