MINIBREW.com?

[LILJONNYWV]

What do you all think about these conical fermenters from minibrew.com?

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

My second batch is in mine now. I really like it. It’s not perfect and it’s no SS conical but for 1/2 the price it is what it is! A few things that I think could be improved.

1st the plastic transition pieces between the fermenter and valves. When I cleaned mine with boiling water the plastic deformed. It should be rated for higher temps like the conical itself.
http://www.minibrew.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=11&products_id=44

2nd the conical seems to be made of heavy enough plastic that with the lid gasket I don’t see why they can’t be pressurized with a clamping system for a screw on lid. When my current batch is ready I think I may used some of my woodworking clamps to secure the lid and then inject 4psi into the conical and see I can transfer under pressure to my keg.

3rd I would like to have a opening in the large enough to take samples, dryhop, or sugar additions without having to remove the entire lid.

4th the threaded ports in the conical itself. Since they are plastic ports that are melted or welded to the conical couldn’t they have metal threads with a plastic housing that is then melted to the conical. That way instead of the cheap plastic threaded pipe above we could use SS and not risk stripping the threads. You have to be very carefully with the plastic threads especially the bottom dump it gets off center very easily and I expect that I will have to change the transition piece after stripping it someday soon!

Besides that so far so good!

 

[Augie]

I have looked at these time and time again and worry about scratching it when cleaning. How tough is the plastic?

 

[TheAleMaster]

http://www.conical-fermenter.com

The 7.3 gallon SS is actually cheaper than the Mini Brew 8 gallon and comes with tri-clamps.

 

[SankePankey]

As is this one:

http://www.synergymetalworking.com/BrewingEquipment_3.html

I just recently priced all these out and decided that even though this one doesn't have a true 60 degree cone, that the price was about equal to a 15 gal minibrew. Plus, I got all tri-clamps. Mid $400s. In the mail.:rockin:

I chose this over the chinese import conical for many reasons, the most of which is that I can condition my beer in this (rated to 60 PSI). NO conical I have seen can do this.

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

I have looked at these time and time again and worry about scratching it when cleaning. How tough is the plastic?

They are thick very thick. And the plastic is not as smooth as the ale pales it’s more of a matt finish so it doesn’t scratch that easy. A few more things that I forgot about mine. I put more use into mine than most will in a year since my first beer in it was Dogfish Head 120. So I had to work the beer 3 or more times a day. This also included stirring the beer in the conical with a metal whisk a few times a day. Well the inside of the conical showed no signs of wear scratches. But the metal hardware did not hold up as well. The handle on the main dump came off. The nut and screw thread are stripped and will not stay on. On the racking port it’s about to do the same. Also since I had to clean the dumps multiple times daily they are now rusting on some areas of the dumps. So both will have to be replaced with better quality parts. Besides that I am happy with it.