Conical fermenter advice

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Bedders1802
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Conical fermenter advice

Post by Bedders1802 » Fri Jun 12, 2020 12:07 pm

Hi all

I am ready to purchase my brewing equipment and I am wanting some advice regarding conical fermenters versus standard fermenters. What are the pros and cons and are conical fermenters better.

Many thanks

Bedders

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orlando
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Re: Conical fermenter advice

Post by orlando » Sat Jun 13, 2020 7:27 am

Bedders1802 wrote:
Fri Jun 12, 2020 12:07 pm
I am ready to purchase my brewing equipment and I am wanting some advice regarding conical fermenters versus standard fermenters. What are the pros and cons and are conical fermenters better.
I have a couple but I can't think of many reasons to choose them over a flat bottomed SS alternative. The main one that springs to mind is the ease with which you can dump the yeast. But others will point out skimming yeast from the surface is arguably more desirable. But being able to remove the yeast allows you to use the conical as a uni tank, chilling then clarifying the Beer without the need to rack off to a second vessel first. If O2 free transfers are desirable, some conicals can be pressurised to transfer to keg/cask, minimising O2 pick up. Some have also argued yeast rise through the column more easily from a conical than a flat bottom. If cost is a factor I would go flat bottomed.

They do look lovely though. :D
I am "The Little Red Brooster"

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Drinking: Southwold Again,

Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
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Cobnut
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Re: Conical fermenter advice

Post by Cobnut » Mon Jun 15, 2020 8:49 am

Sorry to hijack this thread.

I'm thinking of adding a stainless steel fermenter to my "brewery", but unsure of the best route, so seeking advice from the JBK Hive Mind.

I could go "high end" with one of these:

https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/product ... fermenter/

https://www.brewbuilder.co.uk/7gal-std- ... enter.html

Or for less than half the price, there are these (I suspect these 2 are basically from the same Chinese factory):

https://www.angelhomebrew.co.uk/en/brew ... ption-none

https://www.geterbrewed.com/brew-monk-s ... fermenter/

Anyone got any knowledge of the the latter 2, sufficient to say whether they're up to the job?

I am also curious to know whether any of these fermenters can handle brewing under pressure which I've got into the habit of doing with my fermentasaurus (35L model - not the newer Fermzilla 27/55L models). Even 5-6psi would be fine.

Thanks,

Cobnut.
Fermenting: nowt
Conditioning: English IPA/Bretted English IPA
Drinking: Sunshine Marmalade, Festbier, Helles Bock, Smokey lagery beer, Irish Export StoutCascade APA (homegrown hops), Orval clone, Impy stout, Duvel clone, Conestoga (American Barley wine)
Planning: Dark Mild, Kozel dark (ish), Simmonds Bitter, Bitter, Citra PA and more!

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orlando
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Re: Conical fermenter advice

Post by orlando » Mon Jun 15, 2020 9:40 am

I have 2 x Brewbuilder conicals (not the same as you list) and can vouch for the build quality of them so suspect you will get similar. I think Colin Miller may have the ones you list. The latter two look identical to me. I would consider the cooling stystem if you don't have "fridge" space.
I am "The Little Red Brooster"

Fermenting:
Conditioning:
Drinking: Southwold Again,

Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
Planning: Winter drinking Beer

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Jocky
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Re: Conical fermenter advice

Post by Jocky » Mon Jun 15, 2020 10:24 am

Bedders1802 wrote:
Fri Jun 12, 2020 12:07 pm
I am ready to purchase my brewing equipment and I am wanting some advice regarding conical fermenters versus standard fermenters. What are the pros and cons and are conical fermenters better.
Pros: Conicals are useful for dumping the trub and yeast out.
Cons: Their shape means they take up a lot of vertical space making them awkward to cool, which makes temperature control tricky.

Personally I'd put temperature control waaaaay above trub dumping in terms of brewing priority, so if you can figure out how to cool a conical then go for it, they're the ultimate fermenter.

But given the choice between a plastic bucket in a fridge with a temperature controller OR a stainless steel conical fermenter without cooling I'd go for the bucket in a fridge every time. I had a Grainfather conical, which was a thing of beauty, but I sold because of this very reason.

For a long time I used buckets and then the Speidel plastic fermenters. I've recently upgraded to a steel bucket: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=82605
Ingredients: Water, Barley, Hops, Yeast, Seaweed, Blood, Sweat, The swim bladder of a sturgeon, My enemies tears, Scenes of mild peril, An otter's handbag and Riboflavin.

