Stainless Conicals

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ochiburi

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These keep coming down in price... I see mr.lard is selling them sub £300 now and the SS Brewtech ones can be had at around the £315 level.

I have a couple of plastic buckets, but these fermenters are so much more sexy. Surely my beer will taste even better? :wink:

Seriously though, who has used these and whaddyathink?
 
Not using your listed ones, but have a stainless steel conical (from the days when they cost a bit more!).
Secondary fermentation vessel? Na. Just open the bottom valve to purge out all the gunk in the conical section and slap on a air lock. Syphon tubes are things of the past too, just open the "racking" valve and pipe directly into the casks (actually have a little pump to help this along). I can fit one of those stainless steel air stones into the bottom valve (1/2" bsp) and aerate the wort at the start (okay, those ss air stones need a bit of wack, so had to get a 12V car tyre pump, some serious sized filters, and a 20A 12V supply to do this). Does it make better beer? Well the fermenting beer doesn't get mucked about with so much, and I was never entirely happy with plastic buckets, so perhaps? But it's the niggly little jobs I don't have to do any more (and that always got put off to another day) that makes the real difference.
Disadvantages? Mines a 65 litre fermenter: I can do 40 litre batches, but nothing smaller. And they are a bit more fiddly to clean because they're heavy (and careful what you use, I left some steriliser in it the first time it got used; panic and dismay, but got put right). And... they're still flippin' expensive!
 
Not using your listed ones, but have a stainless steel conical (from the days when they cost a bit more!).
Secondary fermentation vessel? Na. Just open the bottom valve to purge out all the gunk in the conical section and slap on a air lock. Syphon tubes are things of the past too, just open the "racking" valve and pipe directly into the casks (actually have a little pump to help this along). I can fit one of those stainless steel air stones into the bottom valve (1/2" bsp) and aerate the wort at the start (okay, those ss air stones need a bit of wack, so had to get a 12V car tyre pump, some serious sized filters, and a 20A 12V supply to do this). Does it make better beer? Well the fermenting beer doesn't get mucked about with so much, and I was never entirely happy with plastic buckets, so perhaps? But it's the niggly little jobs I don't have to do any more (and that always got put off to another day) that makes the real difference.
Disadvantages? Mines a 65 litre fermenter: I can do 40 litre batches, but nothing smaller. And they are a bit more fiddly to clean because they're heavy (and careful what you use, I left some steriliser in it the first time it got used; panic and dismay, but got put right). And... they're still flippin' expensive!

On the plus side:
Yeah, I do like the idea of just dumping the yeast to wash/chuck as appropriate. I never thought about aeration through the bottom valve, that aso sounds like a very good plan. I bought a can of compressed O2 (welding supplies) and a cheap regulator and I dangle the airstone in my buckets, but that could easily be adapted as you describe.

But some more questions
Size: the ones I mentioned are both a bit smaller than yours (ss brewtech 26L /7 US gallons, brewbuilder 7 imp gallons/36L). Triclamp fittings, 3 piece taps. Probably still quite heavy. I am assuming its possible to brew a smaller batch in them - like my usual corny sized batches? :?: Moving it when full also could be a problem unless it was on wheels.:wha:

Temp control could be more of a challenge as I am guessing a converted fridge is now less of an option? :?: Need a cold room?:wha:

I am guessing bigger breweries don't clean their conicals by hand, so what do they do? Soak with PBC or some such?:wha:
 
Here's piccie of my conical. They bottom valve is plumbed into the "waste", actually attached to a hand bilge pump! The bilge pump further makes it possible to leave this monster where it is. Don't be afraid of the "tri-clover" fitting, they are cheap and easy to get hold of if you don't mind waiting (off Ebay, from China, takes about 1 week to a month).

On the floor is that ss air-stone, threaded into another "tri-clover" fitting.

Your conicals will easily handle a "cornie" sized brew (5 US gallons ...ish).

Yeah, cooling might be an issue. I could get my conical with fitted cooling jackets (expensive!), but didn't.

2015-08-04 11.20.04.jpg
 
Nice! Looks very sturdy and solidly built. Where did you get it?

OK so I see the dump port at the bottom and I assume the racking port is the low one on the conical section? Whats the higher port above the conical bit just below the temp guage? I am assuming the lid clamps on somehow and there is another port on top for a blow off/air lock?

:cheers:
 
Ahh... that third port! Very important. Can't operate it without one!

A sampling port.

Okay, so I just can't wait. But it is handy for checking SG (some will say you don't need to do it quite as often as I do). Refractometer is useful for this; don't want to be mucking about with vast samples and fragile hydrometers, and those I do take out can spare a few drops for the refractometer before being committed to the real purpose for samples (slurp).

Conical from Willis European in Staffs. They are happiest talking 1000s of litres but will support our more modest requirements. But remember, 65 litres is still big! And the lid is a substantial bit of steel that clamps like a "tri-clover" fitting. Two hands never seems enough to fit them (along with silicone sealing ring that has a mind of its own!). And the lid has a 1/2" bsp tap for air-locks, etc.
 

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