OVHA Chat

So i was looking at pricing on stainless conical fermenters. Does anyone local utilize this equipment? If so, do you think it's worth the investment?

I was really considering one of these. Mainly to ferment a whole 10 gallon batch in one vessel. I ferment in a chest freezer so space was an issue for me on the conical. If you've got a fridge to put it in that would work much better. I've got all the parts for my sanke stainless fermenter, I just haven't had the balls to put a batch in it. I'd hate to waste 10 gallons.

The Blichmann Ferminators look really nice and are Indiana made. They can be pressurized, which I believe you cannot do with a B3 ones. Important if you need to push the beer out (like in a chest freezer).

I can't imagine tying one up with wine but it looked pretty sweet to upgrade to 10 gallon batches and not have to rack. I'm definately at the stage of my life where I want to make things easier.

I know its not stainless, but I have an 8 gallon minibrew plastic conical. It fits in the side of my side by side fridge. It's a sweet way to go, no secondary transfers, east to clean and lightweight. And it was only around 200 dollars. They make larger ones also.

The reason I'm mentioning this is not to talk you into plastic, but to lure you into the idea of the conical itself. I'm sure if I had the cash I would have gone stainless.

Bottom line... The Conical Rocks!

Sweet, thanks. That's the feedback I was hoping to hear.

I actually built mine. I was working for an engineering firm and we had a fabrication shop and a machine shop. I have plans to build 4 different sizes. The most important dimension is the angle of the lower section.. Other than that it is simple. Before I quit working for KBR I was working on building one out of food grade PTFE (plastic) instead of stainless. The PTFE can stand up to the weight of the liquid but yet can be easily moved out of the way when empty.

I build my brew tree out of stainless, and my brew kettles are boddington pale ale kegs I took a plasma cutter to the top of. I love the size of the Euro Kegs as well as the heavy stainless construction. In the bottom I put a scrap of wedge wire mesh in (318 Stainless). I do need to weld in a bung on one for a thermometer to screw in to.