Anyone Thought About Using A Conical For Biab?

[MarkBastard]

How much hops are you intending on using mate :icon_drool2: :icon_drool2: :icon_drool2:

 

[praxis178]

Thanks. Is the valve smaller diameter than a typical tap on a kettle? I would understand flowers plugging it up but you get that same issue with a 'normal' tap on a kettle. Still that's a good point as you wouldn't really be able to use a false bottom on a conical like you would a kettle.

Ok, first some qualifiers....

1. I built my own conical, so I'll only talk about the valve bit and trub/lees settling.
2. I had my kettle custom made so over engineered a bit.
3. I brew a 2V system (my kettle is also my HLT).

I used a 1" ball valve for the bottom bump valve as I noticed that the lees (especially when I dry hop) is very chunky and can easily block my 1/2" siphon tube. Cold break settles well as does hot break/hop debris so no problems with that part of the concept. Most conicals I've seen on the market have a 1/2" bottom valve, which might be a problem, 3/4" would be better, but I'm starting to think that the 1" I used is too big. And would be better of being a butterfly valve, no trapped wort to deal with.....

My kettle uses a 1.5" bore ball valve for the bottom dump (have a smaller 1/2" take off valve for the good stuff) and it's NEVER gotten blocked, so I could have gone smaller and did on the conical.

My system takes up about as much space as a 50L keg and a 55L esky......

 

[argon]

How much hops are you intending on using mate :icon_drool2: :icon_drool2: :icon_drool2:

well considering i just sold some stuff on ebay, have some money in paypal and have an invoice from Hopsdirect for 5 pounds of hops... I may end up using quite alot with some IIPAs :beerbang:

 

[Zizzle]

Mark ******* this is a top idea for us automaters.

Think about it: a kitchen appliance style device that does a few litre brew go-to-whoa. Dump some grain and hops in and push the button. Empty spent grain a few hours later. Pour beer out a week later.

 

[Zizzle]

I forgot to add that I just visited Greenflash brewing in Southern California.

Had a good chat to the brewer and tasted all the beers. They were all great and they have a good reputation.

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/green-flash-w...oast-ipa/44905/

The thing that amazed me was how ghetto the brewery was. They use a direct fired 2 vessel system. I think the batch size is 25 barrels.

My point is that the 3v dogma isn't all that valid even on the micro scale. The guys even bigger usually have more than 3v too - separate mash and lauter tuns.

 

[Phoney]

All sounds good, but i'd be hooking up a march pump/plate chiller to recirculate the wort straight back in and cool that sucker down ASAP.

I'd hate to think how long 50L of wort in a stainless steel vessel would stay hot for if you just sealed it up and let it naturally cool. Especially in today's heat. Goodbye flavour & aroma, it was nice to know you!