Super Simple 15G Plastic Conical

[livelyjay]

The 2" clear PVC I got from McMaster Carr, part number 49035K48. It's really expensive. Hindsight being 20/20, I would have gone with straight 3" clear PVC and some different fittings and just have the 3" catch. You lose a lot of internal volume going with 2", but save a bit of money. That's why the catch is so long. The valve is chrome coated brass off eBay for $15 shipped. Everything else you guessed correct.

 

[jcorn]

The 2" clear PVC I got from McMaster Carr, part number 49035K48. It's really expensive. Hindsight being 20/20, I would have gone with straight 3" clear PVC and some different fittings and just have the 3" catch. You lose a lot of internal volume going with 2", but save a bit of money. That's why the catch is so long. The valve is chrome coated brass off eBay for $15 shipped. Everything else you guessed correct.

As much as I love your setup, I really want to find a way to use my 1 gallon clear growler as a yeast catcher! May use a 1.5 npt to 1.25 inch barb fitting. Use a clear 1 inch i.d. blowoff tube into the opened glass growler neck.

 

[jcorn]

This is the fermenter with 1.5" barb and hose to growler over the neck with clamp . Just gotta keep the sun away ...

View attachment 1491270772867.jpg

 

[shemp]

Has anyone found there tanks to have scratches/gouges inside? I was able to return my first one due to this. However, the manufacturer said he will no longer replace due to scratches. I told him it was for fermenting beer and needed to be smooth and he said that is not what its designed for so no more returns. Guess I gotta agree. The replacement was fine though.

 

[livelyjay]

Has anyone found there tanks to have scratches/gouges inside?

I honestly didn't check mine. My current fermentation is going very slowly because the temperature in my basement is sitting around 63 degrees. Once it's done I'll clean it out and check.

This batch has been weird and I'm not sure if it's from the fermenter or the temp. The foam/krausen was almost a "solid" cake at the top and I had to scoop it out with a sanitized slotted spoon. I'm also not sure about sediment since I can't see through the plastic. I had a decent amount of trub in my collector, but my sampling from the side valve had sediment in it as well. I just pulled the trub collector and put the secondary collector in place, so I guess we'll see.

 

[Dfitz]

I happened to be in the neighborhood (Indy) and was able to stop into spraysmarter to pick up a 40gal conical. I also bought the lid seal. Very clean flawless interior. So far I've installed a thermowell (@10gal mark) and sample port (@ 2gal mark) using a bulkhead fitting from morebeer. I'll be adding a glycol chiller and heating with warm water during colder months. Living in Michigan I usually don't brew in the dead of winter. Once I complete my stand fabricated of 1" black pipe (legs) and square tube braces I'll get started on the chiller which I expect to have up & running by mid summer. I have a large tank liquid C02 on hand that I fill 20lbrs with to prevent 02 intrusion during sampling, bottling, dumping etc.

I'll post up s summary soon.

 

[shemp]

Making a small "fermentation chamber" to warm up you beer is really easy. Choose any of the temp controllers out there, buy some pink foam and tape, and grab a small space heater. Make a cube that fits around your fermenter and place the heater in there. Works great and is cheap. Look for an old fridge on craigslist to use as both a chiller and heater.

 

[Jwin]

I honestly didn't check mine. My current fermentation is going very slowly because the temperature in my basement is sitting around 63 degrees. Once it's done I'll clean it out and check.

This batch has been weird and I'm not sure if it's from the fermenter or the temp. The foam/krausen was almost a "solid" cake at the top and I had to scoop it out with a sanitized slotted spoon. I'm also not sure about sediment since I can't see through the plastic. I had a decent amount of trub in my collector, but my sampling from the side valve had sediment in it as well. I just pulled the trub collector and put the secondary collector in place, so I guess we'll see.

If your basement is 63, that's pretty ideal as your fermentation will run several degrees warmer. You may need to add some heat to get it to finish. A heat pad taped to the side will work. Or point a small space heater at it. Good time to buy a space heater as they are on clearance right now.

 

[Dfitz]

I just circulate warm water heated with fish tank heaters. Things I already have on hand. Temp controlled using stc1000 on a pump.

For 10gal batches I just float a 13 gal. Poly carboy directly in the plastic 55 gal drum again heated using fish tank heaters on the stc1000

 

[livelyjay]

Just transferred to the keg today. Pretty easy to do. First I emptied and sanitized the secondary collector, hooked it up again, and cycled the valve to make sure there wasn't gunk stuck in the ball valve. Then I sanitized the tube and fittings, hook it up, and open the valve.

