SS Brewtech Unitank VS Spike Unitank

[Jtvann]

Here's during. FYI, Ssbrewtech sells a mini CIP and a regular CIP. I have the regular. It will NOT work with a riptide or similar pump.

I am using a 3/4 hp sump pump off Amazon.

 

[Jtvann]

And about 15 min later with cold water and a handful of oxyclean

 

[augiedoggy]

Hi Augiedoggy, which Alibaba Vendor is this? I'm in Aus so makes far more sense from a shipping perspective (Portland OR vs China)

Sungood. you'll most likely deal with Gavin.

 

[augiedoggy]

Here's his contact info

 

[kingo102]

Thanks Augiedoggy!

 

[kxavier_23]

I bought a Spike CF10 in March. I was doing the same thing, considering the SS Brewtech as well as the Spike. Now that I know what I got with the Spike, I can assess the comparison table HERE.

That table is from the SS Brewtech site, at least it links to it. It's inaccurate w/r/t some of the things the Spike conical has, which makes the SS Brewtech look better by comparison. It's simply wrong about some of the SPIKE things, for instance:

Spike DOES have available temp control both heating and chilling.
Spike DOES have an available carb stone (more on that below) and it doesn't need a valve
Spike DOES have an insulating jacket, it can be bought separately or as part of the temp control kit
Spike DOES have a PRV and a pressure gauge as part of the pressure manifold kit.

Other things I'd consider not important, such as digital vs analog thermometer; I don't use the analog one, I read the temp directly from the temp control unit.

Still other things WERE important, i.e., half batches. You can do half--5-gallon--batches with the Spike CF10; I couldn't find anywhere on the SSBrewtech site that said you could do half-batches with theirs, and in fact, it says theirs is for 10-gallon batches. But in a FAQ someplace SS Brewtech says you can do 5 gallon batches in their 14-gallon unitank, BUT the the thermowell is at about the 5.5-gallon mark. So temp control would be iffy, or you'd have to be sure you have 6+ gallons in there each time. Not designed to do this, whereas the Spike CF10 is.

That was probably the most important difference between them for me: the Spike CF10 was designed to allow for half-batches, whereas it's clear the SS Brewtech was not.

If you know what you want, the Spike approach is more modular, and you can potentially get your add-on from other sources, depending on what you want/need.

***************

One of the things that made it difficult is I'd never bought anything like this, so what "features" are important and which are sales fluff, well, you can't know until after you've used it.

You also have to think about how you're going to use it; I have camlocks on my Blichmann Riptide and on my kettle; I needed to get fittings that would let me connect to my Spike using camlocks. That'd be an issue for the SS Brewtech too, but it's just something to consider. It's the old "What am I going to wish I'd done later on?" question.

Another thing is that the pricing is different; on the face of it, the Spike is much cheaper, but you'll have to add specific items to it to bring it up to where you want it. The SS Brewtech includes more of those things as standard. My Spike base unit is listed for $625; the SS Brewtech is $1099. But the SSB includes a chilling coil, a neoprene jacket, a bottom shelf, pressure gauge manifold, whereas I had to add that to mine.

Here was my initial order:

2x 1.5" Gasket for $1.00 each
1x 1.5" TC Clamp for $6.00 each
1x 1.5" TC x Barb for $12.00 each
1x Leg Extension Set for $32.00 each
1x Caster Kit for $30.00 each
1x 2" TC Sight Glass for $50.00 each
1x CIP Ball for $55.00 each
1x Racking Arm for $25.00 each
1x Gas Manifold - Gas Manifold Bundle for $75.00 each
1x TC-100 Bundle - CF10 / Yes Heater for $375.00 each
1x CF10 Spike Conical Unitank for $625.00 each

Subtotal : $1,287.00 USD

This included leg extensions and casters which are cheaper at Spike. But I also ended up buying the shelf in a subsequent order; I'd thought I'd just make my own, but then reason (probably) prevailed. It also doesn't include the Carb Stone, so with the shelf and carb stone, that was an extra $105. With some extra fittings, clamps, gaskets, and so on, I had another $100 in it.

