So my wife (Irish, likes beer, scotch and wine, and enjoys brewing) wants to buy me a conical fermenator for my birthday. Since I don’t have room for a fridge big enough to put it in I was thinking of going with the morebeer 7.5g with the temp controller. I was wondering if anyone has used this or any type of conical and what you think? Is it worth it? Better beer? Less oxidation/infection? Any cons?
Thanks, T
No opinion on a conical except I’d like one.
I agree, Great Wife. :cheers:
I’ve got the 14gal and LOVE it. Set the temp and you don’t have to worry about ferm temps. Dumping is a breeze as well. Best part… you can cold crash it in the conical making that a breeze as well.
I’ve been trying to convince my wife to let me buy a 7.5gal for my small batches…
The only thing a conical allows that every other vessel doesn’t is the ability to dump yeast and trub with the vessel full, nothing more. If you spend the $$ to get one with temp control on it, the temp control is definitely a big thing that helps make better beer, but a fridge and a temp controller costs a lot less and can hold any other vessel and be used for other things.
A small conical fermenter is not going to make your beer better, it’s just a tool in a process. There are a lot more cheap process changes that will improve the beer 
I was seriously looking at conicals a few years back and the final conclusion was that I could not afford one. Went for draft gear instead.
If it were me I would definately go for the one with temperature control that looks like an imperial probe droid.
Though I would tend to go for the 14gal. Why not do larger batches if you have the set up for it.
Wish my wife would buy me a conical fermenter. At least now I can say " But Trapae’s wife is buying him a conical!"
I tend to agree with Dean. Dollar-wise, you get a lot more cooling potential with a chest freezer and external thermostat than you do with a conical, though it would be nice…
I just can’t see the cost being worth it. I would rather get two chest freezers, so I could put one for fermenting and the other for long lagering near freezing, or one for ales and one for lagers…or maybe three - one for ales, and one for lagers and one converted to a keezer…no wait, four - one for lagering near freezing, one for lager fermenting, one for ale fermenting, one for a keezer.
Yeah, maybe just go with the jacketed conical fermenter, since your wife has approved it.
:cheers:
I love my Brewhemoth 22gal fermentor, perfect for 10-15gal batches. I ferment under pressure and transfer to kegs without the beer ever seeing oxygen. I don’t yet have temp control for it, been shopping for a freezer it will fit in.
Other than cost, the only cons with conicals is cleaning and thats not insurmountable.
I understand the concept behind a conical, (re: dump the trub and sediment), but how does THAT happen?
Open the bottom valve at a trickle, one big shot, etc…?
They sure are neat, and if …, if… it were me, I’d invest in more chiller / fermenter / temp controlled storage :cheers: .
[quote=“Dean Palmer”]The only thing a conical allows that every other vessel doesn’t is the ability to dump yeast and trub with the vessel full, nothing more. If you spend the $$ to get one with temp control on it, the temp control is definitely a big thing that helps make better beer, but a fridge and a temp controller costs a lot less and can hold any other vessel and be used for other things.
A small conical fermenter is not going to make your beer better, it’s just a tool in a process. There are a lot more cheap process changes that will improve the beer [/quote]
The stainless has an advantage over plastic when it comes to sanitation.
I agree with a lot that has been said here already. I wouldn’t get a conical until I was doing larger batches (I’m doing 20gal right now). If you don’t have a counterflow chiller or kegging setup go for that instead.
When you dump yeast it comes squirting out of the valve. I have triclamps and I catch yeast in a clean quart jar.
Stainless plus valves is a very handy combo. I che ked out morebeers temp controlled conical and I would worry about cleaning. I prefer to have stainless surface and be ad to move it out of a fridge for cleaning.
I do have a CIP system but even that gets water on the outside of the conical.
[quote=“breslinp”]
The stainless has an advantage over plastic when it comes to sanitation.[/quote]
Not really unless you damage your plastic. Plastic is no less sanitary than stainless.
I cannot believe those things are $1,795. That is out of control.
Do you have space for a mini-fridge?
No room for fridge. That’s the problem. She lets me use spare bathroom for beer cave. That’s why I think that the temp controlled conical might work best if she springs for it.
Agreed, a premium on space is a good reason!!!
I cannot believe those things are $1,795. That is out of control.
Do you have space for a mini-fridge?[/quote]
For that amount you could probably turn the spare bathroom into a walk-in fridge
$1795.00 is pretty insane for a single dedicated vessel. Find room for a fridge big enough to fit a fermenter and be done with it. NB sells a nice Blichmann conical, and Craigslist or local classifieds are a great place to find a cheap fridge.
I’d at least go for the 10gal version for only $100 more. Or ask her to get you two of the 5gal ones.
Yep, always better to have more fermenter space, and most of the 14 gallon capacity ones are not much larger than the 7.5g.
