Super Simple 15G Plastic Conical

[Artifishal]

I used to have a yeast catcher like you. I used it twice then stopped because I didn't trust that I wast able to clean it well enough.

Your grinding grains thought could very well be it too. Lots of wild yeast and bacteria in that dust.View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1431391888.016605.jpg

 

[permo]

next batch I will ditch the yeast trap to eliminate a variable...so long as the batch I am fermenting continues down the non infected path.

Update, I removed the yeast catcher and harversted some Ringwood 1187 today for future use. So far so good.

 

[Artifishal]

next batch I will ditch the yeast trap to eliminate a variable...so long as the batch I am fermenting continues down the non infected path.



Update, I removed the yeast catcher and harversted some Ringwood 1187 today for future use. So far so good.

Permo, I bet you will like this. I absolutely love doing it this way now. So much cleaner and gives you a sight glass into the conical for the entire fermentation.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1431718217.703843.jpg

 

[permo]

Oh wow.

 

[thomasjr16]

@ artifishal - could you show another view of the catcher from the top down so that I can see how you connected the TC to the lid. Did you just silver solder them together? Thanks

 

[Bigdaddyale]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=423808

 

[Artifishal]

@ artifishal - could you show another view of the catcher from the top down so that I can see how you connected the TC to the lid. Did you just silver solder them together? Thanks

I've got it two different ways.

The one pictured, I had a local welding shop weld a 1.5" ferrule to a stainless steel disk with a hole in it.

An easier way to go, but not ideal for me, is to just use a 2" to 1" cap style reducer from Brewers hardware. The diameter is perfect for a regular mouth jar. I had to grind down the thickness of it on my bench grinder because it was too thick to get the threads of the band to bite on the jar. That is not the case with the wide mouth jars, they will screw down without any grinding, but I can't find 2.5" to 1.5" cap reducers anywhere for a decent price. Another reason is prefer the wide mouth jars is because they make them in half gallon size and that will allow you to brew a ten gallon batch and have about half to 3/4 of it fill with yeast cake and you still have a sight glass into your brew. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1431863521.292344.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1431863547.090755.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1431863578.402500.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1431863624.122768.jpg

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1431863660.628134.jpg


Oh, and it works just as well with pvc threaded pieces and valves but I got tired of taking them all apart and pulling off the Teflon tape and re taping it every time. Plus I didn't trust the plastic. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1431863828.134705.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1431863865.010636.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1431863886.227444.jpg

So if anyone knows of a place we can get 2.5" to 1.5" tri clover cap style reducers, please share.

 

[permo]

Wow that is awesome!

My final update is that 8 days after brewing and pitching yeast, I am drinking the Ringwood fermented English Bitter that I made and it is free of infection.

My new cleaning schedule is as follows.

1. Rack the beer out of the fermenter

2. Fill with a few gallons of hot water oxyclean mix and open racking port and main valve to gently clean them

3. Fill entire fermenter with lid on with hot water and oxyclean all the way to the top to clean the fermenter.
I leave this solution in until my next brew day a week or two later

4. Before I rack the beer to the fermenter and pitch yeast I dump the oxyclean solution and rinse with fresh hot water to remove residue

5. Star san the crap out of everything seconds before filling with beer and pitching yeast.


my yeast catcher worked, but I am thinking its not really worth the trouble.

 

[Artifishal]

Yes, I agree that the yeast catcher would not be worth the trouble unless you were able to have the sightglass like I do and the ability to repitch the yeast. If you're not going to reuse it and can't see it you might as well just leave it in the bottom of the cone and dump it toward the end.

I do have a concern about your number three above. Where you said you would leave it until your next brew day for a week or two. I'm pretty sure that Oxsee clean and PBW will break down plastic if you leave it in that long. I remember listening to an interview with the CEO of the starsan Company think it's called five star or something. Anyways he said that you should not leave PBW or oxy clean in your corny kegs for more than two days because it would break down the stainless steel. I'm pretty sure he said not to leave it in your 5 gallon bucket for more than 24 to 48 hours also.

You would be fine filling it up and leaving it with a star san solution for two weeks though. I would suggest cleaning it all out and letting the stars and solution sit.

Can anyone else confirm this idea?

 

[permo]

You would be fine filling it up and leaving it with a star san solution for two weeks though. I would suggest cleaning it all out and letting the stars and solution sit.

Can anyone else confirm this idea?

Will fill her with star san solution tonight

 

[thomasjr16]

Will fill her with star san solution tonight

You could definitely fill to the brim but all you really need is about 1-2 mins of contact time if you spray the inside using a squirt bottle.

For Star San to be effective, you need roughly 30 sec of "wet" contact which means fully submerged or 1-2 mins of the sprayed solution.

My cleaning regiment for kegs, carboys, pails, and the conical is the same. Good hot water scrub, PBW wash if really dirty, rinse, and Star San spray - all after being emptied or before first use. When I need to use it again, I give it a quick rinse then Star San spray again.

 

[kickflip_mj]

View attachment 271076View attachment 271077View attachment 271078

Fixed my leak with those stainless pipe hose clamps. Its an awesome rig so far! 15 gallons of dead guy fermenting away.

is that what 15 gallons looks like in those conicals?

