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More Beer Conical Fermenters

 
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pedactyl




Joined: 01 Dec 2017
Posts: 38
Location: Seattle


PostLink    Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2019 9:01 pm    Post subject: More Beer Conical Fermenters Reply with quote


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In my city, there is a guy who is selling two More Beer 7-gallon temperature-controlled conical fermenters. He's looking for $450 a piece, looks like they go for $1300 a piece retail.

I've been thinking about replicating Kal's setup with the stainless steel buckets, etc. All the parts would run $750 or so retail. I was planning on using my existing 7cuft freezer as the fermentation keezer. Which isn't as nice as Kal's mini-fridges. Overall, not that far from $900.

Does anyone out there have an opinion on these products? Are they hard to clean? Are there any other reasons I'd want to go with a setup closer to Kals? I wasn't really planning an upgrade here, but the opportunity presented itself.
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2019 10:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The choice to go stainless bucket vs conical really depends more on your brewing process, which is not something someone else can really answer for you (and you haven't stated your requirements).

Remember that different brewers will use different types of fermentation vessels based mostly on personal preference and convenience, not because one necessarily makes better beer than another.

Much of what people (should) be buying conicals for is lost on me as I have no interest in those 'features' so I use stainless buckets. But if you need some of those features that a conical offers, then that's the way you should go. Some examples: Do you like to harvest yeast? Do you like to remove sediment before fermenting? And so forth.

Read here: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/ferment-and-package

Kal

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pedactyl




Joined: 01 Dec 2017
Posts: 38
Location: Seattle


PostLink    Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2019 11:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Always appreciate the replies kal! Thank you. I get that it's a lot of personal preference.

In my case, I'm using plastic buckets in a keezer right now, but that's not my long term solution. I don't want to mess with the buckets forever. I'm always worrying whether I have cleaned them enough or if they are scratched somewhere.

For a different setup, my only primary requirement is that all fermentation parts need to fit in my existing footprint of the current keezer which is 37" wide by 24" deep. So, I can't have two of the beverage fridges due to width restrictions. Thus the stainless steel buckets would need to live in the keezer. Based on the height of those buckets, I would need to build a 9" collar to use my current keezer (currently 5.5").

I originally thought I'd use the stainless buckets as I was similarly not sold on the 'features' of conicals. That said, what I was thinking was for just a little more I could pick up these used conical fermentors, get rid of the fermentation keezer, and skip any hassle of hauling out the stainless buckets.

Other info:
- The sink is about 15ft away
- Fermentation keezer is on a small platform ~10in tall
- I have a movable lift system that can handle 220lbs mounted to the ceiling on rails. I use this currently to lift kegs and buckets out of the keezers
- I have separate lagering and serving keezers

So, I guess I'm curious how people clean their conicals (in place?) and also how you (kal) clean your stainless steel buckets (do you haul them to the sink?)
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2019 11:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Moving heavy vessels is definitely a consideration. In fact, if you look at the specs or manuals on many of them, they'll state "do not move when full" so you need to make sure your process words for what you want to do as you may need to use pumps and whatnot. It may not be just what you can physically lift with your system as kegs/buckets are often meant to lifted when full. Many Conicals (and kettles) are not meant to be lifted by handles when full. You'd need to rig up a platform or something, but then there's the issue of getting it on/off the platform in the keezer. May not be obvious.

I clean everything in my sink.

Kettles are titled sideways and sprayed:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3A9OFUnYpj/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BtwXOjanPqE/

Cleaning kegs:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BslhUUrHQcw/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzzBNFdHb-2/

Cleaning stainless fermenting buckets:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsrloWVHiYo/

There are dozens of other videos and pictures too. Follow me on Instagram if you want to see more as I post everything I do. I post daily.

Kal

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We ship worldwide and support our products and customers for life.
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pedactyl




Joined: 01 Dec 2017
Posts: 38
Location: Seattle


PostLink    Posted: Thu Oct 03, 2019 2:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Super helpful, thank you! You've given me a number of things to consider. Appreciate the instagram links too.
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Thu Oct 03, 2019 2:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good luck!

Kal

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We ship worldwide and support our products and customers for life.
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pedactyl




Joined: 01 Dec 2017
Posts: 38
Location: Seattle


PostLink    Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 11:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Circling back to this. I went ahead and bought these because they were really reasonably priced and were in good condition.

I've done a few brews with these now. No lagers yet, so I can't tell you exactly how low I can get the temp, but I bet 20-30F below ambient is possible without any problems.

Pros:
- They don't take up much floor space, which was fairly important in my small area.
- You can dump the yeast out of the bottom? I'm not sure if I care.
- With an attachment you can push a few psi of CO2 into the top head space of the conical and push the beer out of the line at the bottom. Very little if any beer contacts O2 as long as you purge the receiving keg with CO2.
- They're on wheels, so I can get them next to my sink. I think this is an add-on, but mine had them.
- Easy to dry hop
- Stainless which is better than the plastic buckets I was using
- Looks cool

Cons:
- Many parts to sanitize. There's seriously tons of parts. See pics below.
- When cleaning you have to avoid getting the insulation too wet.
- They're on wheels, but are not very stable when moving full of beer. You need a very smooth surface to roll these. My concrete floor works fine but I go very slowly.
- Noisy when cooling. Each basically have an older style computer fan running at full tilt.
- Expensive (when compared with a keezer fermentor I was using.)

I got a good deal on these, but would I do it again? Yes, but mostly just because the used pricing was so reasonable. It would have cost me more to duplicate what Kal uses. That said, I think I would actually prefer Kal's setup. I would need more space, but his equipment seems better for overall maintenance. I really wish I could just hose these out in the sink and not worry about getting anything wet. Plus he seems to have less parts to sanitize.




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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2020 11:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice fermenters!
pedactyl wrote:
That said, I think I would actually prefer Kal's setup. I would need more space, but his equipment seems better for overall maintenance. I really wish I could just hose these out in the sink and not worry about getting anything wet. Plus he seems to have less parts to sanitize.

The reasons you write here are exactly why I chose what I did. I didn't want to spend 2 hours dis-assembling/cleaning/re-assembling.

People say brewing is 80% cleaning. Why make it 99% cleaning? Wink

Kal

_________________
Our new shop with over 150 new products: shop.TheElectricBrewery.com
We ship worldwide and support our products and customers for life.
Purchasing through our affiliate links helps support our site at no extra cost to you. We thank you!
My basement/bar/brewery build 2.0
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