Super Simple 15G Plastic Conical

CornyKegs 728
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I haven't used my conical yet as the system is not ready. But thanks for all the good discussion about the plastics. Here's the system as of a little bit of welding this afternoon. Still several weeks off from being operational...

IMG_20140517_181548.jpg
 
I have the 15g now.. Looking to get a 40gallon for my new 1BBL system. Anyone know why they advertise the IN0040-24 as a "full drain" even the it's the open flow style? To my knowledge the don't even make a INFD40-24.. The next full drain size is the 55G and that's probably too big


Duffy & Sons Brewing DuffyBeer.com
 
I was able to get some more welding done on my frame and it all fits in the fridge. Now to get the thermowell in the tank and the heat source mounted.

ferm frame assembled.jpg
 
dblott1 said:
i dont know if some on mentioned this yet. but you can get these ace rotomold tanks at ruralking.com and they have free shipping on orders over $49. i just got my 30gal full drain there. also a good place for cheap SS ball valves is directmaterial.com i got a 1 1/2" SS one piece ball valve for $28.52,

just thought the info might help someone
Click to expand...


Good find! thanks for the share. some good prices here.
 
Sorry if this has been discussed. I read every word up to page 7 then got antsy for my answer. Is there any reason not to drain the trub early and often? I'm on day 4 of my first batch and really want to open that valve to see what comes out.

...So, any thoughts on if I should open it or wait a few more days?

Here's my 15 gallon conical in my garage work bench fermentation chamber. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1418938879.659639.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1418938906.511074.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1418938931.416744.jpg
 
Too late... DON'T dump during active fermentation. You risk dumping yeast that needs to stay in there an finish it's job.

Try this on your next batch...

If you want to dump trub (and it's advised that you do so) then it must be done prior to pitching yeast. Your additions such as Irish Moss or Whirlflock tablets will encourage the cold break proteins to precipitate and drop out of suspension. Give your wort several hours to accomplish this and then open the valve to dump what's there. After the trub is eliminated you should oxygenate and pitch...
 
Good to know. Thank you. No it's not too late I have not opened it yet. I will add Irish moss and wait an hour before I pitch next batch. I do not have a way to aerate though. Thoughts?
 
Aeration can be accomplished by shaking or disturbing the wort violently by other mechanical means. This is only considered aeration and will yield minimal dissolved oxygen into the wort. You can greatly increase the ppm of dissolved oxygen in the chilled wort by using a diffusion stone and pure oxygen from a bottle.

I use medical oxygen bottles with an adjustable regulator to keep the flow at 1 liter per minute. I combine that with a diffusion stone on a stainless steel tube/wand and stir while I inject oxygen for 90-120 seconds.

You can read more in the following links.

http://www.txbrewing.com/storeblog/...aeration-home-brewing-oxygenation-components/

http://byo.com/videos/item/1894-aerating-wort-techniques
 
USE THE AERATION STICK.

Sanitize it... the risk is low for infection and the benefits are VAST with quality of finished beer that has been aerated or oxygenated.
 
My first experience with the conical did not go as smooth as expected. The beer turned out excellent but the conical did not do its job. I opened the 1 1/2" valve after a week and nothing came out. It was compacted in there so tight not even a drop. I was able to coax it out with a spoon but was not expecting to have to do that. Then when I went to open the bottling upper valve to take a reading nothing came out of that either. Just had to use the thief instead. Their is a brown ale in it now and the Nalgene bottle trap is on this time with the valve open. I can see action of little yeast rockets in it. Very cool imo. To fix the bottling valve issue, a $0.60 3/4" threaded pvc elbow from Menards should block settling yeast cake and Traub from filling and clogging it. I will share how this all goes in a few days.

Please share how your experiences with it have been going and or if you have any tips for me.
 
Your issue is the reason to install a yeast trap - then you don't get a stuck conical outlet. But you have to make sure your trap is sized big enough to contain maximum trub and yeast for your conical size. worst case it is a bit big and you lose a small amount of beer when switching from your yeast trap to your drain fitting. With a yeast trap there Is no need to use the upper conical drain fitting - you lose even more beer when using it.
 
FredTheNuke said:
Your issue is the reason to install a yeast trap - then you don't get a stuck conical outlet. But you have to make sure your trap is sized big enough to contain maximum trub and yeast for your conical size. worst case it is a bit big and you lose a small amount of beer when switching from your yeast trap to your drain fitting. With a yeast trap there Is no need to use the upper conical drain fitting - you lose even more beer when using it.
Click to expand...


Thank you for confirming that. I hope my trap is big enough. I have only read up to pace nine in this topic so far and several people said a one quart trap is sufficient for a ten gallon batch. I sure hope so. Won't know for a few more days. I checked kit today and it was full, but I can not see where the goo stops and the beer starts due to the pvc.

Once I do remove it, I plan to let it sit in secondary for another week. At the end of that there will be a bit more yeast cake and I assume I can drain that off then go straight to corny with a tube as to avoid mixing too much oxygen in.

Thoughts?
 
Nice thing about a conical is that it often eliminates the need to move to a secondary. I no longer rack to a secondary at all.
 
I guess it depends on the type of beer you are brewing but I can tell you that a 4700 mL liquid volume yeast trap is twice as big as you need for a 60 gallon batch of beer.... I can see my Trube level as I have clear PVC in that section. Pictures are in the thread called HDPE conical.
 
