New Fermenter Shopping

[Willy]

Spike redesigned the gasket making it slightly thicker and bidirectional. It can no longer be installed upside down. If you have the "Old Style Gasket", contact Spike Brewing Customer Experience. Customer Experience will mail you the "New Style Gasket" free of charge.

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Here's a video on how to properly install the lid gasket. Jump to 2:50

 

[Nagorg]

To the OP..

I have my CF10 inside a 21 CF Frigidare upright freezer. I picked it up used for ~$300. Much cheaper than a glycol setup!

It works great. I did have to cut off the plastic shelf thing that was attached to the inside of the door so that the CF10 would fit without having to rotate it at an angle. But even that was easy. I then sprayed a coat of liquid rubber on the inside of the door.

I know the bottom looks "nast" but its rust from years us use and the related condensation from cold crashing in this thing. I also have a Half-Barrel SS Brewtank Chronical BME edition and that's what has been in this freezer over the years until now.

One of these days I need to sand the inside and apply some new appliance paint to pretty it up again.

 

[johnsonpvb17]

I've been happy with this solution along with an ice chest for one gallon jugs of ice, jacket, and the GF pressure transfer kit.

Grainfather GF30 Conical Fermenter for Homebrew

I certainly can't blame it for the shortcomings in my brews. It's super easy to control the temperature profiles and clean up, and looks great in the kitchen area.

 

[Mutt98]

To the OP..

I have my CF10 inside a 21 CF Frigidare upright freezer. I picked it up used for ~$300. Much cheaper than a glycol setup!

It works great. I did have to cut off the plastic shelf thing that was attached to the inside of the door so that the CF10 would fit without having to rotate it at an angle. But even that was easy. I then sprayed a coat of liquid rubber on the inside of the door.

I know the bottom looks "nast" but its rust from years us use and the related condensation from cold crashing in this thing. I also have a Half-Barrel SS Brewtank Chronical BME edition and that's what has been in this freezer over the years until now.

One of these days I need to sand the inside and apply some new appliance paint to pretty it up again.

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View attachment 861752

Man, I just hate to have such a pretty fermenter hidden away in a freezer. I’ve just started using an old chest freezer as a ferm chamber and it does hold rock solid temps though. It’s just too big for what I want to do with my space. I’m still pondering and waiting to see what happens on Black Friday.

 

[Nagorg]

I just hate to have such a pretty fermenter hidden away in a freezer.

If showing off the bling is a goal, then look for a commercial refrigerator with a glass door like @Bobby_M suggested. This will cost more but still likely less than a glycol setup and it would be less troublesome too.

You might look for some online auction sites where things like this often appear and save some money. I just wanted to control my temps so the upright freezer is perfect for that.

The bling wears off after some time of use unless you meticulously keep the exterior polished. My conical is a tool, not a showpiece.

 

[Bobby_M]

If showing off the bling is a goal, then look for a commercial refrigerator with a glass door like @Bobby_M suggested. This will cost more but still likely less than a glycol setup and it would be less troublesome too.

You might look for some online auction sites where things like this often appear and save some money. I just wanted to control my temps so the upright freezer is perfect for that.

The bling wears off after some time of use unless you meticulously keep the exterior polished. My conical is a tool, not a showpiece.

Facebook marketplace is the spot for this. Either glass front merchandiser fridges or large residential wine bottle chillers...

 

[Mutt98]

If showing off the bling is a goal, then look for a commercial refrigerator with a glass door like @Bobby_M suggested. This will cost more but still likely less than a glycol setup and it would be less troublesome too.

You might look for some online auction sites where things like this often appear and save some money. I just wanted to control my temps so the upright freezer is perfect for that.

The bling wears off after some time of use unless you meticulously keep the exterior polished. My conical is a tool, not a showpiece.

Oh, I totally understand. I just think all that stainless is so pretty!!

 

[Nagorg]

I just think all that stainless is so pretty!!

That is is... And I'll say that my Spike CF10 shined like a mirror when I received it!

The underside of the lid:

The inside of the conical:

 

[jmstone617]

if you ultimately decide on the X3, are you getting the benefit of a fermenter like this if you are just going to put it in a fridge? If you end up going that way, you could just get the spike without the coil and then the whole set up comes a good bit cheaper.

 

[Bobby_M]

The X3's stainless glycol jacket and neoprene jacket that is included in the price would be "wasted" in a fridge, but if the TC closure on the lid is what you really like about it, no big deal. I would just recommend capping the lower port of the glycol feed and filling the gap with water to better transfer heat. You could also go for an SSbrewtech 1st GEN unitank and replace the lid with one that doesn't have the coil attached.

 

[BrewingMN]

I've been happy with this solution along with an ice chest for one gallon jugs of ice, jacket, and the GF pressure transfer kit.

Grainfather GF30 Conical Fermenter for Homebrew

I certainly can't blame it for the shortcomings in my brews. It's super easy to control the temperature profiles and clean up, and looks great in the kitchen area.

Have you had any GF 30 controller issues? A replacement controller just froze on me yesterday. I’m trying to learn if GF has fixed this pain point.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

It's interesting to read this stuff.

I went through a phase where I was looking at conicals, and I finally ended up with a small fridge, a temperature controller, and 6-gallon Torpedo kegs as fermenters. If I took the conical route, I'd have to chill my fermenter, and I would only be able to ferment one beer at a time. And the PITA factor would be immense.

I don't secondary because it seems to be a total waste of time. Now that we have floating dip tubes, I transfer the beer off the trub when fermentation is over. When I clean my empty serving kegs, there is virtually nothing on the bottom except a little clear gummy residue, so my beer can't be suffering from sitting on trub.

Closed transfers to serving kegs are a breeze, and I keep the sanitizing solution and leapfrog it from keg to keg.

As for harvesting yeast, I just read that Brulosophy recommends harvesting from starters, not kegs full of used-up hops. Seems incredibly obvious, although it did not occur to me before today. That's a shame, because I just ordered a lot of yeast.