Next time I might just use the sampling valve to transfer, since it will be sitting above any gunk. Opening and closing the main valve with the empty secondary collector disturbs the beer because of the air bubble, so it might have stirred some gunk back into the beer. Either way I'm pretty happy, other than the leaking lid. I might just put an extremely think bead of silicone around the top to act as a gasket.

 

[Jwin]

Just transferred to the keg today. Pretty easy to do. First I emptied and sanitized the secondary collector, hooked it up again, and cycled the valve to make sure there wasn't gunk stuck in the ball valve. Then I sanitized the tube and fittings, hook it up, and open the valve.

Next time I might just use the sampling valve to transfer, since it will be sitting above any gunk. Opening and closing the main valve with the empty secondary collector disturbs the beer because of the air bubble, so it might have stirred some gunk back into the beer. Either way I'm pretty happy, other than the leaking lid. I might just put an extremely think bead of silicone around the top to act as a gasket.

Opening the empty collection port would also introduce a fair bit of oxygen. If your the kind of cat that worries about that sort of thing...

 

[jcorn]

My transfer valve is a 3/4 inch ss ball valve. Barbed end to 3/4 tubing. 3 cornies filled in under 2 mins love it haha and no "added oxygen"

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

I realize this thread has started to die, but i found one of these on c list today unused for $25 he bought to brew but never got around to it.

For those of you drilling in racking arms where are you putting them to make sure they stay above any trub/yeast?

Or are they not necessary if you use the yeast catcher??

 

[calgary222]

I have a racking arm about 4 inches up the side, with the angle, means the tip is about 5 inches. I have a pvc 1.5" valve at the bottom, so that holds a bit of trub as well. I think a couple of times I have had some trub in the line at the start, but you can simply drain this to another vessel until it runs clear.

Note, in the system I have been using to date, I don't whirlpool and I don't rims (yet), so I likely have more trub than others.

Best approach would be to find or make a rotating racking arm...

While I had plans to re-use yeast, I have yet to... however the fermenter is awesome, have had zero issues with it..

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

I have another question to ask you guys.

How are you actually draining these into a keg? Are you lifting them up? Applying pressure?

I can see how filling a keg would work with 10 gallons in, but maybe im just misunderstanding the physics behind getting the second 5 gallons out.

Will it continue to gravity feed even though eventually the level of the beer in the keg will be higher than the liquid in the conical?
I would think once the levels are the same the flow would die off? Or does it not matter as long as i keep the hose at the bottom of the keg?

 

[livelyjay]

So I drain straight through the bottom into my kegs, so gravity does all the work. The people who rack through the side port let gravity work too, but it will only work until the bottom of the side port or the bottom of the dip tube attached to the side port. Either way, whatever is the lowest point for the drain, that's how far it will drain.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

So I drain straight through the bottom into my kegs, so gravity does all the work. The people who rack through the side port let gravity work too, but it will only work until the bottom of the side port or the bottom of the dip tube attached to the side port. Either way, whatever is the lowest point for the drain, that's how far it will drain.

Thats my question though. If my fermenter is in a stand in my stand up freezer, and i stick a keg on the floor next to it, the top of the keg reaches probably the 2-3 gallon area on the conical.

Does that mean once i get down to that 2-3 gallon mark im going to lose all my gravity flow? Does it stop flowing when the liquid in my keg level is equal to that in the conical? Or does it keep flowing as long as the hose itself stays at the bottom of the keg well below the conical output?

I see people building these stands or even using the metal ones you can buy that has the output maybe a foot off the ground. I assume people arent hefting this entire stupid thing and stand up so that the entire thing is above their keg.

This is more of a physics question i suppose, just curious what to expect before i drain for the first time in a few days if it will all come out, or if those last few gallons are going to be a PITA to get out without moving it.

 

[calgary222]

I have mine on a stand, drain with gravity for my 1st 5 gallons, and probably 50% of the remaining, I usually just lift up for the rest because I am too lazy to drag out then clean my pump... plus I have a cavitation problem so its foamy with the pump....

 

[livelyjay]

That's how a drain and siphon works. When the level of the fluids is equal, it stops. You'll need to either pump it or mount the fermenter higher.

 

[Jwin]

Another option.
Two steps. Step 1 assumes you are fully purging your kegs. If not, skip to step two
1)connect as normal, conical out to liquid side of keg. ALSO connect the gas side of the keg to the conical top. You can do this with a Barb in the bunghole or whatever. Be inventive. This ensures that you are not exposing your beer to unneeded oxygen by being a closed loop.
2)once you have reached equilibrium of fluids, remove the gas out/in hose setup and hook your co2 up to the conical. This is in assumption that your conical is air tight. Again, you'll have to be inventive here, but I have faith in you. Next, push 2-3psi into the conical. No more. It will slowly begin pushing your beer into the keg. I wouldn't keep the pressure constant the first time. Just push co2 into it for 10-20 seconds and wait. When the beer stops moving, add more co2.

