Speidel Plastic Tanks

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I've got two of these, 30l sizes. In another thread, someone commented on having to much head space would result in oxidation after he saw a picture of mine with 6 gallons of beer in it. Is this something to consider when using these tanks?

For normal fermentation times in primary there would be no oxidation issues. Primary fermentation fills all the headspace with CO2, so I don't know where he pulled that from. People ferment 10 gallons in the 60L Speidels all the time with no problem.
 
I've got two of these, 30l sizes. In another thread, someone commented on having to much head space would result in oxidation after he saw a picture of mine with 6 gallons of beer in it. Is this something to consider when using these tanks?

I make 10g batches in the 60L and yeah, there's a lot of headroom. For that reason if I want to store longer term I transfer to kegs and bulk condition in those with enough CO2 to seal the lid.
 
rajun50 said:
For normal fermentation times in primary there would be no oxidation issues. Primary fermentation fills all the headspace with CO2, so I don't know where he pulled that from. People ferment 10 gallons in the 60L Speidels all the time with no problem.

That's what I thought, not sure where he came up with that info. How much do you guys fit in he 30l? The size seems so deceiving when filled. Just filled with 6 gallons, and it seems like there's room for at least 3 more gallons. Pc below is 6 gallons

image-2331278978.jpg
 
Gameface said:
It'll fit over 15 gallons of liquid, but if you're talking about fermenting 15 might be pushing it unless you've got a big-bore blow off tube.

I use an extra spigot on the lid as a blow-off tube (that can be closed) but the opening is small and if krausen and leaf hops reached that it would plug up very easily. I don't use the lid strap specifically to give it a place to blow if that ever happens.

Thanks for the info. I'm planing 30 gallons, 15 gallon in each 60l I bought
 
Hey Ted what do you mean by this?

My fermenter came with a solid plastic cap. After I'd cooled the beer to about 50, which doesn't usually result in air-suckback into the fermenter (in my experience), I swapped out the bubbler for the solid cap and tightened it real good. Then I cooled down to 40 F to let the beer condition without having air suck back in as the CO2 in the head-space is re-absorbed by the cold beer. So far, it appears to be working great.
 
arborman said:
How much do you guys fit in he 30l? The size seems so deceiving when filled. Just filled with 6 gallons, and it seems like there's room for at least 3 more gallons.

Yup- 9 gallons will fit but you'll need a blow off tube. I marked mine

image-2960871466.jpg
 
geer537 said:
Yup- 9 gallons will fit but you'll need a blow off tube. I marked mine

Sweet! What's up with them being labeled as 30L? That's like 7.9 gallons. I think I'll try an 8.5 gallon brew, see how that works. I'd like to utilize more of the space in these
 
The big thin gasket that goes in the lid has been stretching and will probably need to be replaced on both my 30L.
I sent an email to Morebeer to see if they have them available.
 
I'm planning on getting one of these next month for my birthday, which happens to fall on a 4 day weekend for me, so I'm planning on brewing at least twice. What is the delivery time like for these?
 
clarksc4 said:
I'm planning on getting one of these next month for my birthday, which happens to fall on a 4 day weekend for me, so I'm planning on brewing at least twice. What is the delivery time like for these?

If they are in stock, they show up fairly quickly. I wanna say mine arrived in a few days. I live pretty much smack dab in the middle of the country. You will be really pleased with them. They are my go to fermenters now. The 30L is a great size. The 60L is a little more difficult to move around when it is full and you will need some help getting it out of a freezer fermentation chamber when it is full.
 
Got my first batch in my 30L and it's fermenting away. Not much airlock activity - I assume from the amount of head space still filling up with co2. Do you guys see that it takes a day or so to fill up the head space before the airlock lifts up? My orange part is all the way down in the connecting portion of the air lock.

Other questions:

When you go to transfer from the Spiedel to bottling bucket or keg, do you just open your spigot and let it run through tubing into the bucket/keg or do you let a little run off first to reduce trub to the bucket/keg? Haven't had a spigot on any of the carboys I've used before and since I'm kegging I was just thinking of going straight to the keg no run off and just purging the first bit from the keg when it's tapped. Sound good?

Also what kind of tubing are you guys using to connect to the spigot? Standard racking tubing stretched over the nozzle? And do you spray the spigot with sanitizer prior to letting the beer flow out?

