# My Plastic Conical Fermenter



## psytramp (29/10/11)

Hey everyone,

Just thought I'd share my new plastic conical with everyone. I know there has been a fair bit about the design on plastic conicals, short of getting one out of the US, so I went on the hunt to build my own...

I used a conical which was made by Rota Moulding over in WA, had it sent over to Melbourne no problem, they were really helpful. It is a 35lt conical which comes complete with stand.


Image #1 is the completed conical





It doesn't come with any taps and is really a blank canvas, letting you design it how you want it. I used 2, 3 piece ball valves as my choice for the dump and sample tap.


Image #2 is the top and lid





Image #3 is a close up of the taps





Image #4 is a view of the inside





The total cost was about $500. I've done a test brew in it which is in the conditioning phase now, however all initial indications of how the beer is going to turn out look good. I brewed a belgian pale ale.

The whole reason for building this was really just simply a curiosity of fermenting with a conical and a little project before i decide to all all stainless.

Don't hesitate to pass on your comments or questions...


----------



## Wolfman (29/10/11)

Serious Brew Porn!


----------



## marzross (29/10/11)

Hi How much was the just the fermenter and stand shipped to Melbourne.
Cheers Mario


----------



## psytramp (29/10/11)

Fermenter was $320.00, shipped.


----------



## Spork (29/10/11)

You *need* a stainless one.
















Then you can sell that cheap plastic one to me.


----------



## psytramp (29/10/11)

i'll hold you to that... :icon_chickcheers:


----------



## Silo Ted (29/10/11)

Ive seen these Rota Moldings jobbies before, and they are great. This mob would do well coming onto the forum and offering a bulk deal for members, ready-to-use conicals with taps.... if the price was right they would clean up.


----------



## IainMcLean (29/10/11)

Silo Ted said:


> Ive seen these Rota Moldings jobbies before, and they are great. This mob would do well coming onto the forum and offering a bulk deal for members, ready-to-use conicals with taps.... if the price was right they would clean up.



Yup.

Working out where I can pull the cash from right now.... ;-)


----------



## Smiddylad (30/10/11)

Good work, started this thread to to help with the exact same project myself, but haven't quite worked out how to do the finer points yet. 

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=59001 

Haven't bought the stand though as it wouldn't fit in my fridge so the cost of the conical was only $198. 

Good luck hope it works well

Neil


----------



## psytramp (30/10/11)

Awesome, I actually saw your pic on the rota website...

Have you started using it yet?

My fridge has a flat bottom, so with some minor adjustments to the stand, it fitted perfectly, the length of the original legs were 600mm, so i reduced them each side by 50mm.

The first batch did seem to be clearer straight out of the fermenter after a 1 week primary, dump, then 2 weeks secondary at original temp.

I will get a stainless eventually, however, I just wanted to get familiar before i took the more expensive jump...

Cheers!! :beer:


----------



## Isuxius (30/10/11)

Silo Ted said:


> Ive seen these Rota Moldings jobbies before, and they are great. This mob would do well coming onto the forum and offering a bulk deal for members, ready-to-use conicals with taps.... if the price was right they would clean up.


They did ages ago I think..... 
Here they are:
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...st&p=288380


----------



## Silo Ted (30/10/11)

That was a good thread, and at lest he gave it a go to provide something for brewing. Unfortunately the price he was suggesting doesnt justify the need to own one, especially when you factor in the extra fittings, ball valves and blow off setup. As bad as it sounds, an asian source for these would be the go. 

Hard for an Aussie manufacturer to compete against a sweatshop factory.


----------



## Smiddylad (31/10/11)

I wish it was my photo on the rotamoulding website but that honour belongs to Asher, I think. Mine is still sitting in the spare room waiting to be transformed into a fermenter. My fridge doesn't have a flat bottom, so not sure how I'm gonna get it to sit n the fridge. Nice challenge ahead for me on the that one. How are you planning to clean it in between brews as one of my concerns is keeping the weldless fittings clean and bacteria free.

Neil


----------



## popmedium (31/10/11)

Holy bat-**** that is the most awesome thing I've ever seen. Excuse the french but I just got a serious brewbone. If I didn't live in a 1 bedroom apartment I'd be taking the next few days off to build this  Thanks for sharing!

Joel


----------



## psytramp (31/10/11)

Smiddylad said:


> I wish it was my photo on the rotamoulding website but that honour belongs to Asher, I think. Mine is still sitting in the spare room waiting to be transformed into a fermenter. My fridge doesn't have a flat bottom, so not sure how I'm gonna get it to sit n the fridge. Nice challenge ahead for me on the that one. How are you planning to clean it in between brews as one of my concerns is keeping the weldless fittings clean and bacteria free.
> 
> Neil



Yeah, I've thought long and hard about this one as well. Basically i'm going to use my same routine with all my other fermenters and that is a good hand wash first, in and around the fittings, a hot soaking in PBW for 24-48hrs depending on how bothered i can be getting to it sooner, but at least 24hrs, and then a sanitizer for 24hrs.

