Thinking About Upgrading

[BrewbieVet3]

Thanks to all in advance for their recommendations!

I’ve been brewing beer and cider for several years using glass big mouth bubblers and a temperature-controlled chest freezer. I’m thinking about upgrading fermentation vessels, and have seen stainless steel conical fermenters that are temperature regulated. They’re expensive, but seem like the next step up in my brewing experience. Anyone have any experience with these?

On a similar note, I have never kegged-only bottle conditioned. Any recommendations on getting started in kegging?

Thanks!

 

[bracconiere]

Any recommendations on getting started in kegging?

you need kegs, a co2 cylinder w/regulator, a fridge. and tubing? sorry if i'm just being captain obvious

 

[BrewbieVet3]

Thanks—any particular model/brand recommendations? No apology necessary, I have zero experience with kegging.

 

[bracconiere]

I have zero experience with kegging.

i'm an amateure myself. just sayin' that's what you need and still all i use. some people get crazy with it though!

there was a guy selling used kegs, with the QDs you need here. i picked up two from him, i believe he might have 3 left. $20 each plus shipping. if you want i can find the thread, and you can ask if he still has them. then you can wait till that right garage sale where someone has an old fridge. find your welding shop and buy a tank for swapping.

so like $60-70 for kegs. $60-70 for regulator, tubings pretty cheap. then i'd say like $150-200 for a 20lb co2 tank, only have to buy it once, only costs around $30 to swap once every few years. probably could get a fridge for $50.

 

[NewJersey]

I never bottled, lol. Started with kegs. Love it
I don't know often you plan to brew, but I ferment one beer at a time and for that reason I like fermenting in a freezer with an inkbird and a small space heat inside with fermenter.
No dealing with condensation. Cold crashing is fast, no iced up coils, and I go as low as 28⁰ with ease.
I use a spike flex + that I like a lot. I ferment under light pressure usually (using a blichmann sounding valve AS the blowoff)
When I cold crash I put it on co2 at 10psi.
This is nice because I avoid vacuum and start carbonating the beer even more. This fermenter is easily capable of closed transfers and it's very easy to do.
If I could do it over I would get a CF5, but I'm still pretty happy with what I have.
I made my kegerator out of a fridge/freezer that I still use the upper freezer part of. Recently switched all duo tight fittings and the smaller ID Eva barrier lines for gas and liquid. Putting them together and taking them apart when needed is the easiest thing in the world and I get perfect pours with 5.5' length lines. Love it.
I've had a kegerator for ever and got a 100lbs co2 tank and refill my 3 5lb tanks from it. SO convenient.
Enjoy your journey down the rabbit hole

 

[bracconiere]

perfect pours with 5.5' length lines.

i forgot to say that's important! i use 10' 3/16" now, so much better then my 12' 1/4" lines

 

[FswBG]

Conical fermenters are really game changers imo, but typically come down to personal preference, price, and should align with how you plan on using it. I love my Spike conical, but I don't have anything 'against' the SS Brewtech, anvil, blich, etc, they all fundamentally work the same. There are just a few key differences that drove me towards spike. There's a lot of really good info in this thread. I would say just start absorbing the info/feedback to help inform your decision.

SS brew buckets or PET conicals might also be another viable option. Not sure of your budget/situation, but getting into conicals AND kegging can be quite the investment.
A few things to consider:

1. You mentioned you have a chest freezer. Is it standing and/or will you still have room for a conical plus kegs (futureproofing)? The logistics of getting a full conical in and out of a keezer style freezer may pose some challenges. People typically either use up-rights or go the glycol route.

2. Some of the major benefits of conicals revolve around using CO2 for moving the beer around (O2-less to kegs), CO2 flushed dry hop additions, and carbonation while conditioning (Brite). However, you can get creative and capture natural CO2 by 'capping' the airlock/blowoff valve when close to FG. I hope I'm not coming across as steering you away from conicals. Just some things to consider as you're weighing your options.


cheers!

 

[Jag75]

I purchased my kegerator and torpedo kegs from morebeer. 2 tap , wish I'd of got the 3 tap . Great kegerator . Has the fan , wide temp settings to allow you to ferment if you dont have any beer on tap.

Spike cf5 fermenter with a diy gylcol chiller . I really like spike equipment.

 

[oakbarn]

Buy used kegs. They are better. You can replace parts if needed, but most sell with pressure test. They may not look pristine, but they are inside a Kegerator.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Unless the keg has a HUGE dent or the handles are missing then you are good to go. The main gaskets, relief valve, etc are replaceable.

Too bad we are not closer to each other as I have extra Pepsi and Coke kegs I'd give you.

 

[apache_brew]

All great advice above.

Kegerators are easy to build if you’re somewhat handy. I say look for an older bottom fridge top freezer. They typically hold 4-6 kegs. Duotight fittings and Eva barrier lines seem to be the latest and greatest when it comes to kegerator lines. Perhaps consider using flare connections when building, if you do so, that you could swap out line type for other conventional lines or vice versa in the future if you want to. (Will also make it easier to adapt to serving commercial kegs if you ever want to)

If you only have one CO2 tank, consider a dual regulator so that you can keep one pressure on your kegerator constant, and have a spare loose line that can be independently regulated for pressurizing other things (purging kegs, transferring beer, burst carbonating individual kegs, etc...) Taprite makes solid regulators. Combination check/isolation valves are nice to have in CO2 manifolds. CM Becker (German) seems to be the standard for corny keg couplers. Forward sealing stainless taps and shanks are my default (I don’t like the idea of chrome plating wearing away into my beer and brass being in direct contact)

If you go the conical route, I say go all in with something rated for pressure like a unitank (15-30 psi) The value in fermenting, dropping yeast, dry hopping, fining, and carbonating, hell even serving in the same vessel is pretty damn enticing if you ask me. Glycol and strip heat is the sexy way to temp control them, but if you have a big enough upright fermentation enclosure, you’re set.

My budget approach is to ferment in sankey kegs, but the drawback for me atleast is not being able to harvest yeast, as well as requiring multiple vessels (more cleaning) to end up with brite/carbonated beer. Nice part is that they’re robust and can handle up to 60 psi (max).

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

@apache_brew please check MoreBeer or AIH for deals on kegs we homebrewers we normally use.

 

[BrewbieVet3]

Thanks to everyone who helped! Decided to go stainless steel conical with glycol chiller and put the chest freezer back to use with frozen food! (After the cider is done clarifying, of course!)