Cheers
 
I've found the airlock activity to be muted-the bubbles that come out of the bubbler are huge. During my last fermentation, that finished in 3 days, I had a max bubble rate of maybe 30/minute. With a carboy and 3-piece airlock, I would probably have seen something crazy like 5 bubbles/second (too fast to count).

But, make sure it's sealed properly. The first time I used it, I had the cap in upside down for some stupid reason, and saw no bubbling until I put it in right.
 
241,
I briefly open the spigot all the way to blast out any yeast or trub.
The tubing I use is a tight fit, but it still can suck bubbles in (and possibly oxidize the beer), so I put a hose clamp on.
I twist the spigot up and spray SS all over and in it before racking.
 
The big thin gasket that goes in the lid has been stretching and will probably need to be replaced on both my 30L.
I sent an email to Morebeer to see if they have them available.

I got a reply from MoreBeer about the replacement O-Rings:

"Hello Chris,

Thank you for your reply. The part number for the gasket will be FE711. We do not yet have them available in stock. They were supposed to arrive last week so they should be available on the website shortly.
"

Nice to know they will stock them!
 
Right on, thanks you guys. Fermenter is sealed, but the air lock is stagnant and there is a good 2" of krausen. Not to worried about it though, esp with your response Ted.

I will definitely flush some trub out before I transfer, thanks!
 
Good point about marking the Speidel. I recently purchased a 60L and used it for the first time yesterday. I was surprised to find no graduation markings on the outside of the tank. It wouldn't have been too difficult for the manufacturers to do and would be a nice addition to the fermenter.

Question: I washed my tank twice, first with Borax and then with oxyclean. Triple rinse both times. I mixed a 5 gallon batch of Star San and there was a nasty sulfur smell. I transferred the solution to a 5 gallon bucket and no smell. It was definitely a reaction with the Speidel. Has anyone else experienced this?

I let it air dry before racking 12 gallons of American brown into it and the smell seemed to be gone but it was a little worrisome. This morning it is bubbling away with no off smells coming from the air lock. Overall, it seems like a nice vessel.
 
k-ale said:
Good point about marking the Speidel. I recently purchased a 60L and used it for the first time yesterday. I was surprised to find no graduation markings on the outside of the tank. It wouldn't have been too difficult for the manufacturers to do and would be a nice addition to the fermenter.

Question: I washed my tank twice, first with Borax and then with oxyclean. Triple rinse both times. I mixed a 5 gallon batch of Star San and there was a nasty sulfur smell. I transferred the solution to a 5 gallon bucket and no smell. It was definitely a reaction with the Speidel. Has anyone else experienced this?

I let it air dry before racking 12 gallons of American brown into it and the smell seemed to be gone but it was a little worrisome. This morning it is bubbling away with no off smells coming from the air lock. Overall, it seems like a nice vessel.

No smell from star San and speidel. Maybe check your stars San ph
 
Good point about marking the Speidel. I recently purchased a 60L and used it for the first time yesterday. I was surprised to find no graduation markings on the outside of the tank. It wouldn't have been too difficult for the manufacturers to do and would be a nice addition to the fermenter.

Question: I washed my tank twice, first with Borax and then with oxyclean. Triple rinse both times. I mixed a 5 gallon batch of Star San and there was a nasty sulfur smell. I transferred the solution to a 5 gallon bucket and no smell. It was definitely a reaction with the Speidel. Has anyone else experienced this?

I let it air dry before racking 12 gallons of American brown into it and the smell seemed to be gone but it was a little worrisome. This morning it is bubbling away with no off smells coming from the air lock. Overall, it seems like a nice vessel.

I get that smell but it isn't just with the Speidel. I read earlier that someone noticed a smell when they used hot water but not when they used warm water. Give that a shot.
 
Roughly! (For the 60L Speidel)

The first molded in line at bottom is 5.5 gallons-ish, the second molded in line would 12 gallons-ish, just below the Speidel name 15 gallons. Above the 60L molded in 14.5 gallons.
These are all -ish measurements :)

All measurements would still produce BEER :) whether they are off by 1-2 quarts-ish
 
I get a slight beer'y.....yeast'y smell in my speidel tanks. About the same as what I smell after draining the beer off and only trub/yeast remaining in the bottom. It is not overpowering and not objectionable. It is slightly less so after rinsing and washing. I don't notice any of it changing the smell/taste of the next batch of new beer though. Thorough cleaning/rinsing removes most of it and then I sanitize with 1 step just before reloading with the next batch.

