Conical Fermenters - Whats that all about then?

[Beardy]

I've been reading the Conical Fermenter cupboard threads with interest. I need to build another shed before I can start on that carry on, but I was wondering what advantage they have over other fermenters. I've done some googling and searched on here a little bit, and discovered that it allows you to draw the sediment of mid ferment, but now why you'd do it. Go one, tell me, you know you want to

[greenxpaddy]

My guess is they reckon the trub adds off flavours. Handy for drawing off some yeast to cultivate?

[Kev888]

Ah well, now you're talking Okay, so i wish my conical was a bit better, but it still works and therin lies the benefits. To be frank in my case its mostly about convenience as many things can be done with bucket FVs, just less easily.

The main thing for me is (as you say) yeast harvesting: aside from a bit of sanitising you just open the tap; its very quick and easy and you can do this at any time. I find this very useful if say i want to make some splits or something when convenient, rather than when the beer is racked. Its also useful if you want to collect the yeast before dry hopping litters it with hoppy particles (or if you use finings before they bring stuff down too). If you like to let things settle for a few weeks after fermentation you can drain most of the yeast off so the beer isn't sitting on it as well. You can of course do similar things with bucket FVs and/or racking to secondary and so on, but a conical just makes it easier.

Also because the yeast settles in a taller cone rather than a wide flat cake its easier to be selective about what stage of yeast sediment you collect; e.g. the stuff at the bottom may be yeast that was unusually floculant or died prematurely and may also contain more particles carried over from the boiler, the stuff at the top may be the less floculent cells and mixed in with crudd from when the frothy top sank etc. You just need to decide at what stage during the yeast draining you want to collect the cells from. I believe you can even collect yeast from the sides with the racking arm but i've not done that yet myself.

I also enjoy racking with the conical, though its not a biggie. You can drain the yeast off but I find some still sticks to the sides at the bottom of the cone which you may not want to catch, however because the tank is narrow down at the end of the racking arm, if you choose to leave say 1" behind the volume left is very small compared to a wider bucket. The rotating racking arm allows me to do that quite easily, adjusting the height at which beer is removed as one can do with a racking cane, yet still maintaining the ease of a tap - for all my tank is 130L I can be very precise towards the end of the racking.

So for me i'm sold on the conical thing in terms of how nice it is to use, just sad that it costs so much more - its therefore a personal cost/ease decision in my view, and I'm short of time so have no regrets at all (apart from wishing I'd chosen slightly different components). But also until recently I didn't do a lot of the above and so was very happy with mango tubs - if I'd no intention of playing about with the yeast then I'd be a lot less impressed with the conical, its only because I wanted to extend myself into these things that its worthwhile for me.

Cheers
kev

[testtube]

That's about it! You don't want hot break (should mostly be in kettle) in your fermenter so can dump that off, but cold break is OK. You can also dump the yeast off and store your beer in it, really if your doing lager, or wine. Also good for CIP.

[beermonsta]

for me it's because it's SHINEY
full build here
...oh, and the other stuff Kev and TT said too! plus it saves me a lot of time, as I no longer have to rack from primary to secondary, cleaning and sanitising each plastic FV. Before I was using three 33l FVs - think how long that takes - now it can all fit in my 110l with plenty of room spare. With mine being stainless steel I have no worries about plastic off tastes or scratches harbouring nasties and it has allowed me to build a fermenting cupboard to control temperature where as with three 33l FV's this would have been more difficult.

[testtube]

Nice job Sir, just got my Hereford pins today that I will use for my secoundry and serving.

[Kev888]

for me it's because it's SHINEY

I think we need a smilie with a sticky-out tongue for occasions like this..
Please tell me that cost considerably more than mine?

Cheers
Kev

[boingy]

for me it's because it's SHINEY

I think we need a smilie with a sticky-out tongue for occasions like this..
Please tell me that cost considerably more than mine?

Cheers
Kev

I think he said it was about £30 plus another £20 or so for the fittings.

[Kev888]

I think he said it was about £30 plus another £20 or so for the fittings.

Hehheh, that would just about make my day.. although I would at least know instantly how to rectify the scratched conical situation

[testtube]

Toledo metal spinning are doing a fermenter package now, shame the postage is a bastard.. But if some people want to chip in I'm good.

http://www.toledometalspinning.com/hopper/default.php

[beermonsta]

for me it's because it's SHINEY

I think we need a smilie with a sticky-out tongue for occasions like this..
Please tell me that cost considerably more than mine?

Cheers
Kev

£380 - go on Kev, I'm curious whats your plastic beaut plus fittings rushed you in total?

And I believe the smilie your after is this one

[testtube]

Now easy ladies! Why does yeast turn into a bottom cropper when you use conicals?

[themadhippy]

Why does yeast turn into a bottom cropper when you use conicals

it dont turn into a bottom feeeder,the stuff on the bottom is dead,deceased, kicked the bucket, shuffled off its mortal coil,its ex yeast,well unless it a lager yeast

[testtube]

Does apparently.

[Aleman]

Please tell me that cost considerably more than mine?

£380 - go on Kev, I'm curious whats your plastic beaut plus fittings rushed you in total?

IIRC didn't you go to Italy and collect it though??

I must admit that I've looked at those Italian conicals over and over, and it has always been the shipping that has stopped me from buying one . . .That and the fact that it's either a smaller volume than I really want or its a much bigger volume than I really want. (Working volume 100L - Then say 30L headspace)

For my Conical I paid around 260 quid . . .possibly a bit more say £275 with odds and sods, which breaks down as

Code: Select all

£110 Conical Plus Shipping
£  55 Valves, Camlocks, and Hosetails
£  55 Custom Made Trick Fittings ( 65mm Flange -> 1" BSP SS Tank Connectors, nipples,
        pick up tube)
£  18 Polycarbonate disc for lid
£  10 Silicone Cord
£   6 Fogger