Conical test run

Systems, Gear, & DIY
1

I am doing the maiden run of my new conical with a Wheat beer.
Recipe as follows
BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: White Wheat Hoppimania II
Brewer: Roger
Asst Brewer: Ralph the Wonderdog
Style: American Wheat or Rye Beer
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications

Boil Size: 5.70 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.20 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal 
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.051 SG
Estimated Color: 3.8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 44.2 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:

Amt                  Name                                    Type          #        %/IBU       
6 lbs                Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)          Grain        1        66.7 %       
3 lbs                White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM)              Grain        2        33.3 %       
0.50 oz              Amarillo [9.20 %] - First Wort 60.0 min  Hop          3        20.2 IBUs   
1.00 oz              Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min          Hop          4        17.3 IBUs   
0.50 oz              Amarillo [9.20 %] - Boil 10.0 min        Hop          5        6.6 IBUs

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 9 lbs

Name              Description                            Step Temperat Step Time   
Mash In          Add 12.25 qt of water at 164.7 F        150.0 F      75 min

I used Nottingham yeast.

I found the conical to be extremely easy to sanitize. I put 2.5 gallons of star san in it, made sure it contacted entire interior with a paper towel. I drained all I could through the “spigot” ball valve, then let the rest out the bottom. No need to lift the conical at all. I checked for any leaks while I was at it. I must say I really do like the tri clamps.

Once I had my beer in the thing I sealed it up. Instead of using a #7 stopper with an air lock I put the 90 degree barb in the top that I bought for pressurizing the thing to push the beer out instead of siphoning.

I then put a hose on that leading to the bucket of star san, I ran that through and air lock grommet, and left the lid loose and slightly off for pressure to escape.

The next morning bubbles were being blown into the star san at about the speed of an automatic weapon you hear on the movies. Ambient temperature in that room is 67 degrees. My beer was at 68. Before work that day I checked on it and it was blowing like an aquarium pump and the temperature of the wort was 74. When I got home from work last night it was still blowing and wort was 75. That’s 8 degrees over ambient temperature of the room. I am not fond of Hefs but it looks like I am making one.

My overall impression with this thing is it is a bit less work than my buckets when making beer. But I haven’t had to clean it yet. I suspect that is going to be a trade off. I will be able to dump the yeast cake out the bottom so I won’t have to clean much of that out, but I will have ball valves to disassemble and clean. Also I never watched the fermenting temperatures in my buckets. So I don’t know if this is holding more heat or not. I might need to look into a way to control it. I will wait and see what happens next time I use it. I have rarely had fermentations this active so this might be a unique situation.

2

Very shiny!

I think this goes without saying, but temperature control is VERY important. How do you plan on do that in the future?

3

I am aware of the importance of temperature control. I am going to wait and see if my next fermentation heats up this much. This was an unusually active fermentation. The Gravity went from 1.046 to 1.014 in just over 40 hours. This may be a fluke. The thing is in my basement where the temperature is a constant 67 degrees year round. I have been fermenting my beer down there since I started nearly 4 years ago. I don’t know what temperatures it has been fermenting at in my buckets as I never used a thermometer on them. I don’t know why a conical would be different temperature wise than a bucket. Unless maybe the stainless insulates the beer more than plastic does. But this stainless is not that thick of a gauge.

4

One thing to keep in mind is that you can preasurize that conical I think and if so you can ferment under pressure which supposedly reduces ester formation allowing a higher ferm temp.

5

It has a 6lb pressure capacity. Wouldnt it need some kind of relief if I pressurized it.

6

Yes, I was thinking of a difference conical. The Brewhemoth I believe can be set up to ferment up to 15 PSI similar to commercial conicals.

7

I just had a glass of this beer last night after work. The hot fermentation did not affect the flavor for some reason.

8

Would you do me a favor please?  I am trying to come up with a freezer / conical combination before spending money.  Would you measure just the front-to-back depth of this conical?  In other words the width would include the bars on the sides - I just want to know how deep a fridge would need to be to have this fit in it, not how wide.

Also how far apart are the legs from each other?

Thanks!

9

2 legs are 11 inches apart, one is 12 inches, the frame that goes on each side of the conical is 16 inches apart. The Diameter of the conical is 13 inches.

10

Thank you!  I think it will work in the freezer I am considering, which is 46"H x 23"W x 14"Deep.  It is the depth I was concerned about.  Does either of the valves below add to the depth requirement?

11

The bottom one definitely does not. It points straight down. I dont think the other one does either but I will check when I go downstairs in a bit.

12

To the best of my measuring abilities, which are a far cry from expert, I am going to say the spigot ball valve, without the barb, adds 2 inches. The barb is super easy to put on and take off with these triclamps.

13

Thank you.  I appreciate the effort.

14

I just ordered mine this morning.  I won’t be able to use it though until I get a fridge or freezer for a fermentation chamber - it won’t fit in my second kegerator like a carboy does.

15

You’re going to really like it.