I have done a fair bit of reasearch on cleaning conicals, and although it is limited, it seems that you only need to remove taps etc every 2-3 brews as long as you have a routine like i just mentioned. I'm acutally going to modify the bottom tap slightly with a M33 stainless washer between the reducer and the conical, to make it easier to pull the tap on and off.

I'm going to give that a crack and see how it goes, however, from my experience, I haven't removed the taps everytime I have brewed in my other fermenters with no problems to date.

The reason I used 3 piece valves was also so I can pull those apart to clean too, and a good soak.

So that's the plan...


----------



## psytramp (31/10/11)

joel connolly said:


> Holy bat-**** that is the most awesome thing I've ever seen. Excuse the french but I just got a serious brewbone. If I didn't live in a 1 bedroom apartment I'd be taking the next few days off to build this  Thanks for sharing!
> 
> Joel



Thanks mate, appreciate the feedback...

Good project to get stuck into.


----------



## psytramp (31/10/11)

I just found this on the minibrew website talking about their plastic conicals with very similiar fittings to mine. Plastic spec is the same also from what I gather.


[size=-1]*Easy to Clean and Sterilize* All popular cleaning and/or sterilizing agents can be used on our plastic (HDPE) fermenters. They will not harm the inert plastic material. Water at 180 degrees is an excellent sterilizing agent; pour it down the sides of the fermenter. The heat will sink into the plastic and all the parts, killing bacteria. This procedure works with stainless also. The large top makes it easy to get inside and scrub dried trub with a Teflon scouring pad. The melting point of plastic is 250 degrees. [/size]


I reakon just pulling the taps off every 2-3 brews would be fine.


----------



## HeavyNova (1/11/11)

Looks great!

Apart from looking good, is the only main advantage of a conical fermenter the ease of yeast harvesting from the very bottom tap?


----------



## Smiddylad (2/11/11)

Cheers mate given me some really good thought on how to keep it clean. I'll let you know how I get on once I finally get it up and running

Neil


----------



## psytramp (3/11/11)

Smiddylad said:


> Cheers mate given me some really good thought on how to keep it clean. I'll let you know how I get on once I finally get it up and running
> 
> Neil


Awesome, i'm keen to see the finished product...


----------



## psytramp (3/11/11)

Smiddylad said:


> Cheers mate given me some really good thought on how to keep it clean. I'll let you know how I get on once I finally get it up and running
> 
> Neil


Awesome, i'm keen to see the finished product...


----------



## psytramp (3/11/11)

Test brew

Fat yak clone on day 2

Blowing good bubbles and smells beautiful... :drinks:


----------



## psytramp (3/11/11)

HeavyNova said:


> Looks great!
> 
> Apart from looking good, is the only main advantage of a conical fermenter the ease of yeast harvesting from the very bottom tap?


That is certainly 1 advantage, however the main reason is being able to remove the yeast and trub without moving to a secondary and potentially contaminating the beer, gives you a clearer crisper beer in my opinion.


----------



## Impy (1/12/11)

psytramp said:


> Test brew
> 
> Fat yak clone on day 2
> 
> Blowing good bubbles and smells beautiful... :drinks:



How are the metal struts supporting the fermenter? It looks like there are bolts, but then you would have to drill holes into the fermenter to support it? Is this correct? Don't the internal bolts cause sanitation issues?


----------



## malt_shovel (1/12/11)

psytramp said:


> I just found this on the minibrew website talking about their plastic conicals with very similiar fittings to mine. Plastic spec is the same also from what I gather.
> 
> 
> [size=-1]*Easy to Clean and Sterilize* ... The large top makes it easy to get inside and scrub dried trub with a Teflon scouring pad... [/size]



I would NOT recommend using a scouring pad on plastic fermenters. Might get away without an infection for a few brews, but it will definately increase the likelihood of getting one sooner rather than later. Too much money spent to then have a house infection that won't go away...I found soaking is a pain and huge waste of water, so a high pressure cleaner works well.

Also tri-clover fittings are a quick way to remove sample / dump valves and give them a good soak. Can get them for 3 piece ball valves.


----------



## Dazza88 (7/7/12)

Anyone seen these plastic conicals before?

http://www.onederbrew.com/


----------



## Filfy (7/7/12)

Those look awesome. Great price to IMO. 

I may well order two or three of those, hopefully they'll do me a deal.


----------



## Malted (7/7/12)

Filfy said:


> Those look awesome. Great price to IMO.
> 
> I may well order two or three of those, hopefully they'll do me a deal.



*Interesting*, looks like you put the wort etc in the bucket, put the bottom section on it and then invert the whole lot so t is then standing as it should for fermentation. The pressure relief valve on the side must have a pipe that goes up into the headspace of the bucket. 

So any 5 gallon pail of the right size would fit? I wonder if they would ship without the 5 gallon pail in order to reduce shipping overseas... 

Edit: I was correct about my assumptions about how it goes together.
Picnic taps all round! I suppose what do you expect at that price? More pictures in their assembly instructions pdf (attached)
View attachment onederbrewdirectionsheets.pdf


----------



## mwd (7/7/12)

Good bit of detective work there Malted as it is not so easy to see much from the photo on the webpage.
Interesting concept somebody has put quite a lot of thought into it to make a 'ghetto' beer machine.


