Spike CF5 vs Brewbuilt X1 Unti-Tank

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HOPtuary

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Guys im torn between the two. The Spike fermenters are very well known and Ive got their kettles and love thier products but ive recently stumbled upon the Brewbuilt X1 Unitank. They are both the same price point and options and accessories. The one plus I see to the X1 has 4 legs for better stability. I do know the cool stix option of thiers isnt very good but with the 4" top TC I can use any coil option. If anyone has the X1 i would welcome comments. I am very torn on which one to go with. Cheers!!!

https://www.morebeer.com/products/brewbuilt-x1-uni-base-conical-system-placeholder.html
https://spikebrewing.com/products/cf5
 
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I don’t have either. But, I’m curious what wall thickness each is made from. I wouldn’t be surprised if the 4 leg X1 model has thinner material, maybe something to look into. The X1 also appears to have 1 less 1.5” tc sidewall port. When I was thinking about getting a unitank, having that extra port to house a dedicated carb stone seemed nice. BrewBuilt is a Morebeer brand and the one liner on their website indicates their conicals are imported, while Spike is fabricated in Milwaukee. If you already plan on using a third party cooling coil (Spike coil is probably the best source for one) you might as well just get the Spike to begin with. Brand new product in the X1 with zero feedback vs Spike which has seemed to be on backorder for months. I feel like I should be getting some sort of commission lol.
 
Thanks for the response. I too noticed the additional port that comes with the Spike conical. I believe you are correct that the Spike conical has a thicker wall. I just wish Spike would get theirs back in stock.

I don’t have either. But, I’m curious what wall thickness each is made from. I wouldn’t be surprised if the 4 leg X1 model has thinner material, maybe something to look into. The X1 also appears to have 1 less 1.5” tc sidewall port. When I was thinking about getting a unitank, having that extra port to house a dedicated carb stone seemed nice. BrewBuilt is a Morebeer brand and the one liner on their website indicates their conicals are imported, while Spike is fabricated in Milwaukee. If you already plan on using a third party cooling coil (Spike coil is probably the best source for one) you might as well just get the Spike to begin with. Brand new product in the X1 with zero feedback vs Spike which has seemed to be on backorder for months. I feel like I should be getting some sort of commission lol.
 
Thanks for the response. I too noticed the additional port that comes with the Spike conical. I believe you are correct that the Spike conical has a thicker wall. I just wish Spike would get theirs back in stock.

Thanks for considering one of our fermenters for your next upgrade! Unfortunately the X1 is just a cheap knockoff of the Spike CF line. How do we know? We've purchased some and compared. Almost every part was an attempt to reverse engineer our product. The problem with reverse engineering is you don't know all the factors that went into design and there are some issues we see with their design including some potentially pretty serious safety concerns.

The 4 legs has been something that's been mentioned for years. We still stand by the 3 legs for the smaller units for a couple reasons. One, three legs are always more stable than four. Think tripod vs 4 legged wobbly restaurant table. Second, our 3 leg design has the legs un-equally spaced to give more stability to the front which is heavier with all the valves, etc added. Third, we tested the X1 four leg conical vs the Spike three leg conical on our tilt test. The X1 had a 1 degree difference than the Spike (15* tip vs a 16* tip). We still think stability is more important than a 1* tip difference but that's up to the consumer to decide!

Our conicals should be back in stock within a week. Thanks for the patience!
 
Thanks for the response guys! And once again you have rest assured me that your American Made products surpass the overseas knockoffs which I was unaware their product was. I will be purchasing my new conical from you guys in the near future. I am looking forward to another Spike addition to my brewing family.

Thanks for considering one of our fermenters for your next upgrade! Unfortunately the X1 is just a cheap knockoff of the Spike CF line. How do we know? We've purchased some and compared. Almost every part was an attempt to reverse engineer our product. The problem with reverse engineering is you don't know all the factors that went into design and there are some issues we see with their design including some potentially pretty serious safety concerns.

The 4 legs has been something that's been mentioned for years. We still stand by the 3 legs for the smaller units for a couple reasons. One, three legs are always more stable than four. Think tripod vs 4 legged wobbly restaurant table. Second, our 3 leg design has the legs un-equally spaced to give more stability to the front which is heavier with all the valves, etc added. Third, we tested the X1 four leg conical vs the Spike three leg conical on our tilt test. The X1 had a 1 degree difference than the Spike (15* tip vs a 16* tip). We still think stability is more important than a 1* tip difference but that's up to the consumer to decide!

Our conicals should be back in stock within a week. Thanks for the patience!
 