I get that smell but it isn't just with the Speidel. I read earlier that someone noticed a smell when they used hot water but not when they used warm water. Give that a shot.
 
I have placed 1 gallon marks from 1-5 gallons on the outside of my 30L's using a black magic marker. It is fairly easy to see the water/wort line through the opaque plastic and see where it levels off vs the graduations.

Has anyone put gallon marks on the 60L fermenter yet?
 
I am wondering if the airlock that comes with the speidels might not release more than what 1 bubble on a 1 piece type airlock might indicate with each rise and drop. In other words 1 rise to the top and release of the large airlock might actually be releasing more volume of co2 than 1 bubble rise out of the 1 piece units. The rate of release could be the same but the indication less with the large airlock on the speidels. I have seen mine go to the top and release approximately once every 2-3 sec. on the speidel with the most vigorous of fermentation's that I have experienced.


I've found the airlock activity to be muted-the bubbles that come out of the bubbler are huge. During my last fermentation, that finished in 3 days, I had a max bubble rate of maybe 30/minute. With a carboy and 3-piece airlock, I would probably have seen something crazy like 5 bubbles/second (too fast to count).

But, make sure it's sealed properly. The first time I used it, I had the cap in upside down for some stupid reason, and saw no bubbling until I put it in right.
 
I use 1L Pet bottles rather than glass and it is quite easy to bottle the beer without tubing. I use the spigot directly with no tubing attached. Before filling my first bottle I run off several ounces first which contain xtra sediment which sometimes collects in the spigot into a clear glass and when it starts running mostly clear then I go ahead with the bottling. I usually set the glass aside and taste or drink a bit of the beer that is on top of the gunk which settles to the bottom.

Got my first batch in my 30L and it's fermenting away. Not much airlock activity - I assume from the amount of head space still filling up with co2. Do you guys see that it takes a day or so to fill up the head space before the airlock lifts up? My orange part is all the way down in the connecting portion of the air lock.

Other questions:

When you go to transfer from the Spiedel to bottling bucket or keg, do you just open your spigot and let it run through tubing into the bucket/keg or do you let a little run off first to reduce trub to the bucket/keg? Haven't had a spigot on any of the carboys I've used before and since I'm kegging I was just thinking of going straight to the keg no run off and just purging the first bit from the keg when it's tapped. Sound good?

Also what kind of tubing are you guys using to connect to the spigot? Standard racking tubing stretched over the nozzle? And do you spray the spigot with sanitizer prior to letting the beer flow out?

Cheers
 
Each batch of beer that I have done in my speidels has shown airlock activity at different times from the start. The fastest I saw was about 3 hours and I had one batch that took 36 hours. I have 30L units in which I do 5G batches so there is quite a bit of head space to fill with co2 before airlock activity will show itself. With the speidel its opaqueness is such that you cannot visualize the beginning of the bubbling on the beer surface until vigorous fermentation has taken place, after bubbler action has commenced and you can detect with careful eyeball inspection a collection of krausen on the sides of the tank above the wort line. I usually don't begin to worry about what is taking place unless I have seen no bubbler action usually by 24 hours after pitching the yeast at which point closer inspection is sometimes warranted to make sure everything is ok, lid/rubber stopper sealed properly.........yeast actually activating and doing its work. 99% of the time I have had no issues and all is well in a 12-24 hour timeframe.

Got my first batch in my 30L and it's fermenting away. Not much airlock activity - I assume from the amount of head space still filling up with co2. Do you guys see that it takes a day or so to fill up the head space before the airlock lifts up? My orange part is all the way down in the connecting portion of the air lock.

Other questions:

When you go to transfer from the Spiedel to bottling bucket or keg, do you just open your spigot and let it run through tubing into the bucket/keg or do you let a little run off first to reduce trub to the bucket/keg? Haven't had a spigot on any of the carboys I've used before and since I'm kegging I was just thinking of going straight to the keg no run off and just purging the first bit from the keg when it's tapped. Sound good?

