Hi. Trying to justify the leap to a conical. Ive searched and read the posts here, but they don’t answer this question. While the convenience factor looms large, the yeast book talks about the fluid dynamics within a conical will give you faster ferments, less diacetyl, better attenuation because of the flow of CO2 upwards from the center of the cone. Can anyone who uses one say they get these improvements on a homebrew sized conical. There don’t appear to be a lot of side by side tests, likely cause once you get a conical you never look back.
I don’t subscribe to the contention that a conical creates a better ferment. I do WHOLE-HEARTEDLY contend that moving from a large glass vessel is very important to a brewer’s health! While plastic is a decent material for a fermenter, stainless is still better. That is how a SST conical can be better. The new cylindrical SST vessels could be a good option too.
On a homebrew scale I have experienced no difference in quality of the finished product. I have been using a stainless conical, buckets, glass and plastic carboys for a number of years. I actually prefer the buckets and carboys for the ease of arranging them in my cooler. If you’re wanting to drop trub or pull yeast from the cone, that would be the only advantage to the conical and that can be a pain as the racking ports (mine is not rotatable) can get completely clogged so nothing comes out easily.
If you have everything else your heart desires for brewing - go ahead. But, a conical would definitely not be an early purchase in my acquisition of desired brew gear.
I love my spiedel tanks! I recommend them over a conical. That said, the only thing I don’t like about them is yeast harvesting. Conicals are definitely good for that.
Considering getting a spiedel for the valve to ditch my siphon, but I’ve heard a number of people say theirs leaks so they don’t end up using it. Any feedback on the valve?
I have 4 of them and no problems leaking. They also hold pressure amazingly well. If you seal the top with the cap as opposed to the airlock and if there is any activity going on the lid will bulge and swell.
Yes run a bit of PBW through it in a 2Qt container and soak for a bit.
To much to break down with conical. The more parts the more to break down and clean. For me anyways.
Speidel fan here. Its really the only way to go. But then duh, everyone knows that. I don’t seem to have any trouble harvesting yeast. Rack beer, leave a bit, swirl n pour. I dont use the spigots, they are still new. In fact the cap on the bottom is only used for dumping oxyclean or sanitizer. I would think a conical would be handy once you get up to barrel sized or larger batches. Like I can’t imagine a 15 barrel speidel would be much fun to swirl n pour.
Yes, those small conicals are a PITA to clean. I had the 42 gallon blickmans for a while and it took hours to clean. Lots of gaskets and ball valves that need disassembled.
Well, it’s not the most sanitary transfer what with the large opening and the lid being off the entire duration of the transfer. Since the lid is so large and my container I store yeast in has a small neck (1 gallon bottle) I have to use a funnel. Certainly not a deal breaker but it is on the con list. I think the pros outweigh the cons.
Sorry, I was still thinking of the Speidel still and not the topic at hand. I’m not really interested in the conical though. Plastic works great, is lightweight and much cheaper.
I like the idea of a conical but it wouldn’t be good value for my brewing. One gallon batches are too easily brewed in 5l wine jugs. There is somebody out there selling a one gallon conical but there’s no way to dump the bottom to collect the yeast so it doesn’t do me any good.