One, three legs are always more stable than four.
Sorry but I have to call you out on that. Three legs simply means the fermenter won't wobble if pushed in any direction. If that's what you mean by stable then you are correct. If by stable we mean "more difficult to tip over when someone pushes it" (which would constitute an actual safety concern and not just an aesthetic one) then four legs wins over three legs every time. The same fermenter with four instead of three legs sits on a wider base and this means that, all else being equal, it will take more lateral force to cause it to reach its tipping point and actually fall over and that increases safety for the user. Eight legs would be even better but at some point adding more legs becomes overkill because of ever diminishing returns.
So, if users are worried about a slight wobble whenever they touch the fermenter then the three legs configuration is best. If instead they're more worried about the fermenter tipping over and possibly hurting someone then four legs are much better than three.
 
After looking at them, and owning a CF-5, I see one, significant difference.

I need to roll my conical around, often full. Being able to roll it around and not carry a heavy fermentor is a back-saver. The CF-5 with the stock leg/caster set is so 'tippy' that it was almost unusable. The slightest difference in flooring caused it to tip over, empty or full. The problem was so bad that I was not sure I could roll it at all, any distance, over any flooring. I don't think the BrewBuilt version would be different--they look to be similar in rough dimensions and resulting center of gravity.

However, the Spike extended leg braces also allow the casters to move outward a few inches, and it makes a tremendous difference in stability. With the extended brace on, I can roll the CF-5 around with relative ease, full or empty. I would never use a conical without that feature available.
 
I am of course a Spike fan but do see one thing I like on the Brewbuilt design...that U shaped blow off fitting is nice. I'd prefer that to the L shaped one that came with Spike. A second thing I like is they included a thermowell which Spike used to include but not anymore. The handles are also rated to lift the unit even when full. I'm not in the lifting full fermentors camp so really don't care about that.

The real flaw I see is Brewbuilt is missing a port for the sample valve and instead of including a racking arm and butterfly valve to TC they give you a sample sample valve to use as a racking arm instead. Looks similar to the sample valve I have on my Spike and not really a fan of that as a sample valve but really could not imagine trying to rack the beer into a keg through it.

A quibble is all silicone gaskets including the lid gasket. Silicone is not a good oxygen barrier.

On the 4 legs vs 3 legs debate. For me 3 legs is better. I don't move the fermentor when full and it is stable enough for my need. It also fits better in my freezer than 4 legs would fit.
 
I'd be curious to see a review of the new BrewBuilt tanks from someone without a massive conflict of interest.

My advice - look at the SS Brewtech Unitank. I cross-shopped the Spike offerings against SS Brewtech and Brewbuilt and came away with the following:

1. Once you account for the cost of heating and cooling kits, jackets, and various fittings needed to do pressure fementation and closed transfers, the costs of the SS Brewtech Unitank and Spike CF5 are not different enough to influence my purchasing decision. Spike's introductory cost is attractive but their accessories add up. SS Brewtech had a 15% off cyber Monday sale that sealed the deal for me.
2. The lid clamp on the CF5 is not as elegant a solution as the 6" TC on the SS Brewtech. It does however seem nice to be able to completely remove the lid if you don't want to CIP.
3. The Spike CF5 and Brewbuilt unitanks do not come with a means to shut in the tank - a requirement for either closed pressure transfers or spunding. You need to buy an additional ball valve and rig it up to the blowoff port or remove the blowoff, exposing the headspace to oxygen, and attach a sounding valve. Spike's gas manifold provides a PRV and in principle you could put a ball lock spunding valve on it - an OK solution. But the SS Brewtech solution is better - you get a built-in PRV and a place to add a spunding valve and there is a built in ball lock valve to shut in the tank. No need to swap fittings during fermentation and there is truly zero oxygen ingress.
4. If you plan to spund or ferment under pressure, you will need to find a way to add a PRV and a spunding valve. Both the spike and brew built products have only a 3" TC port and a 1.5 TC port on the lid. If you want to control temperature with the brew built tank, the pressure kit uses up the 3" but gives you an additional 1.5" TC port which needs to be used for the 'coolstix'. Then the 1.5 TC port will require a TC T-fitting, a ball valve, and a PRV. Add up the cost of all of the extra fittings before you make your purchase.
5. The BrewBuilt coolstix don't have much surface area. I'm not confident that I could cold crash in my 110F garage with that setup.
6. I'm not sure how I feel about the floating dip tube solution in the BrewBuilt tank. I would be interested to know if people find it a better solution than the rotating racking arms, which can be a bit of a pain and prone to clogging with lots of dry hops. I guess that there's no rational reason to dislike the idea of silicone tubing on the floating dip tube when all of the gaskets on these conicals are silicone.
7. Personally I don't care for Spike's kind of aggressive/macho image and branding. My .02 and I'm sure many would disagree. I liked their older brand materials more than the new stuff.

