Stainless fermenter for mead?

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MightyMosin

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I'm looking for recommendation for a stainless fermenter for making mead. I mostly brew 5 gallon batches though I typically go as low as 3 gallon or upwards of ~7.5 gallons. I would like to be able to do 10-ish gallon batches but the typical sizes don't seem to align.

I looked at SSBrewTech and their 7 gallon fermenters are intended for 4.5 gallon minimum. The minimum batches are 8 to 8.5 gallon for the 14 gallon fermenter. That would seem to put me in the ~7 gallon unit size.

I know I want a glycol temperature control and I prefer a jacketed unit instead of one that I would insert coils into the liquid. CIP would be mandatory if I'm going to take the $$ hit. I would prefer to keep the cash in US manufacturing and I'm OK with paying a bit more for that especially if support is US based with local supplies.

With temperature control, I would prefer a unit that can handle a higher external temperature if I should want to keep it in the garage. The ability to carbonate in the same unit would be highly desirable.

I'm sure there are items I'm not thinking about, which is why am asking for input.
 
I wish I had something to offer, but I still work mainly from glass, my FERMONSTERS & food grade buckets, as SS just isn't in the budget right now. 😕
 
I have a Spike conical fermenter I really love. It's A ten gallon capacity one but it's not jacketed. It's pressure rated too.

Look at one of their Flex units, they are smaller in height as a conical with many if the same features and would easily fit in a repurposed fridge for controlled temps. At a lower cost point you could have two or more units.

There are other fermenter options out there that align better with all of your needs but cost loads of money. If you're serious with that I would look more at the professional lines of equipment and possibly the used brewery equipment.

ABS Commercial was a place I was considering when I was entertaining going pro. Blichmann is another.
 
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I would prefer to keep the cash in US manufacturing and I'm OK with paying a bit more for that especially if support is US based with local supplies.
Deepest respect on that! I wish more people were that community/future minded! Even though I sometimes post links for bits from aliexpress, I only do so for parts that are made exclusively in China and I don't feel like engorging the pockets of importers... most of my triclamp parts are made in Canada and I get them from https://www.equinoxstainless.com/ in Montreal...Heck; half the reason I love my fermonsters is because they're made in Canada. In all my purchases of any and everything I'll pay more for (in order): Local/Provincial/National/Primary Major Trading Partners [USA, Mexico} I even paid a higher interest rate on the mortgage I'm still paying to have an 'Ethical Mortgage' that won't fund labour/human rights/environment abusers or war-profiteers.
Enough of the rant...
When I was still a lurker on here, I lusted after Blichmann and SSBretech eye-candy gear that was deemed the Top-Dogs of the time but there were quite a few posts around that time of bad rusting welds in the SSBrewtech conicals. Recently, there have been some more quality issues posted (eg: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/my-experience-with-ss-brewtech.731437/ )
In all these cases, to thier credit SSBrewtech did make good on replacements but it's made me wary of their quality-control.
That said; The majority of SSBrewtech users never experience an issue like that....all the same: If there's a dealer within driving range, I'd strongly recommend looking over the unit you intend to buy in person in a bricks and mortar shop. Personally I'm more inclined to go with @SpikeBrewing ...US-made and I can't recall any build-quality issues being reported on here..only the occasional 'Bad Shipping' involving loose parts banging around inside during transit and causing scratches and dents which entirely the fault of either the vedors packing or the shippers negligence.
Hope this is at least some useful food-for-thought from a fellow users perspective.
:mug:
 
Have you looked into the Brewbuilt X3 Jacketed Uni Conical? My husband and I just picked one up. We haven't used it yet (plan to in a couple of days), but it looks amazing and has just about all of your requirements covered.
 
Deepest respect on that! I wish more people were that community/future minded!
I completely agree and I choose specific companies to avoid as well... but that's a different forum topic. Thank you for that link to the SS Brew Tech... ouch, I would have been extremely angry to receive that with so many issues. Talk about a lack of post manufacturing QC checks. Do they think they are Boeing?

Have you looked into the Brewbuilt X3 Jacketed Uni Conical? My husband and I just picked one up. We haven't used it yet (plan to in a couple of days), but it looks amazing and has just about all of your requirements covered.
They are on my list to look through... I believe they are Chinese made which causes me reservations.

I like what I've seen from Spike, but I am really leaning more toward jacketed instead of a cooling/heating loop that goes into the liquid as it represents more cleaning and places for things to go wrong. I need to start putting these onto a spreadsheet to compare cost and features.
 
I am really leaning more toward jacketed instead of a cooling/heating loop that goes into the liquid as it represents more cleaning and places for things to go wrong.
I just ran across CoolStix... nice options there. Looks to be easier cleaning than a bunch of looped coils and there are options to use them in carboys. This possibly makes looking at non-jacketed items by Spike or others a more attractive option.

https://brewbuilt.com/search?search=coolstix
 
I just ran across CoolStix... nice options there. Looks to be easier cleaning than a bunch of looped coils and there are options to use them in carboys. This possibly makes looking at non-jacketed items by Spike or others a more attractive option.

https://brewbuilt.com/search?search=coolstix
A couple times in the last few years I've seen posts about those and the users experiences but I don't remember them that well...just that there is one thread that went into a lot of detail, but using this; https://www.homebrewtalk.com/search/8331361/?q=coolstix&o=relevance I can't find it. Maybe you'll do better.
:mug:
 
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