My question is, all things being the same, why is temperature control a problem with a conical but not with a bucket?
I’d say temperature control IS important with a bucket. (That is why I used my limited funds to get a beer fridge a couple years before I got a conical.) I think most would agree that temperature control has more impact than fermenter shape.
Steel conicals can conduct heat quicker than plastic buckets, but over the time the beer ferments, I don’t expect that to be much of an impact.
Can someone tell me more about the Brewhemoth? I go to St Louis regularly and I’m thinking about 3 of them. I like the price and the 1/2 barrel capacity.
Pressurize? Clean out? Anything else?
For the money I can’t a lot more capacity compared to the Blichmann and Stout never returned my inquiries.
Thanks
I never heard of these before I bought my Stout. Looking at it I am amazed at the price for the capacity. Though you do have to buy all of your fittings separately where all of mine came with my conical. But for a 22 gallon capacity that you can pressurize that would certainly be worth it.
http://brewhemoth.com/tri-clover-brewhemoth
Theirs even has an immersion chiller attachment.
This makes complete sense to me. I had a lot of people on different forums telling me if I get a conical I need to find a way to keep it cool. I never could figure out what would make the conical any different than the bucket. They are both doing exactly the same thing. They are just different shapes and different materials. I reasoned that if my beer seems fine now coming out of a bucket why would it be any different, in the same conditions, coming out of a stainless steel conical? I have never checked the fermenting temperatures on my buckets as I always felt there really wasn’t much I could do about them without buying a freezer or building an insulated room for them and cooling it. They sit in 67 degrees ambient temperature and the finished product comes out just fine other than a few of my American Wheats having a Hefewiezen character to them. Now I know that from time to time I must have had some warm fermentations that caused that.
I believe what the person who made that comment was referring to was the size and shape of the conical. It does not easily conform to the usual fridge/freezer options for temperature control. It does require more space and lifting it into or out of a freezer is not an option, and it is too tall for most fridges. I have not noticed any difference in the temperature of the beer when fermenting side by side, a bucket and conical.
That’s exactly the issue I meant to raise, not that it’s more important for a conical, it’s just more complicated. You have lots of options for cooling buckets and carboys, but conicals are large and just don’t fit inside many standard appliances or tubs of cool water.
I believe this is why many people use a stainless steel coil with circulating ice water inside their conicals.
I was about to start a thread asking why I need to switch to conicals and now I know the answer. I don’t. I’ll bet they’re awesome if you’re doing nano or bigger, but for 5 gallon batches I can’t see beating a bucket
heck there are a lot of nano’s that have come to the same conclusion as you for 20 gallon batches.
I’ll bet that’s true. I’m not anti conical. I’m just not seeing enough reason to switch
I decided to switch when I read about pushing the beer out with CO2. This will eliminate lifting a bottling bucket. I am an old decrepid gymrat who has had 3 hernia surgeries and is going in for a new hip in October. I eliminated a lot of lifting with a hydraulic jack table and this, I am hoping, will eliminate the rest of it.
Get a home forklift.
I have a bunch of buckets but I’ve had infections issues and I’m sick of moving them around etc which is why I’m looking at conicals. I want to get to 1/2 barrel batches of my common brews and I’m not looking forward to moving all those buckets around. I really want to add a filter system and the ability to move beer under pressure is appealing.
This looks right up your alley http://brewhemoth.com/tri-clover-brewhemoth
I’ve got a pair of the brewhemoth conicals that I like, but before I had them I would ferment in 1/2bbl sanke kegs with stem removed. Put sanitized empty keg in chest freezer, pump wort in, ferment, then use co2 to push out.