Speidel Plastic Tanks

[Hello]

A very low concentration of PBW may be okay. The brewer I talked to said I was probably okay as well using about a tablespoon to 5-6 gallons. I just figure I would stop doing it anyway.

 

[zeptrey]

Check out this thread. $30 upgrade that's totally worth it.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/speidel-fermentors-now-stainless-rotating-racking-arm-449546/

Ah that is too cool. Great idea.

 

[Mirilis]

If its been mentioned before sorry.. i only ready that last 6 pages. I am considering a few of the 30L, but I have a few things I wanted to know.

1) I have a stainless thermowell for a STC1000 controller probe.. has anyone modded one of these so that would work? or is there a differnt lid you can buy.

2) $60 for a plastic fermenter seems pretty steep.. my first thought when I looked at it online is.. "Whats so special about this thing?"

 

[Gameface]

If its been mentioned before sorry.. i only ready that last 6 pages. I am considering a few of the 30L, but I have a few things I wanted to know.

1) I have a stainless thermowell for a STC1000 controller probe.. has anyone modded one of these so that would work? or is there a differnt lid you can buy.

2) $60 for a plastic fermenter seems pretty steep.. my first thought when I looked at it online is.. "Whats so special about this thing?"

The price has really gone up a lot due to demand. When I first bought my 60L I'm pretty sure I paid less than $60 for it.

There are alternatives, but these tanks are purpose built for what we're doing (they're for wine...) and have a lot of nice little features that you'll appreciate as you use them.

But I'm not sure I would have bought them at these higher prices.

 

[Mirilis]

I was thinking on wither id rather have 3 of these or a brew bucket.. i already have a few 6g glass carboys..

 

[fimpster]

I own buckets, glass carboys, a plastic Big Mouth Bubbler and two of the 30l Speidels. The Speidels are always my first choice if one is available.

Here are a couple of threads where folks talk about their Speidel thermowell mods.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=388371
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=460574

For now I just tape my probe to the side with 2" foam insulation, but I may eventually drill the lid. I have found all parts but the lid itself sold separately. If anyone knows where to buy a lid separately, please do tell.

 

[Mirilis]

i was thinking you could drill a hole in the lid and then put a cable gland on it then just clamp down on the thermowell that way but.. i have never purchased a flashy piece of equipment.. (basically i made all of mine), and i may splurge to either get a bucket or a few of these.. i want the bucket just because .. but the cheapskate in me wants to get a few of these instead.

 

[quaboagbrewing]

Do you happen to know if Speidel has any official spec with regard to how much pressure the 60L can hold? I have a wit currently split between 2 carboys that I'd like to combine into the Speidel and drop some pressure on for conditioning. Can't find any official specs on the unit with regard to pressure ratings.

 

[BreezyBrew]

Fyi: More Beer has the 12l replacement lid for sale now.

 

[MerlinWerks]

If its been mentioned before sorry.. i only ready that last 6 pages. I am considering a few of the 30L, but I have a few things I wanted to know.

1) I have a stainless thermowell for a STC1000 controller probe.. has anyone modded one of these so that would work? or is there a differnt lid you can buy.

For my 30L's I just drilled a second hole in a #8 1/2 stopper or two holes in a solid one, works perfect. I'm reasonably certain that there is only one lid style available.

 

[Leadpencil]

Does anyone want to part with the blank caps? Morebeer doesnt sell them andI cant find any online.

 

[user 204491]

Does anyone want to part with the blank caps? Morebeer doesnt sell them andI cant find any online.

Aren't these the caps you're looking for?

http://www.morebeer.com/products/re...astic-fermenters-tank-airlocks.html?site_id=9

 

[Leadpencil]

Thanks. I dont know how i missed that

 

[Brew_G]

A note on cold crashing. Someone mentioned earlier that their Speidel collapsed when cold crashing. I thought this may be due to dropping the temp too much, too fast. I did my first crash in mine and dropped the temp from 67 to 37 a few degrees at a time over two day period and it worked just fine. No collapsing, no spigot leaking.

