What type of fermenter is best for hard cider?

[Symons3rd]

I own a small apple orchard. I have been making hard cider for just over a year. I currently use Speidel’s Plastic 30L fermenters. I own 6. I want to increase my capacity. I am think I want the durability of stainless steel, but could be talked out of it. I currently keg in the cider in Petairner disposable kegs, so I do not need to worry about carbonating the cider.
My question is should I go for a variable volume flat bottom tank, variable volume conical, or a just a conical.
Here are links to the three I am look at.

https://www.morebeer.com/products/brewmaster-series-chronical-1-barrel.html

https://morewinepro.com/products/300l-79g-variable-volumeconical-bottom.html?a_aid=cidersageblog

https://morewinepro.com/products/speidel-290l-bo-flat-bottom-variable-volume-tank-lid.html?a_aid=cidersageblog?a_aid=cidersageblog


The Petainer keg can be found here.
https://www.petainershop-g3enterprises.com/collections/all/products/petainerkeg-20l-usd-d-npr?variant=21932223623


If you want to check out my orchard you can check here.
https://www.facebook.com/mitchellgrove/

 

[mikerlynch26]

Those kegs look very interesting, obviously I wouldn't send them out to bars but if you're being careful with them at your own place, they seem pretty cool.

For cider fermentation I don't see the need for a conical fermenter. The trub from a cider ferment is significantly less than in a beer ferment, and if you're using wine yeast, then the conical bottom may inhibit their ability to move around.

Cider makers near me use the big square 275 gal food grade totes, and they work pretty well. For smaller batches there are food grade barrels with sealing lids that might work better.

 

[bucketnative]

@mikerlynch26 nailed it. I have seen several cider (and wine) makers using the plastic cubes for fermentation vessels. I have also seen the 55-gal plastic drums being used.