Need fermenter suggestions, upgrading

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Wyobrew22

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Last year a buddy and I split the cost of building an all electric BIAbasket system. Worked very well but I ended up contaminating my old plastic fermenters when I tried to do 6 batches in a rush at the end of my brewing season. I need at least two and still have my cheap anvil stainless fermenter. For various reasons I can’t do a fermentation chamber setup, I usually control temp by keeping water in my old brew kettle at a specific temp and this has worked fine up to this point. I am feeling like it might be time to upgrade but cost/benefit is hard to gauge. My setup is really only used for 5 gallon batches, it can handle brewing 10 but doesn’t work as well due to basket size and I do not foresee brewing 10 gallons really ever.
I would like a conical with heating and cooling control, a loaded spike fermenter for 5 gallons is just about $1k. Does anyone ever do this or do most just get the 14 gallon size because price isn’t that different? I have a very small apartment and move often so I like to keep my hobbies as compact as possible. The brew buckets can be set up similarly with heating and cooling but the bottom drain in a conical is a big step up and something I really think I want. Does anyone have other suggestions? Want to get away from plastic for sure. What are you using for an “ultimate” 5 gallon fermenter?
 
Do you keg or bottle? If you keg, the easiest and cheapest option is to ferment in your kegs.
 
I keg almost exclusively but I use drop in spear sanke kegs. Most of my beers I primary ferment for 2-3 weeks, crash with gelatin and send to keg. I did get 2 additional kegs yesterday for a total of 4 now.
 
If you want the temp control of a Spike CF5, you're going to have to spend more than $1k, unless you have a refrigerator in which you can place it.

I have a CF10, and it'll do both 5- and 10-gallon batches. It's not that much more in price than the CF5, which is why many choose that instead.

But there are add-ons you'll likely want. A pressure manifold for instance. You may want leg extensions, casters, and a bracing shelf. Probably a sight glass.

You'll probably want a pump, hoses, fittings and so on. Now, I suppose you could drain your BK into pitchers and pour that into the fermenter, but that's not optimal.

Some of the above can be mitigated depending on your space and available equipment. You could put a CF5 on a bench or small table or something and use that instead of legs (something made of 2x4s would work). And you don't have to have a sight glass, though it's been useful to me to be able to monitor fermentation, and many use it for gauging yeast dumps and such. But you don't *have* to have that.

How did you spec your CF5?
 
When I priced it I added the leg extensions and bracing shelf and their heat/cool setup, pretty much every available accessory except the CIP ball and the sight glass (aware I have to keep a cooler of ice water nearby to chill). I have a pump on my brew stand which is a 18x30” stainless commercial kitchen table with casters, kettle is free on top and the pump and counter flow chiller are mounted on the bottom shelf, connections are all 1.5” TC. To help clarify the brewing situation I use this setup in a commercial kitchen I run that is closed for the winter and occasionally in my apartment during the summer. I have access to water and electricity there but can’t use the various coolers and other equipment thus no fermentation chamber. The cf-5 just appeals to me because it won’t take up much space in my apartment when the setup has to be kept here rather than down in the kitchen. I just want to upgrade to something temp controlled and stainless.
 
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Sorry but can you go over what’s motivating you to shift from the water bath in the kettle? I’d still be doing that if I were doing 5G batches.
 
When I priced it I added the leg extensions and bracing shelf and their heat/cool setup, pretty much every available accessory except the CIP ball and the sight glass (aware I have to keep a cooler of ice water nearby to chill). I have a pump on my brew stand which is a 18x30” stainless commercial kitchen table with casters, kettle is free on top and the pump and counter flow chiller are mounted on the bottom shelf, connections are all 1.5” TC. To help clarify the brewing situation I use this setup in a commercial kitchen I run that is closed for the winter and occasionally in my apartment during the summer. I have access to water and electricity there but can’t use the various coolers and other equipment this no fermentation chamber. The cf-5 just appeals to me because it won’t take up much space in my apartment and when the setup has to be kept here rather than down in the kitchen. I just want to upgrade to something temp controlled and stainless.

Well, I don't know how you get it to be just about $1k with almost all the accessories....

I agree, you don't need a CIP ball more than likely. The CF5 is small enough to clean by hand.

How are you going to move wort around?
 
Sorry but can you go over what’s motivating you to shift from the water bath in the kettle? I’d still be doing that if I were doing 5G batches.

The anvil fermenter I have now has this big plastic piece to level the bottom that holds water, makes getting the fermenter out of the water bath a pain when it spills. Also, this setup takes up more space in a small bathroom in my apartment, I have to do it there because the temp varies and you have to tend to it a lot, running down to the commercial kitchen is a pain that many times to tend a water bath. I have space to set up a separate cooler for an ice bath in the commercial kitchen, I.e. with the ss brew tech cooling pump setup I can put ice in a cooler and not have to tend to fermentation temp as much and leave the setup down there. Hubby wants as much space in the apartment as possible.
 
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Well, I don't know how you get it to be just about $1k with almost all the accessories....

I agree, you don't need a CIP ball more than likely. The CF5 is small enough to clean by hand.

How are you going to move wort around?

A pump on my brew stand, it’s in a commercial kitchen I have access to for the off season.
 
The anvil fermenter I have now has this big plastic piece to level the bottom that holds water, makes getting the fermenter out of the water bath a pain when it spills. Also, this setup takes up more space in a small bathroom in my apartment, I have to do it there because the temp varies and you have to tend to it a lot, running down to the commercial kitchen is a pain that many times to tend a water bath. I have space to set up a separate cooler for an ice bath in the commercial kitchen, I.e. with the ss brew tech cooling pump setup I can put ice in a cooler and not have to tend to fermentation temp as much and leave the setup down there. Hubby wants as much space in the apartment as possible.

Thanks...that helps. Ive been trying (hard) for 2 years to convince myself it’s time to upgrade to a conical and i just haven’t been able to justify it...but they sure are shiny!

Ill keep following this in the hopes of discovering a good reason to add to my gear. Christmas is almost here! :)

I’m still using hand-me-down plastics buckets i got 6 years ago. <cone of shame> I do 15g batches and there are pro’s and con’s to the buckets.

Good luck!
 
I went with the cf5 . I got the leg extensions , racking arm , temp control kit, bracing shelf , gas manifold and I spent close to 1300.
 
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