I realize I'm replying to an old post, but I wanted to thank you for this bit of advice. I'm looking into picking up a 30L Speidel and was wondering what the effects of a cold crash might be.

 

[user 204491]

I realize I'm replying to an old post, but I wanted to thank you for this bit of advice. I'm looking into picking up a 30L Speidel and was wondering what the effects of a cold crash might be.

Hmmm... I'm not calling shenanigans, but as thick as the walls on the Speidels are, I just don't see how it's possible to collapse it during a cold crash.

I've got 4 Speidels at this point, and I've never had any issues at all with them. I've cold crashed them both in a chest freezer and a mini fridge with no problems.

Of course you have to watch out to avoid the normal cold crashing worries like sucking back airlock fluid or sucking in oxygen. For that I just replace the airlock lid with one of those kid's punch balloons filled with CO2!

 

[Brew_G]

Hmmm... I'm not calling shenanigans, but as thick as the walls on the Speidels are, I just don't see how it's possible to collapse it during a cold crash.

I've got 4 Speidels at this point, and I've never had any issues at all with them. I've cold crashed them both in a chest freezer and a mini fridge with no problems.

Of course you have to watch out to avoid the normal cold crashing worries like sucking back airlock fluid or sucking in oxygen. For that I just replace the airlock lid with one of those kid's punch balloons filled with CO2!

Oh...you definitely have to keep in mind suckback, but the thing I was wondering about was actually buttoning up the Speidel with locking caps - both on the top and where the spigot is normally located - before cold crashing. Of course, that would mean you can't put the spigot on to start with, but assuming that's how you went, then the concern would then be the effect of the dropping vapor pressure inside the fermenter as the liquid cools during the crash. If the fermenter is sturdy enough, it should be able to withstand it, but if not, then its walls may crush inward as a response to the dropping pressure inside.

 

[fimpster]

I cold crash in mine, but I replace the airlock lid with sanitized aluminum foil. If you sealed it up I highly doubt it would collapse, they're pretty sturdy.

 

[jimpdx]

I have a 60L and 120L and I absolutely love them both! I can't believe I was even thinking of buying a stainless conical fermenter at one point. I have been alternating between 20 and 12 gallon batches.

 

[Gameface]

I cold crash in my 60L all the time. I use a spigot on the bottom and the top bung and during fermentation it acts as a blowoff, then when I cold crash I close it to avoid suck back. Going from mid 60s to 33f I've never had any issues.

 

[user 204491]

Ya know, replacing your airlock with one of the solid caps during cold crash is a pretty solid idea!

Here I thought I was all smart replacing it with a CO2 filled balloon to avoid any oxygen intake, but that's even easier! I think I'll give it a try next time!

 

[Brew_G]

I cold crash in my 60L all the time. I use a spigot on the bottom and the top bung and during fermentation it acts as a blowoff, then when I cold crash I close it to avoid suck back. Going from mid 60s to 33f I've never had any issues.

Awesome...

 

[Brew_G]

Just picked up one of the 30L Speidels at my LHBS. I love the look and feel of these things.

 

[Brew_G]

And I have a 1.049 Blonde/Pale Ale in there right now. Brewed this morning, with rehydrated Notty pitched at 60F four hours ago.

I'm used to being able to watch for activity in my glass carboy, so that's going to take a little getting used to, especially since it's my first time using Notty!

 

[Osborne]

What size hose does everyone use to siphon from the spigot? I got 1/2 inch but I'm worried it may be too big and oxygen will mix with the beer as it travels down the hose...

 

[MerlinWerks]

I use 1/2" silicone without any problem. Just slip it over and past the orange spigot and on to the white part of the main body as far as it will go.

 

[Osborne]

Great thank you!!!

 

[Osborne]

Great thank you!!!

 

[Osborne]

Great, thank you!

 

[Osborne]

Great, thank you!

 

[Gameface]

What size hose does everyone use to siphon from the spigot? I got 1/2 inch but I'm worried it may be too big and oxygen will mix with the beer as it travels down the hose...

I used to use 3/8, slips onto the orange part. Now I use 1/2, slips up past the orange part. Not quite as tight as the 3/8. Both work well.