Speidel Plastic Tanks

[triangulum33]

Good idea, gameface!

 

[vnzjunk]

I love my Speidels. I highly recommend them.

I have 2 of the 30 Quart units. Bought 1 and once I saw it in person loved it so much I ordered (more correctly back-ordered) a second one. I love the carrying handles and the wide mouth top access for ease of cleaning rite up to my shoulder when scrubbing the bottom of the tank. And not to mention the absence of glass and the scarey potential broken glass situation that represents. All in all a well worth it equipment expense in my case
I love my Speidedels.
:rockin:

 

[Gameface]

Nice idea for the blowoff.. how does it seem to work with a vigorous fermentation boilover?

I'm usually not pushing it as far as volume is concerned so I haven't had actual krausen get up to the airlock. I don't think it would handle a lot of gunk before it clogged.

 

[EchoTony]

I've posted this a couple of times in this thread but maybe you haven't seen it. This is what I'm doing so that it will fit in a small chest freezer.

NIce!

Good alternative.

 

[Beer-lord]

Got mine today. Seriously nice quality. Will be using it soon.

 

[scoundrel]

Got mine today. Seriously nice quality. Will be using it soon.

Me too and for those wondering about a thermowell, going through the stopper doesn't seem practical. I think I'm gonna get a rubber grommit and go through the lid.

 

[Beer-lord]

Has anyone tried to ferment as little as 2 1/2 to 3 gallons in the 30L fermenter? I read somewhere that it's ok to do that in these things. Not what I'd do often but I like to make some test batches in small amounts or beers I'm not crazy about (for others) in small amounts and am curious about the extra headspace.

 

[Beer-lord]

Thanks, I may give this a go soon and I don't secondary but I do have lots of CO2 around.

 

[wobdee]

Just got word that Morebeer has the 3.3 gal available so I ordered one. Other sizes all look to still be out of stock.

 

[user 144271]

I use the DIY which also has a spigot. I ferment for 3 weeks then bulk prime it and siter gently wait an hour ( while cleaning sanitzing bottles) then bottle.
It works great.

 

[leaskbrewing]

my 60l which was ordered on 12/4/12 got bumped to may.. wow this sucks

 

[AnchorBock]

I know someone else asked this, but does anyone have the 3.2 gallon size? As the other poster stated it doesn't look like you could move these by the handle with an airlock on. Is the 3.2 gallons accurate or does it likely hold more? I emailed morebeer to see how much volume is left behind if you transfer on a level surface through the spigot. Debating between these and 3-5 gallon better bottles for 2.75 gallon batches (leaving behind around .25 gallons for 2.5 gallons into keg or bottle).

 

[triangulum33]

I use the spigot to transfer to keg with good success. I do fret about cleaning it and keeping it sanitized, though.

 

[AnchorBock]

I have the 20L and I have no trouble moving it with the airlock in place. The fermenter is not flexible enough to cause suckback.. if that is what your concern is.. at least that's my experience. Also, when I transfer to the bottling bucket, I tilt the container with a wedge and put my autosiphon into the deepest part.. the part on the table.. not the wedge.. I get all but about 2 cups of liquid above the trub. I don't use the spigot because I'm never sure I get it clean enough.. but I do use it for gravity tests. Plus, when I rack to the bottling bucket.. I don't like to have trub transfer.. but, that's just me.

My concern is that the handle on the 3.2 is on top where its on the sides of the bigger fermenters:

Makes it looks like it would be difficult to move for cold crashing with the airlock on. Morebeer responded that it would leave roughly a quart behind when racking from the spigot - that part is perfect for me, just not sure if there .45 gallons is sufficient headspace for 2.75 gallons...might just go with 5g better bottles.

 

[wobdee]

My 3.2 gl Speidel will be here Wed, I'll let everyone know if that handle is in the way or not.

 

[spiffy78]

Das 120L, picked up two of them from MB for 20 gal batches

 

[leaskbrewing]

wow nice. that thing is huge. you might need a dolly to move it around when its full,but damn sweet though

 

[spiffy78]

wow nice. that thing is huge. you might need a dolly to move it around when its full,but damn sweet though

Yeah, forklift...dolly....biker gang...sumpthin!

