Vessi vs New Unitank and Penguin Glycol Cooler

Ingredients
1

Howdy! I’m a 5 gallon brewer, and about to up my fermentation game. I’m looking at some products and, like everything else, they have their pros and cons. I was hoping you all wouldn’t mind helping? First, I’m looking to purchase a Vessi [1]. Differentiating Pros: a separate place to store and serve beer at different temps, all in one system that doesn’t have wires or tubes showing. Differentiating Cons: if any major element goes out past the warranty I’d have to replace the whole system. Alternatively, I’m looking to purchase the new SS Brewtech Unitank [2] and the Penguin Glycol Chiller [3]. Differentiating Pros: if I ever purchase another fermenter that hooks up to a glycol chiller I can ferment multiple batches at the same time, if some part breaks down the road I can most likely fix it without replacing the entire system. Differentiating Cons: a tiny bit more pricey this way, I lose the extra tap, not as clean looking.

I’m sure there are more pros and cons, so feel free to let me in, as well as your opinions on which is the better option. Cheers!

[1] http://www.getvessi.com/
[2] https://www.ssbrewtech.com/collections/home-unitanks/products/7-gal-unitank
[3] http://www.penguinchillers.com/product/12-hp-glycol-bath-chiller/

2

There was a thread going for a while with a couple of Vessi owners, though I think in the end they migrated to a Facebook page.  If I recall correctly, people were having issues keeping the beer as cold as they wanted it to be when serving.  I’d reach out to them on FB.

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=28942.0

Personally, I would go conical in an upright fridge.

3

Or a conical with a chest freezer - just make sure the height is sufficient for the blow-off or airlock and the lifting is not a problem with the vessel.  I like the efficiency of chest freezers (and I lift 10 gallon batches with a locking pulley system), but an upright would work well for tall fermenting vessels, as Narcout said, because you can rack in situ from the bottom valves without removing the vessel from the freezer until it is empty.  And that Unitank system looks pretty cool to me.