Also in my opinion a secondary is only useful for lagering or if you are going to gelatin fine an ale. I normally just cold crash the primary and then filter with a 5 µm element while transferring into a corny keg for carbonating
 
FredTheNuke said:
I guess it depends on the type of beer you are brewing but I can tell you that a 4700 mL liquid volume yeast trap is twice as big as you need for a 60 gallon batch of beer.... I can see my Trube level as I have clear PVC in that section. Pictures are in the thread called HDPE conical.
Click to expand...


I think it's in the HDPE solera thread
 
FredTheNuke said:
Your issue is the reason to install a yeast trap - then you don't get a stuck conical outlet. But you have to make sure your trap is sized big enough to contain maximum trub and yeast for your conical size. worst case it is a bit big and you lose a small amount of beer when switching from your yeast trap to your drain fitting. With a yeast trap there Is no need to use the upper conical drain fitting - you lose even more beer when using it.
Click to expand...


I took the yeast rap off last night. It went well. Yeast cake volume had filled the trap and up past the valve a bit. I had to open it back up into a bucket to let a little more out. I sure do like the clear nalgene collection vessel but it inly shows you action for about two days, then it's just filled. I may so it over with a larger volume piece of pvc.
 
Anyone know if Ohio Valley still sell the 15 gal ones, and if so what they are going for? The links in the older posts to the part on their website don't launch, and I could not get the search on the OVA website to find anything with Roto Ace in the part description.
 
I am currently racking the beer from my 15 gallon fermentor through the top using a racking cane.

I now would like to keep the system closed throughout my brewing/fermenting/racking processes.

I would like to add a racking arm to use for moving beer and harvesting the best yeast availble.

I have read posts where people use various sealing techniques with silicone or foam products to seal the cover to the fermentor. They then pump co2 through a blow off tube to push beer into kegs.

My question is, can I simply use gravity for racking and not seal the cover so tight? I am not overly concerned about unscrewing the cover a bit to allow the syphon action to occur. A clean towel placed over the cover wouls act as an appropriate filter.

Thanks for your ideas.
 
I have two 15G fermenters that I assembled with silicone gaskets on the lid. They are not completely airtight but do hold some pressure- when I pressurize the conical with an air compressor to check the seal I get a visible expansion of the vessel, but I get no bubbles in a blow-off tube.
After touring old breweries in Belgium and seeing how they used to ferment in open tanks I've changed my mind about the importance of sealed fermentation chambers... I'm very happy with the results I get from my "semi-closed" conicals and have no problem racking off the beer by gravity.
 
+ that.

I have only done three batches in mine, never bothered with sealing the top or modifying it in any way. I just open the bottom valve and rely on gravity every time. All three have turned out great.
 
It sure gets difficult to search large and active forums for specific information. So, I am asking you folks after extensive searching.

I have a 15 gallon plastic conical. I need a blow off tube as I have leaked krausen out of the top a number of times. I will want to move wort through the tube fittings directly from my chiller into the fermentor.

I do not need the cover to be airtight.

I do need an example of a blow off tube with hopefully pictures and a list of materials.

Thanks
 
Gammon N Beer said:
It sure gets difficult to search large and active forums for specific information. So, I am asking you folks after extensive searching.

I have a 15 gallon plastic conical. I need a blow off tube as I have leaked krausen out of the top a number of times. I will want to move wort through the tube fittings directly from my chiller into the fermentor.

I do not need the cover to be airtight.

I do need an example of a blow off tube with hopefully pictures and a list of materials.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Is that with a 10 gallon batch?

I am looking to buy one, and hoping I can ferment 10 gallon batches in one.

I'd drill the lid, use food safe silicone caulk to install a hose barb and plumb us a piece of vinyl on there.

Maybe someone else has a better idea...
 
grrickar said:
Is that with a 10 gallon batch?

I am looking to buy one, and hoping I can ferment 10 gallon batches in one.

I'd drill the lid, use food safe silicone caulk to install a hose barb and plumb us a piece of vinyl on there.

Maybe someone else has a better idea...
Click to expand...

I brew 15 gallons of beer using this fermentor. It probaby holds 17-18 gallons.
 
I brewed 10 gallons of cream ale one time in this thing. Everything was great until I added a brand new pack of orange peel after about 2 weeks of fermentation. I didn't think to soak it in alcohol to sanitize before hand. Long story short I ended up with a crazy Lacto Brett infection and one year later had a kick ass sour ale. Bad side was I am going to have to throw this thing away because I cannot do sacc ferments in it anymore. Every batch I have tried since has went bad. That bacteria is engraved into the plastic.

To make matters worse I have an awesome stand hand built of wood for the fermenter.
 
jcorn said:
I brewed 10 gallons of cream ale one time in this thing. Everything was great until I added a brand new pack of orange peel after about 2 weeks of fermentation. I didn't think to soak it in alcohol to sanitize before hand. Long story short I ended up with a crazy Lacto Brett infection and one year later had a kick ass sour ale. Bad side was I am going to have to throw this thing away because I cannot do sacc ferments in it anymore. Every batch I have tried since has went bad. That bacteria is engraved into the plastic.

To make matters worse I have an awesome stand hand built of wood for the fermenter.
Click to expand...

What processes did you use to clean and sanitize the system?
 
I have tried a full pbw soak, full star San soak. I will try the 2 gallons bleach to 13 water. Also now battling a leak from where I installed a plastic sampling valve about 6 inches up
 

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