The only issue that I've found with the SS Brewtech unitank is that the 7 gal model is very front-heavy and can tip over if it's on casters. I wish that they would offer an extended bracing shelf similar to Spike or a set of casters that locked in the forward position. You can just put the whole fermenter on a heavy duty plant dolly though - problem solved for $20, and it catches spills.
 
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@maxr OP was asking about whether he should buy the Spike or the Spike rip-off ;) I think we answered that well enough and he seems safely on the right track.

FWIW we already have a great thread comparing Spike to SS Brewtech. The aggressive macho branding concern is a new one I think we should debate that over there...
 
Spike’s seems to be a scaled down copy of pro equipment, so it’s no surprise that other manufacturers also are making scaled down versions of pro equipment that resemble Spike’s.

I like Spike quite a bit and have some of their gear, but I agree about the logo - the old one was much better. The new one feels like a lot like a copy of Surly Brewing’s big red “S”, which isn’t a great logo either
 
Thank you for posting a detailed review of the new conical. Out of curiosity, what was the ambient temp when you tried to cold crash? Do you think that you'd be able to ferment at lager temperatures in a 110F garage with the coolstix?
 
Thank you for posting a detailed review of the new conical. Out of curiosity, what was the ambient temp when you tried to cold crash? Do you think that you'd be able to ferment at lager temperatures in a 110F garage with the coolstix?

Ambient was 66-67. I was able to drop the temp about 27 degrees down to 39 before stalling. Unless I’m doing something terribly wrong, I’d say no chance, especially with anything larger than the 7 gallon version.
 
Thanks. That kind of removes it from contention. I'm surprised the MoreBeer hasn't offered a cooling coil similar to what SS Brewtech include with the unitanks.
 
The coolstix with a glycol chiller is enough for ferm temp but not really viable at all for cold crashing. I got my fermenter down to 44 with ice recirculation and it was cold and rainy out at the time too.
 
I was going to chime in that you could probably use the Spike coil with the brewbuilt but then realized with brewbuilt you need that 4" TC port to get the beer out of the Brewbuilt.

But I came up with this workaround...put a TC T fitting on the 1.5" port on the brewbuilt and put a a liquid post like this one
https://www.amazon.com/homebrew-San...la-729438093824&ref=&adgrpid=68249716999&th=1 and hook your floating dip tube to that. Then put a TC to gas post on the other end of the T fitting so you can push the beer out the floating dip tube with CO2.

Still I am just guessing the Spike coil would fit perhaps if @Swilliams603 still has the fermentor perhaps he could measure to see if the spike coil would fit...

And yes this tortured work around is a bit tongue in cheek. Just buy the Spike and brew some beer :bigmug:
 
I was going to chime in that you could probably use the Spike coil with the brewbuilt but then realized with brewbuilt you need that 4" TC port to get the beer out of the Brewbuilt.

But I came up with this workaround...put a TC T fitting on the 1.5" port on the brewbuilt and put a a liquid post like this one
https://www.amazon.com/homebrew-San...la-729438093824&ref=&adgrpid=68249716999&th=1 and hook your floating dip tube to that. Then put a TC to gas post on the other end of the T fitting so you can push the beer out the floating dip tube with CO2.

Still I am just guessing the Spike coil would fit perhaps if @Swilliams603 still has the fermentor perhaps he could measure to see if the spike coil would fit...

And yes this tortured work around is a bit tongue in cheek. Just buy the Spike and brew some beer :bigmug:

Yes the Spike coil should fit. And I’d likely recommend you drain from the “sampling port” with this Amazon.com: 1.5" Triclover to 1/4" MFL (male flare) adapter Sanitary Brewer Hardware Fitting 50.5mm OD ferrule SS conical fermenter homebrew beer: Kitchen & Dining Similar to the Spike setup. At that point you’d need a Spike manifold or a TC gas post to pressurize...
 
I'd be curious to see a review of the new BrewBuilt tanks from someone without a massive conflict of interest.

