Super Simple 15G Plastic Conical

[snaps10]

Awesome! Thanks. How's the cooling working for you? How did you do your racking arm? I'm torn between doing one and not doing one

 

[chrisdb]

the cooling is setup is pretty simple- a 7 gallon bucket in a freezer with about 5 gallons of glycol/water solution (50/50) and a 1/6 hp submersible pump. The pump is controlled by an 'ebay' stc1000 controller wich swithches on the pump and can also switch on a heater (that i don't have yet) when the temp goes outside the set point. With a little insulation around the conical, I keep my temps stable with the pump coming on only a few times a day.
I haven't done a lager in it yet, but I'm pretty sure it could handle it.
The racking arm is fixed (does not rotate) and extends to near the bottom of the cone. In use, it racks clear beer- it also makes it easy to take a sample without disturbing the fermenting wort. I would absolutely recommend a racking arm for a conical- by the end of fermentation there is quite a bit of trub and yeast that has settled to my 1 qt yeast catcher and may even stick to the sides a bit. the racking arm makes it easy to rack the beer out of the conical without disturbing any sediment.

 

[chrisdb]

oops... meant to attach these pix too

 

[lockwom]

Do people remove the 1.5" threaded fitting from the bottom when cleaning and/or sanitizing, or are they infectionless with a decent cleaning regimen and leaving the fitting in-place?

 

[jcorn]

I personally remove it about every other time I clean it. The do not even use the ballvalve anymore. Trub gets trapped in the threads and inside the bal on the valve. So it seems the second time you would trub dump it could put dried up trub back into the fermenter.That does not seem safe to me so I just rack above all the trub. But only use the fermenter for a max 4 weeks to keep off-flavors from coming along.

 

[orion7144]

I personally remove it about every other time I clean it. The do not even use the ballvalve anymore. Trub gets trapped in the threads and inside the bal on the valve. So it seems the second time you would trub dump it could put dried up trub back into the fermenter.That does not seem safe to me so I just rack above all the trub. But only use the fermenter for a max 4 weeks to keep off-flavors from coming along.

Thats why it is best to use a butterfly valve instead of a ball valve.

 

[lockwom]

Thats why it is best to use a butterfly valve instead of a ball valve.

Thank you for your feedback, jcorn.

I'm planning on installing a butterfly valve on a 1.5" MIP to triclover fitting, like this one:

http://www.brewershardware.com/1-1.5-Tri-Clover-X-1.5-Male-NPT.html

Still, that triclover fitting is installed via threads. For folks that use the triclover/butterfly pair on the drain, do you still periodically remove the threaded fitting batches, or leave the fitting in place and follow a standard CIP sanitiziation?

I have all the parts in house, I'm hoping I have the time this weekend to drill holes in the lid.

 

[orion7144]

I just pbw wash and starsan via CIP. Have not removed that fitting yet.

 

[lockwom]

I just pbw wash and starsan via CIP. Have not removed that fitting yet.

That is great news! I was presuming it was necessary, but that will make life easier.

I hope to share my own build once I'm done. Couldn't have happened without the great ideas in this thread!

 

[orion7144]

I just worry about taking that fitting in and out and making the conical side weaker over time.

 

[jcorn]

Thats the first I have heard of people using butterfly valves on them. This whole post was showing people using the ball valves. Wish I would have learned that prior to buying mine. Those butterfly valves are awesome. Thanks for the info

 

[Surly]

Many months ago I began reading this thread. I decided that I would perform this build.

Since then two things have happened that bring me to the planning stage.

1) I will be designing a new brewery using one of my out buildings.
2) I will move from a 10 gallon to a 15 gallon brewery.

I am in the planning stage and ready to order a new 25 gallon boil kettle.

I will move forward but do need some basic information. Some of you may already know the answer and it would save me time if you would help me. I will then go back and reread this thread.

I currently use a refrigerator to control temps for my two 5 gallon carboys.

Would this conical build of 15 gallons fit in a refrigerator, or, do I need to begin planning for a stand a lone fermentation chamber?

Thanks.

 

[anonymousbrew]

there are quite a few post in the thread where folks have used fridges. I had to gut mine to make it fit. its quasi-documented here.

Others have built chambers, others have made cooling loops for glycol/h2o etc.

We're moving soon and new house i'm thinking either chamber or glass front merch fridges.

 

[snaps10]

Are you saying you're starting a nano? If so, do yourself a favor and just build a kick a$$ chamber. And buy the 35gal tanks. Free shipping on the ones with legs from rural king.