 

[smokinghole]

I have two 60L and they're tough enough to move around when they're full. I doubt the handles would be able to withstand the weight associated with that volume of beer. If I'm doing two brews to fill one of my 60L then fill it with my first brew and bring my second brew to the fermentor in another container because I'm not about to carry 14-16 gallons of a full fermentor through my house. Only way would be to have it on wheels if you wanted/needed to move it.

 

[leaskbrewing]

how does the handles hold up when full on your 60l. i have one coming some day .......if morebeer ever gets the damn thing

 

[smokinghole]

They're sturdy. Well sturdy enough to move 14gal of beer around. However I am not doing much more than moving it about 2-3 feet if I do move the fermentor.

 

[wobdee]

Received my little 1.2L Speidel today. It holds 3.5 gal right up to rim and if you let it drain out it leaves 1 qt which should be just about right to keep the left over yeast and trub out.

Concerns I have, the top lid has scratches on the inside and don't know if it will hold any nasties.

The handle is in the way if I were to put an air lock on top. I'd have to remove the air lock before moving the fermenter around. I'm thinking maybe not even use an air lock and just loosen the top a bit? In theory the co2 blanket should keep it safe right?

 

[scoundrel]

I have one of my two 60l rockin' with 10 gallons of my house IPA. It just fits in my fermenter and it does bug me a bit that I can't see in like with my better bottles but with a single yeast pitch and the ability to rack directly to a keg is awesome.

I modified the stock cap to take a thermowell and a standard airlock. So far so good.

 

[jaylaforte]

I recently received my 60L Speidel and am struggling with how to remove the beer from my fermentation chamber. I figure with a 10 gallon batch, there's no way I'm lifting the Speidel out of the chest freezer without a very strong friend or a pulley system of sorts. Would it be smarter to try and pressurize the fermenter to push out the beer (will it take 3psi well?) or is it possible to hook up a pump to the spigot to pull it out? Thanks for any ideas!

 

[Brewindruid]

I recently received my 60L Speidel and am struggling with how to remove the beer from my fermentation chamber. I figure with a 10 gallon batch, there's no way I'm lifting the Speidel out of the chest freezer without a very strong friend or a pulley system of sorts. Would it be smarter to try and pressurize the fermenter to push out the beer (will it take 3psi well?) or is it possible to hook up a pump to the spigot to pull it out? Thanks for any ideas!

I was thinking just that, why not a CO2 push, surely these would stand up to the pressure needed to move the beer? Really only one way to tell for sure!
I am still wondering what makes these any better than a modified, larger bucket? Cost/benefit still eludes me.
Two mods I was pondering was a caster base for moving it around, and and additional hole in the lid for an aeration/co2 loop in the bottom?

 

[scoundrel]

I was thinking just that, why not a CO2 push, surely these would stand up to the pressure needed to move the beer? Really only one way to tell for sure!
I am still wondering what makes these any better than a modified, larger bucket? Cost/benefit still eludes me.
Two mods I was pondering was a caster base for moving it around, and and additional hole in the lid for an aeration/co2 loop in the bottom?

It's alot of little things that I like. First, handles. 10 Gallons is heavy and handles that support the full weight is nice. There are also handles on the bottom for pouring. Second, the bottom is tapered to the sides which allows the yeast to settle away from the racking port. Third, the locking mechanism at the top creates a really nice seal.

In all fairness though I had a gift certificate so my 60l cost as much as a better bottle.

 

[Brewindruid]

Thanks Scoundrel I have been looking at these since they first got them, kept hemming and hawing over them. Might be able to afford a conical by the time there is a decent supply!

 

[geer537]

I have the 30 liter and am getting my first use out of it. So far so good but 5 gallons looks like only half of the container. Can these things hold a lot more than 7.5 gallons or are my sight glasses' measurements way off?

 

[Brewindruid]

I bet if the calibration of the sight glass doesn't take into account the shape of the bottom it will be off. Did you check to see what the dead space was on it?

 

[scoundrel]

Thanks Scoundrel I have been looking at these since they first got them, kept hemming and hawing over them. Might be able to afford a conical by the time there is a decent supply!

Ya seriously. It takes forever and had I not received them with the last shipment I would have cancelled.