There are some advantages to the more modular Spike approach, but the difficulty is knowing what you want and need. I bought the carb stone for $65 but I have not used it. This is reflective of having been a newb with these things. I have a lager going right now, and with about 8 points of gravity left to go, I sealed up the fermenter; the internal pressure right now is 12 psi, so that beer is mostly carbed. I'll pressure-transfer it to a keg and put it on gas to carb it the rest of the way. I'm trying to implement LODO techniques as much as possible, so that's why I'm not using beverage CO2 to carb it.

As a result, I haven't seen any particular reason to use the carb stone to carbonate my beer. But I bought it thinking that perhaps at some point I might want to do that after crashing, perhaps to speed up clearing the fermenter for another batch.

The carb stone can also be used to oxygenate the wort, but I haven't used it for that either; I have a long aeration wand and I just stick that down into the conical after racking and do it that way.

Did I need to spend that $65? Don't know yet. SSBrewtech includes a carb stone, but if you don't need or want one....

So with the extras (clamps, stuff like that), I'm around $1500 with this setup, but it's got everything I want, leg extensions, temp control kit, shelf, etc. That's the all-in price, excluding some sort of chiller.

***********

I've seen posts that say after you add all the extras, the prices of these are very similar, so it comes down to what is important to you in design. From what I've seen, I think that's largely true. The tradeoff in design is that the Spike offering can be easily opened up and cleaned; the smaller opening on the top of the SS Brewtech might make that more difficult, but it also can handle a higher pressure.

I don't use a blowoff cane, so I'm not swayed by the fact the SS Brewtech has one. I use the CO2 coming off the fermentation to purge the keg into which that beer is going, and there's a Gas-Out post on the pressure manifold for just that purpose. It's an example of knowing what, exactly, you're going to want to do with it. If you've never used one before, that's hard to know, exactly.

************

In the end, I'm sure I could brew great beer with either unitank. Good luck with your choice!

Sorry to strum this older post up, but not sure I fully agree with or understand the ability to do 5G batches. I have tried using this for other fermentation of ciders etc. one of the things I don’t like is the thermowell as you mentioned is at ~5.5 G level. This makes it really not feasible to do an actual 5G batch... Unless I’m missing something.

I’m curious where the thermowell placement is on the Brewtech unitank. If it’s below 5G level, it’s definitely a step ahead of the Spike CF10 in have.

 

[kxavier_23]

Very happy with my ss unitank.

If you want to CIP, ss works great. I was surprised at how well it worked. It would be annoying to clean without, but not impossible. Spike would be much easier to clean if not doing CIP.

I personally like the lid much better on the ssbrewtech. Never have to worry about the lid gasket seating correctly or falling in. TC is the way to go.

Spike wins in batch size options. You can do 5 or 10 in theirs. Ssbrewtech will be o ly for the size you buy. For example, I do 10 gallon batches now exclusively. I keg 5 and bottle 5. I can bottle fully carved directly from the fermenter. Probably do that with either version but ... I can keg early and finish carbing in the keg if I want to. After draining 5 gallon s of liquid, the cooling coils will not maintain the remaining beer at 35 degrees. I need to keg and bottle at the same time. No biggie, just know that.

I like higher pressure rating if the Ss model. I regularly exceed 15psi when warm. I already had a ftss system, and ssbrewtech sold me individually just the heating pad to save me money over buying another full unit.

Ss does not have volume markings. I wish it did, but I'm fine without them. I got my unit to practice on a miniature version of a brewery system ... which wont have volume markings either way. I can tell volume from my brew kettle before I start pumping.

Brewers hardware sells a bunch of accessories that make triclamp fittings convenient. I dont have anything threaded on mine, including the blow off valve.

Nothing against spike, as its quality equipment, but for my preference I'd go Ssbrewtech again if I had to.

At what liquid level does the thermowell sit? i.e. @ the 5G mark or lower. Basically what’s the minimum about of liquid is needed to have the thermowell submerged?

 

[akpingel]

It may be a difference in design from the Chronical and the Unitank from SS, but the thermowell on my 14 gallon Chronical is certainly below the 5 gallon mark. I can do 5 gallon batches in it.

 

[Vale71]

At what liquid level does the thermowell sit? i.e. @ the 5G mark or lower. Basically what’s the minimum about of liquid is needed to have the thermowell submerged?

