Hey guys I was thinking about getting a conical fermenter at some point in the near future. I never realized how expensive they were even for the plastic ones. Does anyone know any reasonable brands?
I am not sure what you mean by “reasonable” dollar-wise. However, I bought a half-barrel SS BrewTech a couple years ago. Although it was not cheap, it was the best price for my conical dollar out there. I think I paid about $650 for it and the 7.5 gallon ones are less expensive, maybe half the price if I remember correctly. It is of excellent quality and I love it. I got it from More Beer since the waiting time on the SS website was really long and you had a sort of online lottery thing going when they first started up due to delivery times from the manufacturer. Had to wait with More Beer as well, but it was only a month or so. Not sure if there is any wait time now.
Just my $0.02.
+1 for the SS conical. They are currently starting at $399 for the 7 gal. I upgraded to butterfly valves and the neophrene jacket. I can control down to 55 F with the built-in cooling coil, and have placed my Speidel to storage. I was weary of the plastic ones, they do scratch over time, and have to be replaced.
Check out the new anvil fermenter from blichmann. Not quite a c ok nical but still dope.