 

[Surly]

Are you saying you're starting a nano? If so, do yourself a favor and just build a kick a$$ chamber. And buy the 35gal tanks. Free shipping on the ones with legs from rural king.

No. I am not building a Nano. This will be my terminal brewery. It is intended to be a 15 gallon brewery and that capacity is where I want to be as my hobby closes out many years from now.

 

[snaps10]

Gotcha. ;-)

May as well build the chamber anyway, right?

 

[kjjohns5]

I just came across this thread and I'm not going to sift through 71 pages, , but has anyone actually read that on this is only good for liquids up to 1.7 specific gravity?


"Tanks are manufactured from medium-density polyethylene with U.V. inhibitors and designed for containment of liquids of up to 1.7specific gravity."

That's crazy high!

 

[lockwom]

I just came across this thread and I'm not going to sift through 71 pages, , but has anyone actually read that on this is only good for liquids up to 1.7 specific gravity? I wouldn't trust it for anything but holding water.

"Tanks are manufactured from medium-density polyethylene with U.V. inhibitors and designed for containment of liquids of up to 1.7specific gravity."

What ABV is your homebrew?!

SG of water is 1.0, a barleywine is near 1.1.

 

[anonymousbrew]

DEAR LORD!!! what have i been doing!? i guess that explains why the 4% beer i made last week created a swirling vortex of doom in my garage and actually ate a hole straight through my foundation. I'm glad that nowhere in those '71 pages' is there any real actual information. I'm glad there arent any commercial breweries out there using these tanks and indangering the public with superfund site swill.

geeesh

 

[18DPA]

I just came across this thread and I'm not going to sift through 71 pages, , but has anyone actually read that on this is only good for liquids up to 1.7 specific gravity?


"Tanks are manufactured from medium-density polyethylene with U.V. inhibitors and designed for containment of liquids of up to 1.7specific gravity."

That's crazy high!

DAM IT!! I guess I will have to go throw up the 200+ gallons I've made and enjoyed in mine. And someone should call the brewery in Ca that has been using 200 gallon ones with over 90 succesful batches and tell them to recall all that beer.

 

[Surly]

With all due respect: Please return to the original purpose of the thread. Providing options, experience and hands-on-applications of economical DIY conical, fermentation vessels.

You have advanced this concept too far to.....

 

[Surly]

With that said, I now ask this communities assistance: I have read the 71 pages of this thread and have taken my notes. In fact, this is not the first time I have read the thread. It is simply now my time to begin planning my dedicated brewery and ask your help.

My understanding is that one of the manufactures 15G conical measures, 19" wide and is 28"s tall. This does not take into account a stand or yeast catcher.

I would like to use a refrigerator for fermentation and temperature control. The frig I have is an old GE with the freezer on the top. The frig itself has space 21"s front to back, 24"s side to side and 40"s tall. IE, I cut some of the door off, side shelves and trim where needed.

Brewers, my tape measure says I can do this. Does your experience support my opinion? Should I pull the plug and order what I need? Or, do you have questions I need to yet answer?

Thanks Team.

 

[dcarter]

Gammon N Beer,

The only problem may be that your fridge will not be deep enough. If that is the case then you can make it deeper with a few modifications. You can check out what I did to solve the problem by clicking the link in my signature.

 

[anonymousbrew]

With that said, I now ask this communities assistance: I have read the 71 pages of this thread and have taken my notes. In fact, this is not the first time I have read the thread. It is simply now my time to begin planning my dedicated brewery and ask your help.

My understanding is that one of the manufactures 15G conical measures, 19" wide and is 28"s tall. This does not take into account a stand or yeast catcher.

I would like to use a refrigerator for fermentation and temperature control. The frig I have is an old GE with the freezer on the top. The frig itself has space 21"s front to back, 24"s side to side and 40"s tall. IE, I cut some of the door off, side shelves and trim where needed.

Brewers, my tape measure says I can do this. Does your experience support my opinion? Should I pull the plug and order what I need? Or, do you have questions I need to yet answer?

Thanks Team.

Sorry on the delay -
Yeah , i systematically dismantled my fridge; removed the freezer floor, coil shroud, moved the fan. Anything that was held with adhesive or screws and could come out, did. I have JUST enough room for my 15G fermenter in there. (which is nice, because im not interested in cooling a lot of dead space, i want to control the temp of my beer) IIRC you can get the drawings from ace roto mold (either from the site or from somewhere earlier in this thread).
They were accurate to mine when it arrived.