----------



## keifer33 (7/7/12)

If they shipped without the bucket I wonder how we could work a pressure relief bung into the base of the bucket as per the instructions.


----------



## Malted (7/7/12)

keifer33 said:


> If they shipped without the bucket I wonder how we could work a pressure relief bung into the base of the bucket as per the instructions.



I think that would be relatively simple and could be done in many ways.

I also see potential for putting a shorter bucket on it for smaller batches...


----------



## troopa (7/7/12)

I gotta say as much as love cube fermenting this would be great cool
I love the idea of stainless bling but i just love the ingenuity of the Onederbrew


----------



## Drowro (7/7/12)

Well I'm in for a bulk buy if it happens. Pretty simple and cool idea.


----------



## Malted (8/7/12)

Just got a reply from onederbrew confirming they will send without the bucket and that two conicals could then fit in the same packaging. He is going to get a quote on postage and more details on the bucket dimensions. The interest builds...


----------



## keifer33 (8/7/12)

Malted said:


> Just got a reply from onederbrew confirming they will send without the bucket and that two conicals could then fit in the same packaging. He is going to get a quote on postage and more details on the bucket dimensions. The interest builds...




Good work Malted this guy might get alot of business from Australia.


----------



## Fish13 (8/7/12)

subscribed


----------



## Filfy (8/7/12)

Sounds great Malted, keep us all informed please


----------



## Newbee(r) (8/7/12)

Yep would definitely be interested in this and will watch this thread with interest. Clever, simple and effective design, I like it.


----------



## Malted (8/7/12)

Newbee(r) said:


> Yep would definitely be interested in this and will watch this thread with interest. Clever, simple and effective design, I like it.


You forgot inexpensive :lol: 
This may well be one for the cheap ass who dreams of bigger things. We'll see.


----------



## Spoonta (10/7/12)

I like that


----------



## mxd (10/7/12)

put a beer engine on it and you have you real ale solution all in one container


----------



## stux (10/7/12)

Malted said:


> Just got a reply from onederbrew confirming they will send without the bucket and that two conicals could then fit in the same packaging. He is going to get a quote on postage and more details on the bucket dimensions. The interest builds...



I'm sure standard American buckets don't match ours :/

Would be nice to have at least a translucent bucket. I like to see when the krausen drops


----------



## kevin_smevin (10/7/12)

Is there any way you would be able to add dry hops to this once it's all been put together?


----------



## Dave70 (10/7/12)

Hey.
I don't give a shit about the fermenter, but that shiny silver thing on the right, is that a heater?


----------



## Filfy (13/7/12)

No word on how much these are going to cost??!


----------



## Malted (13/7/12)

Filfy said:


> No word on how much these are going to cost??!



Email back and forth still continues. He tried UPS and thought it rather expensive. USPS postage looks ok to my calculations but I don't think he is trying to put them in a smaller box. The difference between reasonable postage and an arm and a leg seems to be if he is prepared to repackage them. I have not yet determined this. 

Have you checked out the YouTube clips on them? They look to be better than I thought; the picnic taps go into a 1/2" NPT thread so can be replaced.


----------



## mwd (13/7/12)

Very interesting the only drawback might be finding a bucket of the correct diameter and lip to mate the cone to.


----------



## Filfy (13/7/12)

No worries. I've since found a supplier that makes conical fermenters (35 & 60lt), minus stand, fittings etc for around the $350 mark. 

I'm still very keen OneDerBrew if the price is right............


----------



## Malted (13/7/12)

Filfy said:


> No worries. I've since found a supplier that makes conical fermenters (35 & 60lt), minus stand, fittings etc for around the $350 mark.
> 
> I'm still very keen OneDerBrew if the price is right............



Not the folks in WA who were featured in post#1 of this thread?


----------



## Filfy (13/7/12)

Nah, this is a mob from Victoria


----------



## Helles (13/7/12)

Filfy said:


> Nah, this is a mob from Victoria


 Who would they be 
These other conicals your all looking at sound pretty dodgy to me
Put it in a bucket turn it upside down your asking for mess to clean up


----------



## beerdrinkingbob (13/7/12)

Filfy said:


> Nah, this is a mob from Victoria



Your not sharing, not very ahb of you


----------



## Filfy (13/7/12)

Well considering I only found them this arvo and I am waiting a call from the state manager re: firmer pricing and freight costs (if any), I'm happy to let everyone know the details once I know.


----------



## beerdrinkingbob (13/7/12)

sorry mate you took me the wrong way, i was only having a playful poke with a genuine interest in your find.


----------



## wobbly (26/7/12)

Any word as yet on the size drum they will fit? 

Also any indication on a landed price?

Cheers

Wobbly


----------



## Malted (31/8/12)

Update time: I bought a couple of the Onederbrew plastic conical fermenters and have had a play with them. You can see the details here: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...st&p=949843


----------

