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Anyone ever consider building their own conical? I just stumbled across this site:

http://www.toledometalspinning.com/products/hoppers/

You might be interested in this

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/diy-con ... ter-14855/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yuri on HBT has done exactly that.

I was thinking about plastic fermenters from us plastics...
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.a ... id=popcorn" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

andrewtrsmith wrote:You might be interested in this

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/diy-con ... ter-14855/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yuri on HBT has done exactly that.

That's actually where I got the website! Once I got on there though, I started thinking it may just be easier to buy a hopper with taller walls and avoid a weld half way up. I sent an email to the company last night to see if they ever sell custom lids with a gasket.

mr x wrote:I was thinking about plastic fermenters from us plastics...
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.a ... id=popcorn" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Wow - those are really cheap... My only concern would be keeping them clean, but I suppose if you just used caustic and didn't scrub at all the should hold up. 110 gallon for $180 is ridiculous though!

mr x wrote:I was thinking about plastic fermenters from us plastics...
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.a ... id=popcorn" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Those are so cool. My first thought was - "but then you get all the dead yeasties, that you leave behind when you syphon out of the fermenter." But my second thought was that you get _all_ the sediment, immediately - with less wastage than syphoning. I want one... or two.

Any issues with lots of head space while fermenting? The smallest is 15 gallon, so often only making 5 gallon batches (I like variety and don't drink THAT much, ha) I'd have a ton of head space. This an issue?

$80 is cheap considering the ease of a single vessel (no transfer to a carboy), yeast harvesting really easy, and the additional capacity to brew 10L (or 15L!) at a time.

Tim

For a primary, all that headspace isn't a big deal.

The stands cost about as much as the fermenter, but I'm looking at the 15 Gallon Side Mount and thinking I could mount that on my garage wall...

I'd go stainless. Although it's hard to get around the cost of the plastic, I'm a believer of buying it once and stainless will likely outlive you. I've got a 14.5 gallon Blichmann c/w leg extensions and that thing is bulletproof. Super easy to use and clean.

From the looks of the Toledo setup, by the time you add all the options you're likely to want, you're into the same price as an off the shelf conical. If you were going to do a bunch of the work yourself, Toledo has some decent pricing for the base components.

http://www.homebrewers.com/c=U9D76A98xI ... enter.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://cgi.ebay.com/CONICAL-FERMENTER-7 ... 43a79dda0f" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I built one of these myself a while back. http://www.brew-magic.com/fermenter.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sabco sold me just the racking arm assembly for my project. If you were interested in going this route, I have a second racking assembly that I could part with.

I see your point in that buying something once is ideal, but at the same time if you haven't got the money available, I think the plastic fermenters might be an interesting substitute. Building one from the Toledo hopper would almost certainly cost just as much if not more than the one you found on ebay... and the Blichmann will be of much better quality. My only issue with a keg based fermenter is cleaning it, but that wouldn't be any different than the plastic conical. Only difference being you could reach into the plastic conical to scrub but the scratches would be an issue. Lots to consider.

This is making me get all carried away...

Wine in plastic tanks

http://www.homebrew-supplies.ca/viartsh ... tem_id=372" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

hmmm. I can get 10 plastic 15gal fermentors for that price (plus I'd get a bulk discount for ten!) Of course, the originally posted ToledoMetalSpinning hoppers don't really need to be welded, either, if you're going to use them for fermenters, just plop a lid on 'em

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/inducto ... ld-106602/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Apparently, Norwesco also has these. There are a few other good threads out there too with these fermenters. I've got no problems with plastic, so long as you don't get in there digging around. Plus, I think I could use CLO2 on the plastic, and with the money saved, put that into temperature control.

Edit: this is good -

http://brewersroundtable.com/library/un ... fermenter/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm not going to lie, I've always wanted to ferment in an SS conical. If I had any sort of fabrication skills I'd probably try to build one, even if it was going to turn out to be comparable in cost to buying one. It just seems like a fun project. Yuri on HBT builds some really awesome equipment. I think a lot of these fermenters have temp control as an oversight. On a small scale, there is probably more room to improve your brews based on temp than on the shape of your fermenter. But they do look really, really awesome. Haha.

If any brewnosers with the tools and skills decide to build a few of these guys to subsidize costs, I will definitely buy one from you.

mr x wrote:http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/inducto ... ld-106602/

Apparently, Norwesco also has these. There are a few other good threads out there too with these fermenters. I've got no problems with plastic, so long as you don't get in there digging around. Plus, I think I could use CLO2 on the plastic, and with the money saved, put that into temperature control.

Edit: this is good -

http://brewersroundtable.com/library/un ... fermenter/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Do you know anything about how oxygen permeable polyethylene is? They always say brewing buckets will leach O2 but I'm not sure what type of plastic they are made of.

moxie wrote:If any brewnosers with the tools and skills decide to build a few of these guys to subsidize costs, I will definitely buy one from you.