Now - in MY opinion, i probably would not have done this with a fridge that wasnt destined for the trash heap. But really because mine was so close to the demensions of what i was trying to do.

The PRO thogh for me, is that i have a dedicated piece of equipment that is temp controlled, measuring temp from a thermowell in the dead center of the fermenter. When fermenter is not in use, i'm not burning electricity on it. I'll pretty mine up a bit in the new brewery, probably make a new door for it.

 

[Surly]

Sorry on the delay -
Yeah , i systematically dismantled my fridge; removed the freezer floor, coil shroud, moved the fan. Anything that was held with adhesive or screws and could come out, did. I have JUST enough room for my 15G fermenter in there. (which is nice, because im not interested in cooling a lot of dead space, i want to control the temp of my beer) IIRC you can get the drawings from ace roto mold (either from the site or from somewhere earlier in this thread).
They were accurate to mine when it arrived.

Now - in MY opinion, i probably would not have done this with a fridge that wasnt destined for the trash heap. But really because mine was so close to the demensions of what i was trying to do.

The PRO thogh for me, is that i have a dedicated piece of equipment that is temp controlled, measuring temp from a thermowell in the dead center of the fermenter. When fermenter is not in use, i'm not burning electricity on it. I'll pretty mine up a bit in the new brewery, probably make a new door for it.

I have two old refrigerators I could tear apart. I use one now for controlling the temps in two five G carboys with blow off tubes. Has worked great but am now wanting to consolidate the yeast for easier harvest, less lifting and this is a part of a larger overall plan.

So, I am interested in this deconstruction at some point as well as the conical build.

I am soon to order the parts I need for the conical. Does a 15 gallon conical end up with 15 gallons of beer out? Or, is it too small for an actual 15 gallon end result? I want 15 gallons for a number of reasons one of them is I want to use a refrigerator rather than building a stand alone chamber.

 

[orion7144]

I have two old refrigerators I could tear apart. I use one now for controlling the temps in two five G carboys with blow off tubes. Has worked great but am now wanting to consolidate the yeast for easier harvest, less lifting and this is a part of a larger overall plan.

So, I am interested in this deconstruction at some point as well as the conical build.

I am soon to order the parts I need for the conical. Does a 15 gallon conical end up with 15 gallons of beer out? Or, is it too small for an actual 15 gallon end result? I want 15 gallons for a number of reasons one of them is I want to use a refrigerator rather than building a stand alone chamber.

I do 15g in mine. I get almost 16g into it then 15 out. There is not much head space and I do not brew big beers. Noting ever comes out of blow off tube but just under the lid were it screws in there is krausen build up.

 

[Surly]

In the next few days I will be ordering what I need for this conical build.

I am asking those of you with experience if this is the order for the conical: http://www.spraysmarter.com/ace-roto-mold-white-inductor-tank-3083.html

I would like to purchase the parts to make the yeast catcher using Tri Clover hardware:

1"/1.5" Tri Clover X 1.5" Male NPT 2ea.
1"/1.5" Tri Clover Cap 2ea.
1"/1.5" Tri Clover Clamp $6.00 4ea.
1.5" Tri Clover Butterfly Valve - Pull Trigger 1ea.
1.5" Tri Clover Gasket Silicone 5ea.
1.5" Tri Clover Sight Glass 1ea.

Are the above parts what I need for one 15 Gallon conical?

Thanks for your experience and time.

 

[orion7144]

Why 2 of the 1.5" NPT? And if you want you only need 3 clamps, gaskets, and 1 cap. Also my first batch I tried without a racking port and it sucked. I now have a better bottle racking port.

 

[Surly]

Why 2 of the 1.5" NPT? And if you want you only need 3 clamps, gaskets, and 1 cap. Also my first batch I tried without a racking port and it sucked. I now have a better bottle racking port.

After 717 posts things do get a bit confusing. And that is why I sought clarification.

In post 429 on page 43 whis121surfing posted a list of items needed. That post was copied into post #1 of this thread. I basically used the same list but I did not include the pricing data as I did not know when that poster gathered his information and pricing does change over time.

orion7144, or others, I appreciate clarification. I only want fixtures for one conical, is the order info I gave for more than one?

 

[orion7144]

The only thing really not needed is the extra 1.5" NPT as that is what converts the tanks output to tri clamp. The other things I mentioned are just extras. I ordered the extras and have not used them so I was just trying to save you some cash to put towards a racking port. I went with the better bottle solution and although I am happy with it, I wish I would have not spent that much on such a simple design. There are plenty of other ways to do the racking port.