The thermowell sits below the 5G mark but at such a low fill level the cooling coil will be mostly above the liquid level making cooling using glycol not very effective. It's probably good enough to control fermentation temperature but I wouldn't trust it to be able to reach lagering temperature.

 

[kxavier_23]

The thermowell sits below the 5G mark but at such a low fill level the cooling coil will be mostly above the liquid level making cooling using glycol not very effective. It's probably good enough to control fermentation temperature but I wouldn't trust it to be able to reach lagering temperature.

This is on the SS Unitank?

Do you know exactly where the thermowell sits? 4.5, 4 etc.

 

[Vale71]

This is on the SS Unitank?

Do you know exactly where the thermowell sits? 4.5, 4 etc.

Yes, on the SSB Unitank.
I haven't measured exactly but if I transfer when the thermowell is barely submerged I cannot quite fill a 5 gal keg so I would say somewhere between 4.5 and 4.7 or thereabouts.

 

[Jtvann]

Temp control won’t work for a 5 gallon batch in a 14 gallon Ssbrewtech unitank.

 

[mongoose33]

Sorry to strum this older post up, but not sure I fully agree with or understand the ability to do 5G batches. I have tried using this for other fermentation of ciders etc. one of the things I don’t like is the thermowell as you mentioned is at ~5.5 G level. This makes it really not feasible to do an actual 5G batch... Unless I’m missing something.

I’m curious where the thermowell placement is on the Brewtech unitank. If it’s below 5G level, it’s definitely a step ahead of the Spike CF10 in have.

I typically have about 5.5 to 6 gallons in mine--and I use a Tilt Hydrometer to monitor gravity and temperature. The thermowell always reports within a degree of the Tilt, often are the same.

The vast majority of my brews have been 5-gallons in the CF10. I have friends who want to buy that beer at commercial prices, and a local bar wants to sell it. I don't think that beer is taking any hurt being brewed in a CF10.

 

[Vale71]

Temp control won’t work for a 5 gallon batch in a 14 gallon Ssbrewtech unitank.

It depends on what you want to achieve. I often serve the beer straight from the fermenter and I can mantain serving temps (between 8 and 10°C depending on style) until shortly before the thermowell is no longer submerged. I then transfer what's left and can almost fill a 5 gal keg. I don't think I would be able to crash the beer to near freezing temps though but I could certainly maintain fermentation temp both for ales as well as for lagers.

 

[akpingel]

Temp control won’t work for a 5 gallon batch in a 14 gallon Ssbrewtech unitank.

Working here. Here's the 5 gallon mark on a 14 gal chronical.

 

[Vale71]

Working here. Here's the 5 gallon mark on a 14 gal chronical.

Except that's not a Unitank. Cooling coil placement is different.

 

[akpingel]

Except that's not a Unitank. Cooling coil placement is different.

Haha yea I even quoted him and screwed that up! I should add I put the coil in my Chronical, so its not a factory install.

 

[ajm163]

SS brewtech has told me you need at least 8 gallons for the cooling coil to in my 14 gallon unitank (haven't actually tried that yet). the heating side will work on a 5 gallon batch though

 

[Jtvann]

Working here. Here's the 5 gallon mark on a 14 gal chronical.

The reason that I say it won’t work is by what I consider temperature control. If it can’t control it across all ranges of temps that I frequently use, I say it doesn’t work. I cold crash every batch. Cold crash for me is 35 degrees.

I can cold crash year round to 35 degrees and maintain it.

As soon as I start kegging my beer and a few gallons have been removed from the unitank, my controller starts to eek up higher and higher. Without a full volume of beer touching the coil, it can’t maintain the temp.

Maybe my standards are too high to answer the question. If all you’re looking to do is maintain 65 degrees, you can do that pretty easy with less than 12 gallons in the fermenter. I’m not going to blanket say “it works” though. Someone else might read that they can lager with less volume.

I’ll put it this way. Any beer will have diminishing returns on how cold you can get it and maintain it for every gallon you have under 11-12 gallons. Your ambient temp and your desired fermentation temp will dictate the minimum volume you can have.

In my case, 12 gallons “works”.

 

[eric19312]

you could put it in a freezer and cold crash to 29F and brew 3 gallon batches