Conical Fermenters

[Doug95624]

I'm looking to invest in a conical fermenter, but am a little torn on what to invest in. The Beer, Beer, & Beer products looks cool, but are overpriced. I need something that I can control temperature better (cooling, not heating), but am not going to pay a grand for a 12.2g unit (if I'm going to spend that much, I'll buy a welder, take welding classes, and build my own)...

Wondering why there aren't smaller scale glycol jacketed units out there. I know it would drive the cost up (per unit), but would be far more efficient at controlling temperature, and would allow for expandability (multiple fermenters running at the same time).

Just curious if anyone out there as experience building their own, or has a better line on these products...

[brewmonkey]

I have been looking into a few options myself. The ones from morebeer.com are outrageously expensive.

Check out these.

http://www.williamsbrewing.com

look up Conical, it won't let me link directly to the search.



My idea is to grab 2 of these (12.2 USG) and 2 more cheap fridges with some thermostats on them.

All the benefits of a temp controlled fermentation AND I am thinking if I convert one of the fridges into a keg fridge as well, when I am done using it as a cold room I will just throw the kegs in there and serve from it.

If you grab the 12.2, a thermostat and a fridge you will come in below the 1K mark.

The problem with grabbing a small jacketed tank is that you will still need a chiller. With the chiller you will have to add a spot for it and have the electricity in place for it, etc...

A 1bbl uni-tank jacketed can be had for about $2300 (price we were quoted when looking for a prop tank). That was new and manufactured to our specs. A chiller for it would run about the same.

www.nabrewing.com usually has some neat equipment up for grabs.

[Doug95624]

I've checked out the Williams Brewing stuff, and they are definitely cheaper, and/but far fewer bells and whistles...

Have also checked out nabrewing.com, but am not equipt to take on most of their stuff at my house (or at the least would have a hard time convincing the wife that I needed a 5+bbl system)....

I like your idea of single wall fermenters into refridgerators, and would suggest taking it a step further:

Take a 17+ Cubic Ft. Chest Freezer (about $275 new at Sears). Pull off the top, and configure a 36" 'insulated extension' to the top, refitting the top. You'd need to retrofit access to the interior through this extension, but would allow you 60+" of space to fit at least 3 Conicals. You'd still need to retrofit a thermostat, and the downside is that you're stuck on a single temp (Lagers vs. Ales).

You can pickup "cheaper" conical parts cones at:

http://www.toledometalspinning.com/

and other parts at:

http://www.undergrounddigital.com/zymico.html

to complete a much cheaper conical (than Williams or Morebeer).

If anyone has other ideas, I'd be happy to hear them... Am not going to completely abondon the scaled down glycol solution...

Thanks..

[brewmonkey]

Over at North American Brewing they have some smaller systmes and they also custom build systems. If you really wanted to get high speed, they could do it. But anytime you modify the price goes up.

[danno]

Doug, you need to shop around a bit for Zymie's stuff, Northern Brewer (http://www.northernbrewer.com/weldless.html) has it cheaper across the board...

[Doug95624]

North American definitely has some neat stuff, and I check in there from time to time to see what's new...

Northern has some cheaper Conicals, but I'm still looking at almost $600 for a 12.2, and that's without any enviromentals...

Still hunting.

[brewmonkey]

A buddy was over today and reminded me of this site.

www.brewtree.com

http://www.brewtree.com/page/page/809400.htm

Basically you will need to find a welder to help, but you can build your uni-tank for a lot less then most sell for.

A lot of them are using the hoppers made by

http://www.brewtree.com/catalog/item/809400/406510.htm

www.toledometalspinning.com

Part # TMS20513 is the 14 USG hopper

and

Part # TMS201014 is the 21 USG hopper.


You can put all the pieces together and they also have the weldless racking arm and bottom out. Some effort on the owners part, but will be a lot cheaper then some of the other options.

Get with a local welder and they could build you a stand for it.

[toneyc]

And most welders love beer almost as much as we do!

:)
Toney.

[ray m]

Doug.....I know this suggestion won't address your desires for ability to perform temperature control, but have you looked at plastic conicals, or do you have your heart absolutely set on a temp-controlled stainless one.

I have a V-vessel that I got for $149-----it's friggin' awesome. If I won the lotto, I would buy everyone on this board one!!!!!

[brewmonkey]

Originally posted by ray m
Doug.....I know this suggestion won't address your desires for ability to perform temperature control, but have you looked at plastic conicals, or do you have your heart absolutely set on a temp-controlled stainless one.

I have a V-vessel that I got for $149-----it's friggin' awesome. If I won the lotto, I would buy everyone on this board one!!!!!

And we are holding you to that! :D

[denver brewhoo]

how married are you to stainless as your material? Because there's a lower cost plastic option, designed for homebrewing,around $225 at brewshops everywhere..... and an even lower cost plastic option originally manufactured as a chemical tank from USPlastic---talking around 50 bucks. that plus a fridge plus a temp controller easily under $350 apiece, assuming $70 for the controller and $225 for a cheap fridge.....

everybody says, oh but you'll scratch your plastic fermenter then it becomes a haven for bacteria....I don't see it. if you clean it w/ a slow PBW soak, you don't scrub; how you gonna scratch it?

[brewmonkey]

Originally posted by denver brewhoo
how married are you to stainless as your material? Because there's a lower cost plastic option, designed for homebrewing,around $225 at brewshops everywhere..... and an even lower cost plastic option originally manufactured as a chemical tank from USPlastic---talking around 50 bucks. that plus a fridge plus a temp controller easily under $350 apiece, assuming $70 for the controller and $225 for a cheap fridge.....

everybody says, oh but you'll scratch your plastic fermenter then it becomes a haven for bacteria....I don't see it. if you clean it w/ a slow PBW soak, you don't scrub; how you gonna scratch it?

I was just looking at that site today (USPlastic). I would have to disagree, even with a good PBW soak not all the residue will be removed and you will be left with some organic material that will need to be scrubbed off. They will require some manual scrubbing and even with a soft pad they can be scratched. Microscopic though they may be, they can harbor bacteria that will set you back a brew.

That said, even if they become scratched the price is low enough that you could buy a new one every other year and still be ahead of the game.

[Fast_Eddy]

I have buddy that is capable of military grade welding(has to pass X-ray tests) - I think I need to fly him to Texas for a week and let him build stuff for me.

[Doug95624]

Going to Stainless is my priority at this point. I gave up on plastic years ago (everyone has their opinion on Plastic, I simply won't use it anymore).

I have been using Glass for the last few years, and it works great (have never had a bad contamination). While brewing over this last weekend, I discovered scratch marks on the interior of my Primary Carboys. I guess I never thought that could happen. Granted, they are about 4 years old, and I brew twice a month. I've never had a contamination problem, but don't feel comfortable using these carboys anymore.

Since I need to switch out my Primary fermenters, I thought now might be the time to seriously look into Conicals. Additionally, I want to start seriously harvesting yeast, and conicals make that possible.

My big problem now is temperature. My garage is 95+ in the Summer, down to 55 in the Winter, and can get sporatic day by day. I built a "Chill Box" with an AC unit that allows me to ferment Ales in the Summer (I can easily maintain 65-70), and may consider revamping it to the dimensions of whatever conicals I go with. It still won't allow me to Lager in the Winter months, unless I either buy a dedicated fridge, or come up with another method.

I like the parts ideas everyone has thrown out there. I can at least save some on whatever I end up going with...

Thanks again