Conical Fermenters

Buying, building and using brewing equipment and apparatus. Product reviews and questions.

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dartedplus
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Conical Fermenters

Post by dartedplus »

With Christmas almost upon us, the avid homebrewer is no doubt adding many "toys" to his/her Christmas list. I would like a conical fermenter, but before it goes on the list I wanted to know what people thought of them first. Specifically, I'm looking at the 8 gallon plastic one that you can dump the trub out the bottom and it has a racking arm. To me this seems like a great thing, since you dont have to rack your beer to a secondary and it will make it much simpler for bottling. Does anyone know of any drawbacks or major problems with these things?????
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Mesa Maltworks
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Plastic Conis'..

Post by Mesa Maltworks »

These work quite well. The only thing you have to watch is that the lids seal ok and that you never clean the interior with anything more abrasive than a sponge. The same rule applies for primary plastic bucket fermenters. You must be careful not to scratch them or you will end up with bacterial contamination that won't go away. You will also have to use a sanitizer that does not stain the plastic such as oxine, starzene, unscented bleach etc... In other words, avoid iodine containing products or sanitizers that are dyed purple. Also, the out port on the bottom will need to be cleaned very well. Get a sponge or VERY soft bristled brush for this task.
McBees
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Ask me in a few

Post by McBees »

I've got one on order and am expecting here within the week, once I use it i'll gladly let you know what I(we) think of it.
dartedplus
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Thanks

Post by dartedplus »

Thanks for the info, do you prefer one brand over another, which would you recommend?? I'm looking in the $100-140 range. The stainless are out of my range, unfortunately!!!
dartedplus
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OK...let me know

Post by dartedplus »

Where did you get it from?? I know there are only a couple of companies out there that are making them right now. Before you have used it and gotten back to me, I will most likely have gotten one, but I want to know about your experience with it either way. Best of luck with it. Ed
McBees
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Update on conical

Post by McBees »

We ordered it through discount brew.com. I am pretty sure it was a "ship direct" thing since it took a little longer to get here than expected. We made a weizenbock in it, everything to this point has worked pretty well. Had some questions as to why the lid did not fit snug---was told it shouldnt matter due to the force being expelled from the fermentation. One point of interest and info for you. If you put ball valves on it as we did, make sure the lever is pointing in toward the cone of the fermentor when closed. Ours was pointed the other way and when we went to put the fermentor into the base we opened the lever and got about 1 qt of wort all over the kitchen floor----wasnt a very pretty site when the "woman of the house" saw what was going on. Other than that, "PROSIT"
andytv
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Plastic Conis OK so far

Post by andytv »

I bought a 15gal plastic (HDPE) conical fermentor a month or two ago and am impressed up to this point. I have a batch in it now that is in it's second week. I had no trouble removing the trub after one week, and it was very easy to collect the yeast for re-use.

If you ask me, I think that the plastic conis are great.
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