Super Simple 15G Plastic Conical

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I couldn't imagine mine without a racking port. There will be a lot of sediment after you cold crash. I think you will waste more beer without one, as there is always yeast stuck to the sides of the cone
 
I just pulled the trigger and ordered one of these from Rural King. Today they have free shipping offered, so $62 with free shipping.
 
You can skip the racking port entirely if you build a Yeast Trap including a Banjo valve. You isolate the yeast trap and remove, then install a reducing fitting and hose to rack the now-only-liquid product out of the conical and into a keg, bottling bucket or carboys for secondary fermentation/lagering/etc.
 
FredTheNuke said:
You can skip the racking port entirely if you build a Yeast Trap including a Banjo valve. You isolate the yeast trap and remove, then install a reducing fitting and hose to rack the now-only-liquid product out of the conical and into a keg, bottling bucket or carboys for secondary fermentation/lagering/etc.
Click to expand...

Do you have pictures of that?
 
Sure Thing! The pics are of a 60 gallon Inductor Tank with a 6" diameter yeast trap (about 1 gallon in volume). The enclosure is a 3ft x 4ft x 8ft fermentation chamber with R13 insulated and caulked walls. It does not yet have the door on and is missing one outer piece of plywood - 80% complete. it will be controlled by a dual stage Control Products TC-9102D-HV controller with a 5000btu AC unit and a 200 watt heater. Target is 68F year round for a 60 gallon Lambic Solera. Should be filled and at temp in the next 2 weeks.









CHEERS!
 
So I understand from the original posting using a 1-1/2" Stainless Steel Closed Nipple to connect to the bottom of the conical, and then connecting a 1-1/2" valve. Have any of you used a coupler to downsize the 1-1/2" -> 3/4" or 1/2" and then use that size of a valve instead. I was just thinking that may save a little bit of money, and be easier to find.
 
It would BUT you would have some restriction on the yeast "falling" into the yeast trap. Some would collect on the reducing coupling's edge. Not much and this may be very minimal (I have not personally tested it). If you are not fermenting long enough for autolysis it really won't matter - you'll just have a touch of sediment in your racked liquid. My 60 gallon setup is for a never-ending Lambic Solera. In that case some autolysis is OK as the Brett and other bugs will clean it up and feed well. But every so often you want to clean out the trub. My method will be to dump the yeast trap annually when I am adding 15 gallons of new product.

PS - full port 2 inch Banjo valves are $22. They are very very affordable compared to copper or stainless valves.
 
FredTheNuke said:
It would BUT you would have some restriction on the yeast "falling" into the yeast trap. Some would collect on the reducing coupling's edge. Not much and this may be very minimal (I have not personally tested it). If you are not fermenting long enough for autolysis it really won't matter - you'll just have a touch of sediment in your racked liquid. My 60 gallon setup is for a never-ending Lambic Solera. In that case some autolysis is OK as the Brett and other bugs will clean it up and feed well. But every so often you want to clean out the trub. My method will be to dump the yeast trap annually when I am adding 15 gallons of new product.

PS - full port 2 inch Banjo valves are $22. They are very very affordable compared to copper or stainless valves.
Click to expand...

Are these the ones your are talking about, and are the food grade safe?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BANJO-WV150...line-Ball-Valve-Made-In-USA-NEW-/370936638272
 
http://www.agrimart.net/2-mpt-x-male-adapter-full-port-poly-bolted-ball-valves/

This is what I am using. It is a bit more expensive but has the male cam lock type coupler already built in. It is 2" full port - bigger than what you'd need for a 15 gallon conical. The materials are all typically used in food safe products so I have on doubts it is a safe material. They do have white FDA specific fittings but not white valves.

If you look at the Banjo Corp website under the pdf chart for chemical resistance they list White Liquor (much stronger than beer) as No Known Effect for the Viton and EPDM components - so good to go.
 
FredTheNuke said:
It would BUT you would have some restriction on the yeast "falling" into the yeast trap. Some would collect on the reducing coupling's edge. Not much and this may be very minimal (I have not personally tested it). If you are not fermenting long enough for autolysis it really won't matter - you'll just have a touch of sediment in your racked liquid. My 60 gallon setup is for a never-ending Lambic Solera. In that case some autolysis is OK as the Brett and other bugs will clean it up and feed well. But every so often you want to clean out the trub. My method will be to dump the yeast trap annually when I am adding 15 gallons of new product.

PS - full port 2 inch Banjo valves are $22. They are very very affordable compared to copper or stainless valves.
Click to expand...

Would you care to expand on your lambic solera project in these Conicals?
 
jflongo said:
Ok thanks, I'll snag one from Ebay when it's time then. Cheers.
Click to expand...

I went ahead and snagged a 2" one, made an offer on one and got it for $18. Now I'll hunt for a CPVC or SS 2" male 2 sided thread to connect the two. Are you guys using pipe tape or anything when you connect all of this or food grade lube?
 
I used food grade lube just to ensure I didn't gall the threads.