Rankin_leigh
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Re: Conical fermenter advice

Post by Rankin_leigh » Mon Jun 15, 2020 10:46 am

I've got both the older fermentasaurus (35l) and the newer 19l fermzilla.
Both are great bits of kit. For anyone interested, the new one does have some great upgrades - the size of the butterfly is HUGE! But that does mean that the yeast collection tub is a pig to undo, even with the new gadget you get.

In relation to original question, I much prefer the ease of using a conical rather than flat bottom, although all my plastic flat bottom ones, i had to use a siphon and that's the bit that annoyed me.

What I would say, if you are starting at the very beginning, I would suggest that most brewers still have several 25l plastic fermenter/buckets kicking around as they are so useful for everything from cleaning solutions to dumping yeast etc.
So if you are starting out, doing so with a £10 bucket will never be a waste of time/money, and will give time to work out what kit is right for you.

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Jocky
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Re: Conical fermenter advice

Post by Jocky » Mon Jun 15, 2020 10:54 am

Cobnut wrote:
Mon Jun 15, 2020 8:49 am
I am also curious to know whether any of these fermenters can handle brewing under pressure which I've got into the habit of doing with my fermentasaurus (35L model - not the newer Fermzilla 27/55L models). Even 5-6psi would be fine.
None of them are meant to ferment under pressure, and I don't think they'll be very good at it anyway. While they are all air tight, I don't think the lid gasket will handle much more than a couple of PSI at best. The SS Brewtech has a PRV in the lid that releases at 2-2.5 PSI for safety.

To go to the levels of pressure that the Fermentasaurus can handle you'd need to buy a SS Brewtech Unitank.
Ingredients: Water, Barley, Hops, Yeast, Seaweed, Blood, Sweat, The swim bladder of a sturgeon, My enemies tears, Scenes of mild peril, An otter's handbag and Riboflavin.

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Re: Conical fermenter advice

Post by Cobnut » Tue Jun 16, 2020 8:49 am

Jocky wrote:
Mon Jun 15, 2020 10:54 am
To go to the levels of pressure that the Fermentasaurus can handle you'd need to buy a SS Brewtech Unitank.
For which I'd need a 2nd mortgage ;-)

Thanks.

I did find a couple of youtube reviews of the Brew Devil/Monk SS conicals which seem to say the build quality is good, but one issue might be the diameter of the dump valve (1/2" pipe/3/4" BSP tap) whereas the SS Brewtech and Brewbuilder have 1.5" TC dump.

You pays yer money...
Fermenting: nowt
Conditioning: English IPA/Bretted English IPA
Drinking: Sunshine Marmalade, Festbier, Helles Bock, Smokey lagery beer, Irish Export StoutCascade APA (homegrown hops), Orval clone, Impy stout, Duvel clone, Conestoga (American Barley wine)
Planning: Dark Mild, Kozel dark (ish), Simmonds Bitter, Bitter, Citra PA and more!

TheSumOfAllBeers
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Re: Conical fermenter advice

Post by TheSumOfAllBeers » Mon Jun 22, 2020 2:09 pm

I have upgraded my ss chronical dump valve to a butterfly valve, as the 3/4” valves don’t cut it for dumping trub/yeast/hops

Bedders1802
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Re: Conical fermenter advice

Post by Bedders1802 » Tue Jun 23, 2020 11:23 am

Thanks for the advice everyone

Bedders

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Re: Conical fermenter advice

Post by richard080561 » Wed Jun 24, 2020 11:06 pm

Jocky wrote:
Mon Jun 15, 2020 10:24 am
Bedders1802 wrote:
Fri Jun 12, 2020 12:07 pm
I am ready to purchase my brewing equipment and I am wanting some advice regarding conical fermenters versus standard fermenters. What are the pros and cons and are conical fermenters better.
Pros: Conicals are useful for dumping the trub and yeast out.
Cons: Their shape means they take up a lot of vertical space making them awkward to cool, which makes temperature control tricky.

Personally I'd put temperature control waaaaay above trub dumping in terms of brewing priority, so if you can figure out how to cool a conical then go for it, they're the ultimate fermenter.

But given the choice between a plastic bucket in a fridge with a temperature controller OR a stainless steel conical fermenter without cooling I'd go for the bucket in a fridge every time. I had a Grainfather conical, which was a thing of beauty, but I sold because of this very reason.

For a long time I used buckets and then the Speidel plastic fermenters. I've recently upgraded to a steel bucket: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=82605
I use a 25l stainless steel stockpot as a fermenter in a temperature controlled fridge. If I had room for a taller fridge I'd like a stainless conical fermenter, but for the moment agree with you, stick with the temperature control.
Richard M
Cardiff

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