Lpg Tank To Fermenter Ideas

[ausdb]

I was pondering whether to make a conical bottom. The reality is it will probably cost considerably more than the tank to do it. I don't have TIG gear nor the means to bend up the metal (although I can probably get the TIG done pretty cheaply).

For the lid I just need to figure out a clamping arrangement for a flat perspex cover (and rubber seal).

without the conical you won't get the benefit of being able to blow the trub off tho.

I can con myself access to roll up the cone, will have to scrounge the SS first!
I was going to silver solder it unless I can con access to a TIG, not sure about production JasonY I would have to see what sort of a nightmare it is to do one before committing to two. I had a play with a TIG a few weeks back on stainless and it was not to bad but I would probably need to practice a bit before trying something as big as this.

I like your idea about cooling it I was thinking along those lines too with glycol in the unused freezer compartment of my fridge.

Sosman a guy at West coast brewers ferments in a tank similar to yours except he has cut one end off his so there is a straight edge all round. For a lid he just uses a sheet of clear acrylic with a rubber U shaped gasket on the edge of the stainless. The lid is held down with heavy objects resting on top.

As for buying one from the states that just takes the fun out of it!!

Cheers

Ausdb

 

[Hoops]

Don't forget guys that actually buying a 12.2G hopper straight from toledo metal spinning may very well be a cheaper easier option than fabricating the whole thing yourself.


(I did enquire at one stage but can't remember specifics)

I emailed them about shipping one to Australia and didn't get a reply :angry:
Depending on shiping costs that would be a really good option.

Hoops

Is this AHB's next bulk buy????

 

[Hoops]

I can con myself access to roll up the cone, will have to scrounge the SS first!

Any idea how tight the cone can be rolled?
I enquired everywhere in Brisbane and was unable to find anyone that could roll a cone smaller than 100mm.

Hoops

 

[JasonY]

I like your idea about cooling it I was thinking along those lines too with glycol in the unused freezer compartment of my fridge.

Yer I think I would stay away from glycol, too paranoid about small leaks into the fermenter and me drinking it Also if you circ -10degC glycol about you will probably freeze the beer to your coil!

Maybee I will call a SS fab shop and see what they would charge from this kind of thing? Just have to be sure that they dont work for a brewery

 

[jayse]

Evening brewers,
I think sos your pretty much on the right track anyway with what you want to do, Just put a racking arm in with a bulk head fitting if your concerned the dome bottom dump valve won't pull the yeast out nicely first, then clear wort, You might find with some yeast strains you can get a clear flow from the bottom dump valve after tipping of a couple litres, even if it takes a few litres you can sit it for a while in a plastic fermentor and retrieve the clear wort off the top, anyway i would put a racking arm in. basically like a kettle pick up tube above the bottom. I would have a bottom dump valve aswell that way you can CIP.
For the cooling tubes i saw a neat idea where each tube going around the fermentor was in parrel so each one got the same temp coolant, rather than it going in one end then out the other, i thought that was a very cool idea. You could cool it with a single beer line temprite and a small CLT it would only have to be 50litres, the coolant you would be able to keep as cold as you wanted and on returning from the cooling coil going back through the temprite and into the CLT the coolant would return from the fermentor at no more than 18c and exit the temprite at proberly 4c max.
Even better automation is have a solienoid valve set up to switch between recycling the CLT through the temprite or going to the cooling coils first. Anyway with this way i bet you could almost crash cool the beer to your CLT temp over 24 hours. You could get your CLT in this instance proberly just above freezing. Wrap it up in insulation aswell. Jeez someone stop me iam getting carried away.
Anyway i'd go with your lid idea and leave it has a dome bottom with a racking arm. Before i get to carried away if you make it so it can be pressurized than you could....mmm i better stop now
Cut the top off, make lid, put in racking arm, make a kit brew, see if you die, see if the beer tastes foul.
Boiling the thing to death before you use it sounds like a good idea. To do all this i bet you could do it in a couple hours sos so next time i see you post here i expect a picture of a LPG FV.
The technical stuff is all too easy its the how well you can santize it after each brew which is the number one thing to work out i think. Bulk head fittings must not be that great for fermetors, but on a small scale it would be much easier to get in there and really clean everything well.

Here's too sos not blowing himself up.
Jayse
PS don't be alarmed if someones says all those things are good for is scrap metal, we home brewers no much better.

 

[sosman]

Thanks for the sage advice Jayse. Welded fittings are probably more sanitary but I reckon an all SS bulkhead fitting and proper ball valve is not going to be any worse than the plastic jobby in my current fermenter.

It is still going to take me a little while - the stand will need some more thought.

And I just thought of a use for the guts of an "easy hooker" - I will slit it lengthwise and slot it onto the rim to seal against the lid.

For cooling I will probably wimp out and make sure it fits in the fridge.

 

[ausdb]

Yer I think I would stay away from glycol, too paranoid about small leaks into the fermenter and me drinking it Also if you circ -10degC glycol about you will probably freeze the beer to your coil!

Maybee I will call a SS fab shop and see what they would charge from this kind of thing? Just have to be sure that they dont work for a brewery

Whats wrong with Glycol, a lot of the pub systems run glycol and in stainless tube it should be fine. Otherwise a jacket around the fermenter would be good but harder to do.

I think if you had to pay someone to do it it would get pretty exxy all of a sudden.