 

[Artifishal]

Yeah, that's why the sight jar is key, imo. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1431992650.517855.jpg

 

[helterscelter]

Yeah, that's why the sight jar is key, imo. View attachment 279002

Damn that looks cool. Might try to do this with my fast ferment Conicals

 

[permo]

is that what 15 gallons looks like in those conicals?

Yes sir. I do about 15.5 gallons per batch and there is just enough headspace to avoid having blowoff, I do have a tube in place though.

 

[kickflip_mj]

Yes sir. I do about 15.5 gallons per batch and there is just enough headspace to avoid having blowoff, I do have a tube in place though.

Guess who will be picking up 4 of those! Which tank is that?

 

[Artifishal]

Damn that looks cool. Might try to do this with my fast ferment Conicals

I don't own the fast ferment but want one really bad. The only way I would do it is if you could swap their opaque collection bottle for something like this. Please let me know how it works. Very interested.

 

[permo]

Just an update here. I have ceased the usage of the yeast catcher and have been practicing the following cleaning and sanitizing regimen and have ran three successful batches through.

1. 24 hour hot water oxiclean soak. Full 18-19 gallon fill and put the lid on it overnight.


2. When beer wort chiller is running post boil I fill the fermenter up to the top with hot water and star san with the lid on. Totally full. I then let this solution sit in the fermenter until I am ready to rack the beer. Then I empty it, being sure to run the solution through the dump valve and racking port valve. Close everything up and insert the beer and yeast.


I really enjoy using this fermenter.

 

[Artifishal]

Very nice. Should work perfectly. I do the same, except for the full fill starsan part, I just spray mist it with star san solution.

Ive done 8 batches in mine so far with success.

 

[Artifishal]

Fruit flies!

On my current batch, fruit flies are getting into my chamber some how. I was away for four days and when I came home I saw two in there. I'm sure that means there are more. I made some little Apple cider vinegar traps and will figure out where to spray some "Great Stuff" sealing foam, but for now, if they are making it into my beer, since my screw lid is still just stock and not air tight, am I going to have to dump this batch?

I know a lot of you went through great lengths to make it air tight and some did not, like me. Anyone else have fruit flies get in? And what happened?

 

[thomasjr16]

I haven't had a fruit fly in the finished batch but I did I have a fly or two in a starter I made for my triple once. I used the "very sophisticated and scientific" smell test. Everything smelled normal and the beer fermented and turned out great. I'd roll the dice and hope the alcohol content on the beer wards off any negative effects.

 

[Artifishal]

I put three vinegar traps in there and they are quickly collecting a lot of flies. I'm hopeful there are not that many in my brew. I hope they can't get in there through the space between the lid assembly and the conical. We shall see in about s week.

I'm thinking of turning on two computer fans aimed at it to deter them. I also read they hate the smell of cloves. I'm going to try that tomorrow.

 

[Jwin]

Fruit flies nest and breed in damp places. Floor drains, dirty mops, etc

 

[Artifishal]

Well it ended up perfectly fine. They never made it into the fermenter. I'm brewing another batch in there now and pretty confident they can't get in. It's not even air tight.

Back in love with this Super Simple 15G Plastic Conical!

 

[permo]

Just an update here that my fermenter is functioning perfectly and I am planning building another. This will put my at 1 barrel capacity! I find that I can brew 16.5 gallon batches with no problem in this vessel. It is all about cleaning and sanitizing.

 

[Artifishal]

Awesome news Permo! I am on my 13th batch with mine. Every one has been fine.

I clean carefully with a cloth by hand and am always careful when filling with the hose as to not scratch it.

About how many are you at?

 

[permo]

9 successful batches. I fill mine with hot oxyclean solution and soak it overnight. Then drain and rinse. I then use the hot water from my wort chiller to fill it again with water and add starsan to sanitize the entire unit. No issues since I started this protocol and I am not going to change it!

 

[chapusin]

Here's what I do. Heat 2 gallons of water to 160-180. Transfer water to fermenter and put some pbw in there. Recirculate from bottom valve to lid with a march pump and using a McMaster plastic spray ball. Leave it alone for 20 minutes. Dump water. Rinse. Close. On brew day, same procedure but with star San and no rinse.

 

[Artifishal]

9 successful batches. I fill mine with hot oxyclean solution and soak it overnight. Then drain and rinse. I then use the hot water from my wort chiller to fill it again with water and add starsan to sanitize the entire unit. No issues since I started this protocol and I am not going to change it!

I do the same but I was using one oz. of oxyclean per gallon. Yes, that's a lot. 15 ounces! After doing that for all my batches up till the current one, and realizing much of it was just in a solid clump in the bottom I looked into how much others are using. Somewhere in this forum I found a few people saying 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons. That's about one oz. for the entire thing instead of 15 ounces. I did this one oz. this time and currently have a batch fermenting away. I'm sure it's fine, but I'll post if it's infected.

I also use star San after I rinse out the oxyclean and right before I brew but only with a spray bottle.

My question is. How much oxyclean do you guys use?

 

[permo]

I just use one of the scoops that come in the tub and it cleans it just fine with no scrubbing needed.