Fermenter Types

[Ash in Perth]

Cylidro-conicals always seem to be regarded as the best type of fermenter for home brewing and every one seems to want to get them but i havent seen too many people with them.

I will be going to Stainless CC's as soon as i decide what size to go, or if wortgames gets them going and they are good for a decent relative price.

 

[B_Bear]

Cylidro-conicals always seem to be regarded as the best type of fermenter for home brewing and every one seems to want to get them but i havent seen too many people with them.

I will be going to Stainless CC's as soon as i decide what size to go, or if wortgames gets them going and they are good for a decent relative price.

I've tried searching for them but to little avail. Where could i pick one up around the brissy area?

Cheers

:beerbang:

 

[bugwan]

To me, the benefit of cylindro-conicals would only come into play if temp control was built in (ie. into the insulated walls of the fermenter). Other than the ease of cleaning stainless and simplified collection of yeast, the advantages aren't obvious to me... I can't justify the cost over my current set up.

They're around $900 at G&G in Melbourne...

 

[Ash in Perth]

The ones i can get are the same as the G&G ones. TWOC in bibra lake has them for about the same prices.

I am going to get one becuase
-dump yeast so avoid racking to fermenter, introducing oxygen and microbes
-it wouldnt take much to make them handle a bit of pressure, again, to reduce microbe contamination and oxydation when dumping yeast.
-the triclover fittings are compatible with everything and it makes it easier to acheive aseptic transfers.
-helps provide similar fermentation characters to commercial breweries if suitable dimensions are used.
-easier to clean
-they look cool
-allow slightly better temperature control if a fermenting firdge is used

 

[Ross]

Unless they come with independant heating & cooling control (which makes them way too expensive for me), they really offer very little to me. I dont rack to secondary any more, prefering to keg straight from primary. When using liquid yeast I divide the original smackpack/vial, so no real interest in tapping off the yeast. Currently brew upto 4 beers at a time with perfect temp control using cheap, light, easy to clean plastic fermenters. Other than the bling factor, which is lost somewhat if they have to be kept in a fridge, they are a luxury that'll have to wait until i win Lotto & can afford the top model.

cheers Ross

 

[warrenlw63]

CC fermenters look nice and probably have some real practicalities OTOH on a HB scale they create their own sets of problems to set up and run properly. I reckon Ross pretty much outlined their real pitfalls.

I might sound like a broken down record but I reckon glass carboys (if handled with care) are a good value for money and very durable fermenter.

I'm still on my original pair which have served me well for the past 7 years knock on wood (or should that be glass?) :lol:

Also no scratches to harbour bacteria and other nasties. As Ross does I just primary ferment and rack straight to my kegs unless it's a Pilsner or similar delicate beer. Then I rack to my 22 litre kegs, lager for a few weks then rack via CO2 to serving kegs.

Warren -

 

[redgums500]

Unless they come with independant heating & cooling control (which makes them way too expensive for me), they really offer very little to me. I dont rack to secondary any more, prefering to keg straight from primary. When using liquid yeast I divide the original smackpack/vial, so no real interest in tapping off the yeast. Currently brew upto 4 beers at a time with perfect temp control using cheap, light, easy to clean plastic fermenters. Other than the bling factor, which is lost somewhat if they have to be kept in a fridge, they are a luxury that'll have to wait until i win Lotto & can afford the top model.

cheers Ross

Ross

How do your pils etc go as far as clarity if you don't rack into a secondary ? This time of year it is a pain to rack because of increased consumption and noted increase in visitors who "saw the ute out front and thought they'd call in ". <_<

cheers

Redgums

 

[user 384]

My thinking is basically the same as Warren's and Ross'. The benefits of a CC don't really apply to me as a HBer, eg I don't need to collect yeast for subsequent batches. Plus the disadvantages of a CC such as size, weight, difficulty of fitting in a fermentation fridge/freezer outweigh the marginal benefits. I think things such as reduced oxygen and microbes when racking are justifications or rationalisations for a big boys toy. I'd say most people haven't had problems or only had minimal problems with oxygen and microbes when racking in the past. Such things might be critical in a professional setting where consistency and stability of product are extremely important for commercial reasons, but for a HBer who is brewing on an extremely small scale and consuming relatively very quickly, it's not such a big deal.

If I win Saturday's $21 million I might get a couple and place them in a glass temp controlled room, so my brewing buddies can drool over them, but let's face it for a HBer a CC is just bling.

Cheers
MAH

 

[Ross]

Ross

How do your pils etc go as far as clarity if you don't rack into a secondary ? This time of year it is a pain to rack because of increased consumption and noted increase in visitors who "saw the ute out front and thought they'd call in ". <_<

Redgums,

All my beers (except wheats where desired) are filtered direct from primary into kegs. Every beer is crystal clear from day one (my preference) - Lagers take 1 to 3 weeks to really come good after kegging & probably peak after approx 1 month. I try to keep off tap until then, but usually can't resist keep hooking them up for taste tests :chug:
I found, that even with up to 3 months secondary at 1c, the lagers still took the same maturation time once carbonated/kegged, so in my case the seperate secondary phase was just a waste of time...

cheers Ross

 

[jayse]

I'am with the last few posters and think they are a complete waste of money aimed at the 'they saw you coming with your hand on yourself' market



Boozed broozed and broken boned.
Jayse

 

[warrenlw63]

'they saw you coming with your hand on yourself' market



Boozed broozed and broken boned.
Jayse

:lol: :lol: Isn't that "spunding"?

Warren -

 

[colinw]

I voted 'plastic' and 'waste of money'.

I fail to see how high falutin' fancy equipment would improve my beer - IMHO the major benefits of such equipment are to look cool to your mates and impress people with how serious you must be about your brewing.

Most of my beers are already nicer than the vast majority of commercial beers I try. As I'm still finding the quality is still improving slowly, I conclude that I haven't reached the limits of my existing system, so why change it until I have?

 

[Screwtop]

No need to keep conicals in the fridge, many micro's pump glycol through coils of poly pipe wrapped around the outside of the main body of the their conical fermenters to control fermentation temp. Engineering not beyond any keen home brewer I'd have thought as lots already have small glycol plants with pond pumps pumping glycol and water through their flooded fonts, Use the fermentation fridge to hold the glycol tank and pond pump with temp control probe in the fermenter.

 

[peas_and_corn]

plastic standard fermenters for primary, cubes for secondary, and my very first fermenter, Coopers HB kit one, for bottling bucket.

I voted no for conical... don't really want one at all. Look quite nice, though.