Also what kind of tubing are you guys using to connect to the spigot? Standard racking tubing stretched over the nozzle? And do you spray the spigot with sanitizer prior to letting the beer flow out?

Cheers
 
When I finish filling my fermenter I take a small piece of kitchen paper towling and soak it in sanitizer and push it up a bit into the spigot. I then tear off a small square of tin foil and drench it in sanitizer and wrap it around the spigot where they set until I am ready to bottle. When I get ready to bottle I remove the tin foil, pull out the small piece of paper toweling and then take a new piece of toweling and drench it and run it up into the spigot opening and around the outside to make sure everything is sanitized and ready for the bottling process. Actually it is quicker to do than it is to explain it. I have never had an issue with any infections and the such.......plus no little bugs (or large ones) have ever crawled up the spigot.........that I know of anyway. Maybe a bit too anal about it but it works for me.

Got my first batch in my 30L and it's fermenting away. Not much airlock activity - I assume from the amount of head space still filling up with co2. Do you guys see that it takes a day or so to fill up the head space before the airlock lifts up? My orange part is all the way down in the connecting portion of the air lock.

Other questions:

When you go to transfer from the Spiedel to bottling bucket or keg, do you just open your spigot and let it run through tubing into the bucket/keg or do you let a little run off first to reduce trub to the bucket/keg? Haven't had a spigot on any of the carboys I've used before and since I'm kegging I was just thinking of going straight to the keg no run off and just purging the first bit from the keg when it's tapped. Sound good?

Also what kind of tubing are you guys using to connect to the spigot? Standard racking tubing stretched over the nozzle? And do you spray the spigot with sanitizer prior to letting the beer flow out?

Cheers
 
I love both of my 30L's. One thing you rarely see mentioned is how nice the large opening is on them. It makes cleaning the inside a breeze. On the 30L units you can easily reach down in all the way to the bottom to wash/wipe the inside of the unit. Also the wide opening is perfect for pouring the cooled wort into. I use a stainless steel large opening canning funnel to help avoid splashing. If I ever find a large plastic funnel with wide opening I will grab it and make it even more spill proof.

Another nice thing is when pitching the yeast. You hear a lot of talk about oxidizing at this stage. Grabbing a 5 gal carboy and shaking the begeebers out of it to accomplish it. With the wide opening on the speidel I just use a well sanitized mash paddle, or a large sanitized whisk and stir the heck out of the wort. Just pay attention to sanitizing whatever you mite use if you follow this routine. And if shaking is your preferred method, the side handles make this quite easy also.



If they are in stock, they show up fairly quickly. I wanna say mine arrived in a few days. I live pretty much smack dab in the middle of the country. You will be really pleased with them. They are my go to fermenters now. The 30L is a great size. The 60L is a little more difficult to move around when it is full and you will need some help getting it out of a freezer fermentation chamber when it is full.
 
Was looking at these on MoreBeer yesterday, and just finally decided to pull the trigger. Seems like overnight they went up from $65 to $89. A 37% increase overnight? WTF?
 
Was looking at these on MoreBeer yesterday, and just finally decided to pull the trigger. Seems like overnight they went up from $65 to $89. A 37% increase overnight? WTF?

Yeah, it seems like my 30L was $49.99 a few months ago, but maybe I'm imagining that. Now, they are $59.99. But at least they are staying in stock now.
 
Been using plastic buckets, but after reading about these I just pulled the trigger on a 30L. In stock and free shipping.It will be nice to be able to bypass having to use a blowoff tube.Plus these will be easier to shake up after adding O2. Kind of like having the best of both worlds between a bucket and carboy, but without the negatives.
 
bctdi said:
Been using plastic buckets, but after reading about these I just pulled the trigger on a 30L. In stock and free shipping.It will be nice to be able to bypass having to use a blowoff tube.Plus these will be easier to shake up after adding O2. Kind of like having the best of both worlds between a bucket and carboy, but without the negatives.

You will be very happy with your decision.
 
Sucks the price has gone up so much but these things are nice. I've had 2 60Ls for over a year and I can't imagine using anything else. racking to kegs has been much faster and easier. Used to be paranoid about the spigot but hasn't been a problem for me.
 
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