Should I or Shouldn't I?

[Brewpastor]

I have two stainless conicals. When I ordered the hoppers from Toledo Metal Spinning I had them fabricated so one would nest in the other, creating a single jacketed fermenter. When I set them up I decided to forget that option and went with two, non-jacketed fermenters with coils to cool. This is a PITA set-up to clean and insulate and not as effective in chilling (especially with lagers) as I had hoped. I recently replaced my lids with ones that seal better and so need to do some refabrication work on the tanks anyway. My leaning is to nest them into one unit, but I thought I would seek the wisdom of this fine and wise community. So, do I:

 

[rdwj]

If the single unit would work better, go for it. But won't that cut your production in half??

I also voter for other - send it all to me!!

 

[Fiery Sword]

The more lagering I do, the more I realize how excellent it would be to have a jacketed conical. I really only have the capacity to have one batch lagering at any given time so having a dedicated, insulated conical for this purpose alone would be amazing.

 

[dcbrewmeister]

Use them separately and consider peltier plates to cool them. More Beer is getting over $1300 for the 7.1 gal version. I found a place that has the inserts (food grade) that go into the fermenter and the peltier plates cool a lot better than what any one thinks and can be had for ~$12 for the 40x42mm version.

I'll track down the 2 links for the parts and add it in a bit.

More Beers version

Surplus Peltier - You can find a place close to you or just shop for the best deal.

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

Another option: Buy two more- one to fit on the outside of one, and the other to fit on the inside of the other. In other words, get another pair!!!!

 

[Orfy]

Another option: Buy two more- one to fit on the outside of one, and the other to fit on the inside of the other. In other words, get another pair!!!!

Ditto. unless the $$$ say otherwise.

 

[brewman !]

I wouldn't use SS for the outside because its expensive and it has no insulating properties.

I'd take the conicals you have and wrap them with copper coils or a water cooling blanket or something that you can circulate your cooling water through and then a layer of insulating foam over that.

Actually, you could buy about a hundred feet of small diameter plastic tubing and wrap them with that and then put the insulation over it. Say your conical is 18" in diameter. The circumference would be about 4 feet, so you would get 25 wraps from 100 feet. If it was 3/8" hose, that would cover over 9 inches of the body. Cover that with an insulating foam layer and you should have great cooling. You could even sew up a jacket for the conicals.

Dang, all this just gave me an idea how I am going to cool my Sanke Keg fermentors. I was going to put them in a modified deep freeze, but now I think I will do the chiller coils like I just described and put a coil in the refrigerator and circulate water through that. Hmmm...

 

[magno]

I second brewman's post. I dont think that a stainless outer shell is the best option.

What temps are you fermenting at now? And from the look of your gallery it seems that the fermenters are not insulated now (I could be wrong here though).

I would start by insulating the two that you have now.

- magno

 

[dibby33]

just do what you were originally going to do.
As they say in betting circles, "you should never change your bet".

 

[Yuri_Rage]

If you want a jacketed fermenter, nesting the two is an EXCELLENT option. You can weld the two together, creating a sealed chamber for glycol. Add an inlet and outlet port, and you've got the best jacketed fermenter I've ever seen! The insulating properties of the outer jacket are negligible - wrap the whole thing in an insulating blanket to take care of that.

 

[Brewpastor]

If you want a jacketed fermenter, nesting the two is an EXCELLENT option. You can weld the two together, creating a sealed chamber for glycol. Add an inlet and outlet port, and you've got the best jacketed fermenter I've ever seen! The insulating properties of the outer jacket are negligible - wrap the whole thing in an insulating blanket to take care of that.

That has been my plan and I think I am going to go for it. It will mean being out of commission for a couple weeks and a reduction in my capacity, but I think a totally jacketed fermenter will be worth it. I feel like I am not utilizing my glycol chiller nearly enough and this would allow that.

But I am still open on this one.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

That has been my plan and I think I am going to go for it. It will mean being out of commission for a couple weeks and a reduction in my capacity, but I think a totally jacketed fermenter will be worth it. I feel like I am not utilizing my glycol chiller nearly enough and this would allow that.

Somebody get BYO back on the line!

 

[MadWeezel]

dont nest em and make a cooling coil inside the the fermentor, and wrap with a blanket. (i've seen picts of someone on here doing this cant remember the name...)

 

[olllllo]

dont nest em and make a cooling coil inside the the fermentor, and wrap with a blanket. (i've seen picts of someone on here doing this cant remember the name...)

That person would be Brewpastor, the thread creator.

Or were you going for the duality of man concept?