Hope this helps. I have a bad back and do this with every batch in my 60l Speidel that's outlet sits about a foot above the floor. I'm a bit more analretentive about O2 with purging hoses and stuff, but this is a start. A simple way I could see this working for these is to replace your bunghole with a bottling faucet, the plastic ones that cost $4 on bottling buckets. Just use a blow off through that for fermentation then use it to hook a co2 hose to.
One could, in theory/potentially close that valve near the end of fermentation as off gassing is occurring and use the built up pressure to dump trub/yeast without introducing O2, if timed well.(closed before all pressure is released)

Just food for thought. Hopefully it will help you find what works for you and your system.

 

[csabi]

Hello everyone, first time poster here.

I built the following fermenter. I can brew 10-11 gallon batches, and this holds them well. We had great results up front. Kegged the first 5 gallons off of each, with great success. However, when we went back a month or two later (after the original 6 week fermentation) the beer tasted terrible. It smelled like isopropyl alcohol, or beer flavored vodka.

The garage it is in probably got up to 70, maybe 80 degrees.

Do you think this is further fermentation is due to temperature, or oxygenation?

If I were to keg carbonate the entire batch at one time, would the flavor be maintained (if stored for a month or two)?

Appreciate everyone's thoughts,

 

[permo]

Hi folks...I have been using this as the seal adhesive on my fermenters....its amazing stuff.


http://www.sashco.com/products/lexel/

 

[augiedoggy]

Hello everyone, first time poster here.

I built the following fermenter. I can brew 10-11 gallon batches, and this holds them well. We had great results up front. Kegged the first 5 gallons off of each, with great success. However, when we went back a month or two later (after the original 6 week fermentation) the beer tasted terrible. It smelled like isopropyl alcohol, or beer flavored vodka.

The garage it is in probably got up to 70, maybe 80 degrees.

Do you think this is further fermentation is due to temperature, or oxygenation?

If I were to keg carbonate the entire batch at one time, would the flavor be maintained (if stored for a month or two)?

Appreciate everyone's thoughts,

Yes... first you exposed the remaining beer to oxygen when your removed and kegged only half which is not ideal... better to keg it all at once ort at least bottle half and keg the rest.

second, those high temps created Fusel alcohols which often taste bad and give many people bad headaches...
temp control is more important than fermenter type... I would focus on a way to control it... there are many ways to do so.


third, those agricultural tanks are made of a semipermeable plastic that allows oxygen through in small amounts making them not ideal for long term storage of beer. it becomes oxidized.

 

[shemp]

"Hi folks...I have been using this as the seal adhesive on my fermenters....its amazing stuff."





How do you remove the lid?

 

[csabi]

Appreciate the quick and concise response.

I did seal the top female thread flange with a silicone caulk, then use another weatherstrip outside the male threaded lid to seal it. Lid (which cannot be seen in pic) unscrews from top.

Our beer after the first 5 gallon batch taste just fine (actually pretty good), two oatmeal stouts, IPA's s, and Ales. Have a bit invested so no intention of giving up the system just yet.

If I do keg and carbonate all ten gallons upfront, will the second 5 gallon keg keep? If so, any guesstimates for how long?

Cheers,

 

[Jwin]

If I do keg and carbonate all ten gallons upfront, will the second 5 gallon keg keep? If so, any guesstimates for how long?

Cheers,

Sorry, are you saying you keg and carb all ten gallons, then asking how long the second keg will keep?
If so, there is a lot that plays into that question.
#1 is cold side O2 control. Purging lines, kegs etc as well as creating a closed loop or pushing the beer with co2 are vital, especially if keeping the second keg(s) at room temp.
Also, if you are keeping the second keg at room temperature, I would advise you consider keg conditioning/carbing the beers. It's as simple as adding your priming solution to the fermentor, waiting a bit for refermentation, and then transferring. It will aid in the oxygen scrubbing as well. Look into getting some cbc-1 or f-2 yeast to pitch with your priming solution. Good Incase you keg to early as they eat little to none maltotriose and also acts as a killer yeast. In short, it will help avoid overcarbing if you have a few gravity points left and keg to early.
Hope this helps.

 

[johnv51]

This is my stand for the Ace 15 gallon conical tank.