My brother in law and his sheet metal buddies are planning on building a sweet kettle and possibly a conical for him and I to use. If all works out they might possibly think about building and selling some extras, or at least sharing the plans.

Jayme wrote:

mr x wrote:http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/inducto ... ld-106602/

Apparently, Norwesco also has these. There are a few other good threads out there too with these fermenters. I've got no problems with plastic, so long as you don't get in there digging around. Plus, I think I could use CLO2 on the plastic, and with the money saved, put that into temperature control.

Edit: this is good -

http://brewersroundtable.com/library/un ... fermenter/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Do you know anything about how oxygen permeable polyethylene is? They always say brewing buckets will leach O2 but I'm not sure what type of plastic they are made of.

I can't imagine it's enough to make a difference over the course of a fermentation, just a storage issue probably.

mr x wrote:I can't imagine it's enough to make a difference over the course of a fermentation, just a storage issue probably.

True. I suppose any beer needing some age could be racked to kegs or carboys to sit.

Thanks for the Norwesco hint, Robert. I haven't found anything as small as a 15g, yet, but then I haven't found those 35gs from the link you gave, either.

Marta definitely wants a 15g conical, which means I can have one guilt free So I'm definitely looking into purchase and shipping (which isn't likely to be cheap), and if anybody else is interested I'll do a group buy.

The gas permeability - at least with O2 - isn't an issue. When you're fermenting, the yeast wants O2, so it can't be a bad thing. Of course, if O2 can get in, perhaps other things can, but the smaller molecules aren't an issue and there's not a lot of free Flourine/Chlorine around

With plastics, I'm far more concerned with what might leach _out_ of the plastic (vinyls are _all_ toxic to some degree) than what might come _through_ it, but not concerned enough to worry about using it as a primary fermenter, rather than long-term storage.

I'm really not in the market for one quite so large at the moment, but would be very interested in hearing how it all works out for you if you do order one!

I looked into both homemade and plastic for a while. Homemade looked like it used to be an option using Toledo Spinning products until they wised up and started charging a premium to homebrewers (and making their own conicals). Plastic seemed to have issues with scratching, O2 permeability, and light. I am sure that you could craft as concial from SS sheeting, but it hardly seems worth the effort when you can get professionally made ones here for ca. $300: http://conical-fermenter.com/products/conicals/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; These guys have a pretty good reputation and are providing the tanks for a lot of nano start ups in the states. Perhaps if some Brewnosers got together and combined shipping they could be brought in at a reasonable price.

Jason

P.s. I decided that unless one was interested in yeast harvesting (not a big savings at our level of production, esp. since we often switch between strains, unlike commercial breweries), if 10+ gallon batches were desired, simply converting a keg would be the cheapest and best option (see other threads on this forum).

My brother in law and I are looking at the cost of parts and labour for building a 17 gallon homemade conical (he's a sheet metal worker). For us, it's definitely going to be cheaper than purchasing a conical online and paying for shipping—but I definitely agree that those fermenters area good alternative if you don't have the expertise on hand that we do (i.e. rollers, electric hammers, the ability to purge the tank with argon for easier/better welds).

As I mentioned earlier, if this build goes well for us and anyone here is interested, he and his work buddies might be building some more conicals to sell. I'm sure pricing will be very competitive compared to what's available online and shipping will be significantly less as well.

jason.loxton wrote:it hardly seems worth the effort when you can get professionally made ones here for ca. $300: http://conical-fermenter.com/products/conicals/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; These guys have a pretty good reputation and are providing the tanks for a lot of nano start ups in the states. Perhaps if some Brewnosers got together and combined shipping they could be brought in at a reasonable price..

They seem almost to cheap for what they are... I certainly don't think I would bother trying to cobble together my own from pre-made fab over buying one of those puppies! The only thing I don't like just looking at them, is the large bars going up the side for the lid clamp. Seems like they would make it that much more difficult for temp control.

jeffsmith wrote:As I mentioned earlier, if this build goes well for us and anyone here is interested, he and his work buddies might be building some more conicals to sell. I'm sure pricing will be very competitive compared to what's available online and shipping will be significantly less as well.

I am interested to see what you can come up with! What is your estimated time frame for finishing the project?

Jayme wrote:I am interested to see what you can come up with! What is your estimated time frame for finishing the project?

Both of us have pretty young families, so with kids, work, chores around home and brewing a batch of beer here and there—no idea at all. Not much of a time frame set unfortunately. We're definitely shooting for "by the fall" as it stands right now for the first model anyway. Keep an eye out around the forums, I'll no doubt be posting pictures as we progress with the project.

Haha that's fair. Good luck!