My advice - look at the SS Brewtech Unitank. I cross-shopped the Spike offerings against SS Brewtech and Brewbuilt and came away with the following:

1. Once you account for the cost of heating and cooling kits, jackets, and various fittings needed to do pressure fementation and closed transfers, the costs of the SS Brewtech Unitank and Spike CF5 are not different enough to influence my purchasing decision. Spike's introductory cost is attractive but their accessories add up. SS Brewtech had a 15% off cyber Monday sale that sealed the deal for me.
2. The lid clamp on the CF5 is not as elegant a solution as the 6" TC on the SS Brewtech. It does however seem nice to be able to completely remove the lid if you don't want to CIP.
3. The Spike CF5 and Brewbuilt unitanks do not come with a means to shut in the tank - a requirement for either closed pressure transfers or spunding. You need to buy an additional ball valve and rig it up to the blowoff port or remove the blowoff, exposing the headspace to oxygen, and attach a sounding valve. Spike's gas manifold provides a PRV and in principle you could put a ball lock spunding valve on it - an OK solution. But the SS Brewtech solution is better - you get a built-in PRV and a place to add a spunding valve and there is a built in ball lock valve to shut in the tank. No need to swap fittings during fermentation and there is truly zero oxygen ingress.
4. If you plan to spund or ferment under pressure, you will need to find a way to add a PRV and a spunding valve. Both the spike and brew built products have only a 3" TC port and a 1.5 TC port on the lid. If you want to control temperature with the brew built tank, the pressure kit uses up the 3" but gives you an additional 1.5" TC port which needs to be used for the 'coolstix'. Then the 1.5 TC port will require a TC T-fitting, a ball valve, and a PRV. Add up the cost of all of the extra fittings before you make your purchase.
5. The BrewBuilt coolstix don't have much surface area. I'm not confident that I could cold crash in my 110F garage with that setup.
6. I'm not sure how I feel about the floating dip tube solution in the BrewBuilt tank. I would be interested to know if people find it a better solution than the rotating racking arms, which can be a bit of a pain and prone to clogging with lots of dry hops. I guess that there's no rational reason to dislike the idea of silicone tubing on the floating dip tube when all of the gaskets on these conicals are silicone.
7. Personally I don't care for Spike's kind of aggressive/macho image and branding. My .02 and I'm sure many would disagree. I liked their older brand materials more than the new stuff.

The only issue that I've found with the SS Brewtech unitank is that the 7 gal model is very front-heavy and can tip over if it's on casters. I wish that they would offer an extended bracing shelf similar to Spike or a set of casters that locked in the forward position. You can just put the whole fermenter on a heavy duty plant dolly though - problem solved for $20, and it catches spills.

This is by far the most well rounded board based response to this thread. One additional consideration I would like to see more feedback on is the ability to adequately cool to crash and carbonation temps. For me the reason for spending the extra $$$ on a Uni-Tank is the ability crash and carbonate in one vessel.

Which Uni-Tank offers the best cooling solution? Do all three require an expensive glycol system when crashing/carbonating in a Southern CA garage in the summer? Buying a Uni-Tank to place it in a freezer seems to defeat the purpose.

Thanks for the thread!
 
You can go the DIY glycol chiller route. That what I did and I'm not alone. Spent under $125 and what what I've heard from others out there ans read, you can easily run 2 or more fermenters on with them.

This is by far the most well rounded board based response to this thread. One additional consideration I would like to see more feedback on is the ability to adequately cool to crash and carbonation temps. For me the reason for spending the extra $$$ on a Uni-Tank is the ability crash and carbonate in one vessel.

Which Uni-Tank offers the best cooling solution? Do all three require an expensive glycol system when crashing/carbonating in a Southern CA garage in the summer? Buying a Uni-Tank to place it in a freezer seems to defeat the purpose.

Thanks for the thread!
 
I also built a chiller but the cost wasn't really the reason I hated it. It was mostly the dripping condensation and wet jacket growing mold that bothered me.
Another reason why an ambient ferm vessels (vertical fridge/freezer) are superior for 1 or maybe even 2 simultaneous fermentations.

Give it a couple years though, I bet all the home brew manufacturers will start making jacketed/insulated unitanks the new norm.
 
Which Uni-Tank offers the best cooling solution? Do all three require an expensive glycol system when crashing/carbonating in a Southern CA garage in the summer? Buying a Uni-Tank to place it in a freezer seems to defeat the purpose.
I really don't understand how one particular brand of fermenter is going to affect the (rather exhorbitant) prices of small glycol chillers?? They're going to cost the same no matter what fermenter you attach them to and if you reject alternative solutions then all you'd be left with is to fork out the money for the glycol chiller of your choice.
 
Ill have to keep an eye out for that but ive had a lager going for almost 2 weeks and no signs of this. Im sure during cold crash it will make itself known.

I also built a chiller but the cost wasn't really the reason I hated it. It was mostly the dripping condensation and wet jacket growing mold that bothered me.
 
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