Looking to get back into brewing after long haitus - Conical Fermenters?

[psymonkey]

Hello all! I've been away from brewing for a few years and gave all of my equipment to a buddy that caught the bug. That being said, I'm looking to start again, having purchased a new house with plenty of room to deal with all of the equipment which had become a problem with my better half (and me to be honest).

I noticed in looking at "deluxe" starter kits online that there are plastic conical fermenters now (maybe then too, but I never saw one).

Does anyone know if they are any good? I'll probably drop the extra 30% to buy the bulk of the equipment from the local shop rather than online just on principle, but depending on the feedback here I am thinking of forgoing Bucket/carboy and trying this out instead. I only see those online and not much feedback on them.

Here's a link to one: http://www.learntobrew.com/store/item/2yena/-_Conical_Tanks/Conical_Fermenter_6_5_Gallon.html

 

[wired247]

Ive owned them and Ive used them commercially and at home but I really have a hard time getting behind conicals for home use. Glass is just so handy for getting the last drop of beer out. With conicals you lose some beer at transfer time and you cant see the ferment. Unless you have a really big fridge you can't stick the conical fermenter in there. I suppose its nice to be like the big guys and maybe its fun to play with a racking arm but if I had my choice I'd build a brewery out of glass. I liked my stainless conical so much I sold it and bought a bunch of 6 gallon carboys.

 

[psymonkey]

That's about all I needed to hear The more I've been thinking about it since I posted, the more I was steering away from it. At first, the idea of a one-stop solution was amazing, but then I got to thinking about the enjoyment of every phase of small-batch brewing. Why cut that part of the joy out of the experience, right?

Thanks for the reply

 

[Bossbrew]

Sorry, but I disagree. I use a Minibrew 15 gallon conical, and love it. There is hardly any loss of wort on transfer (just tilt the conical as it gets close to the bottom), and they're very easy to clean and sanitize. I added wheels to mine, so it's easy to move around the brewery as needed. And no chance of breakage! Just my 2 cents...

Dave

 

[corncob]

I hate to be the one to say it....

But glass is dangerous. Think seriously about PET fermenters. If you soak with PBW to clean, and never ever scrub, you will never have infections OR go to the ER. Personally, I like to have a beer while I brew, so I put a premium on having no glass and no lifting of scalding liquids in my brewery.

 

[wired247]

I hate to be the one to say it....

But glass is dangerous. Think seriously about PET fermenters. If you soak with PBW to clean, and never ever scrub, you will never have infections OR go to the ER. Personally, I like to have a beer while I brew, so I put a premium on having no glass and no lifting of scalding liquids in my brewery.

You can drop a conical fermenter on your foot and cause a nasty bruise too. Theres any number of dumb things you "could" do but in 25 years of brewing beer I've never broken a heavy glass carboy no matter how drunk Ive been.

 

[Bossbrew]

When you've had one break...it's a scary thing... I try to only use them for extended secondary fermentations. Plus, I HATE to siphon!

Cheers!

 

[psymonkey]

I'll be careful with the glass. I picked up a 7.5 & 6 gallon glass. That's what I used before and it was fine. I did also pick up straps for carrying them, just to be safe

I probably will pick up a conical at some point, provided I find myself brewing a lot again. My wife is really interested in participating now, having learned to love great beer instead of the swill piss she drank when we met. For now I think we'll do it the old-fashioned way so it's more involved for both of us and then move to a conical as it becomes tedious.

 

[weirdboy]

I had a glass carboy explode when the blow-off tube got clogged up during fermentation. Luckily it happened while everyone was sleeping at 4am and the carboy was in the kitchen, but there were shards of glass stuck into the ceiling in the kitchen as well as the two adjoining rooms. Anyone standing in the kitchen could have been seriously injured or killed.

I stopped brewing for many years after that. I only use plastic or stainless fermenters nowadays.


That said, regarding conicals I would love to have a bunch because I like harvesting yeast, and conicals make that part of the process a lot easier. But they also make temperature control a lot harder, at least for me. On the list of things that are important to have for tasty beer, temperature control trumps yeast harvesting any day of the week, so I stick with buckets and corny kegs.

 

[psymonkey]

Wow, that's pretty crazy. If I recall correctly, my blowoff was never very active in terms of anything but gas due to the larger 7 gallon carboy and it's inherent wiggle-room. Still, that's definitely something to keep in mind and I'll keep it in a place where people aren't. Glad no one was hurt in your glass shrapnel incident.

 

[arturo7]

Temperature control is difficult with a conical. If you can solve that issue, go for it.

 

[Flomaster]

seems like you need a stand up fridge or freezer PER conical or build a cold room to house several of them.

PET Carboys > Glass Carboys

-=Jason=-

 

[rico567]

Larger scale home brewing was being discussed the last time I was in our local brewpub to hoist a few. The brewmaster, while hosing out one of his 3 bbl. fermenters, said "You'll learn more from brewing 200 5 gallon batches than you will 100 10 gallon batches." That has stuck with me.

Personally? I just use the plain old white plastic bucket, and always have. K.I.S.S. is my brewing mantra, and I try to consider it whenever I'm planning a change.

 

[psymonkey]

I was looking at a 6.5 gallon plastic conical - a.k.a five gallon batches I do like the idea of it, and can see myself getting one eventually. For now I'll be happy as can be with the good old plastic buckets and carboys. As it works out I'll have enough equipment to keep a couple batches going at all times, which will be very cool! Thanks for all the replies!

 

[SankePankey]

For the cost conscious, a 10 or15 gal corny keg is an awesome fermenter. The cone is just about ease of yeast harvesting, that's it. A 10 or 15 gal corny is very light, my 15 is easily half the weigh of my sanke fermenter and it has a rubber bottom. Just pour out the whole damn yeast cake into a glass jar and let it separate again in the fridge. Just my .02.

I'm not married to watching beer ferment. I can still smell it. The look of it has nothing to do with the final product. I understand wanting to look, but just don't need to...

My 15 gal corny was a factory second (teeny dent) and was $200. It's fully pressurizable, makes a great brite tank, secondary, serving vessel, etc... anything.

 

[simtel20]

Me and my brew partner turned around and didn't notice my almost 2-year old daughter walking towards our just chilled wort in the carboy, and she pulled the line to the plate chiller, and cracked the carboy wide open, all over the floor, all in maybe 10 seconds. I will be buying corny kegs this week to use as fermentation tanks. I don't think I can do glass again until she's in college.