As for the Lambic Solera - in a nutshell it is 60 gallons of 60% pilsner malt / 40% MALTED wheat wort with <10 IBUs of aged oxidized hops. Mash at 153F for an hour (with malted wheat there is no need for turbid or step mashing), sparge at 190F to intentionally pull out tannins - even oversparge a bit, boil for 90 minutes. Yeast is Wyeast 3763 Roeselare - maintain at 68F year round. Every year you pull 15 gallons out and put in a fresh 15 gallons and 2 smack packs of 3763 (the regular sacc yeast are dead and gone by 1 year and must be replenished and you underpitch on purpose to pump up Ester production). By the 3rd year you have a Solera (blended) batch that should rival the best coming out of Belgium. You can put your annual yield on fruit or bottle condition it further or even keg, force carbonate and consume straight! The stuff you pull on years 1 and 2 will be very young Lambic, though. Best put on fruit or blended with something older.

More details can be found in this thread:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f127/hdpe-solera-231285/index4.html
 
Lol seeing this post reminded me that i emailed Den Hartog Industries sales department who makes the Ace Roto mold series and asked if they had any plans on making smaller 8-10 gallon tanks as they would be a huge hit in homebrewing among other things.

Nearly a month later and still no reply, solid sales service! :D
 
I know this thread centers around a 15 gallon setup but the concepts are the same just on a smaller scale. Here is the update on the 60 gallon:

Alright it is all sealed up. I will do some basic pressure tests once the sealant has had ample time to cure (moving liquid in and ensuring the air locks bubble away as that is about as much pressure as the lid will ever have to sustain). The FDA sealant says no VOCs... yeah right - it gives you a good buzz...

I went with twin airlocks just to be safe. I'll have to use blow off tubes during the initial 60 gallon ferment but should only need the 2 airlocks each year when 15 gallons are added. The SS 1/2" valve with QD connects to a 20 inch deep 1/2" ss tube that will allow siphoning or addition of liquid (it reaches 25 gallons down into the product). Any more than 25 gallons can be removed from the bottom.







 
FredTheNuke said:
Sure Thing! The pics are of a 60 gallon Inductor Tank with a 6" diameter yeast trap (about 1 gallon in volume). The enclosure is a 3ft x 4ft x 8ft fermentation chamber with R13 insulated and caulked walls. It does not yet have the door on and is missing one outer piece of plywood - 80% complete. it will be controlled by a dual stage Control Products TC-9102D-HV controller with a 5000btu AC unit and a 200 watt heater. Target is 68F year round for a 60 gallon Lambic Solera. Should be filled and at temp in the next 2 weeks. http://s215.photobucket.com/user/fredthenuke/media/IMG_6112_zps3db138a6.jpg.html http://s215.photobucket.com/user/fredthenuke/media/IMG_6117_zpsfb5b9ec6.jpg.html http://s215.photobucket.com/user/fredthenuke/media/IMG_6120_zps28a25ede.jpg.html http://s215.photobucket.com/user/fredthenuke/media/IMG_6121_zpse687cc58.jpg.html CHEERS!
Click to expand...
Very nice :)
 
FuzzeWuzze said:
Lol seeing this post reminded me that i emailed Den Hartog Industries sales department who makes the Ace Roto mold series and asked if they had any plans on making smaller 8-10 gallon tanks as they would be a huge hit in homebrewing among other things.

Nearly a month later and still no reply, solid sales service! :D
Click to expand...

I completely agree! I would buy 5 8 gallon ones the moment they announced them. I brew mostly 6 gallon batches at home and would love to be able to afford conicals. :drunk:
 
CA_Mouse said:
I completely agree! I would buy 5 8 gallon ones the moment they announced them. I brew mostly 6 gallon batches at home and would love to be able to afford conicals. :drunk:
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if a conical is worth the hastle for a 5 - 6 gallon batch. That's just me though :D

Since I just moved up to 11 gallon batches, that's why I decided to go with the 15 gallon conical. For all my 5 - 6 gallon batch, I think I will stay with a pail or carboy, that's just me though :rockin:
 
Also, I'm curious. Let's say you have a beer in your conical for about 7 days and then are going to brew up a quick 6 gallon batch. Have any of you at the end of your brew day, go to the conical, pull of some yeast slurry, and just dump it into the one you just brewed?

I understand the whole yeast pulling, cleaning, etc. Just though that would be a super fast way to get yeast for your current brew. Maybe a good way to time brewing together for a large and small batch.
 
jflongo said:
Also, I'm curious. Let's say you have a beer in your conical for about 7 days and then are going to brew up a quick 6 gallon batch. Have any of you at the end of your brew day, go to the conical, pull of some yeast slurry, and just dump it into the one you just brewed?

I understand the whole yeast pulling, cleaning, etc. Just though that would be a super fast way to get yeast for your current brew. Maybe a good way to time brewing together for a large and small batch.
Click to expand...

All the time!
 
fpweeks said:
All the time!
Click to expand...

Very cool.

And holy cow, I just got my 1-1/2" valve, that thing is huge :D

Did you add any food grade lube to it, like we use on kegs? It seems like you really have to muscle this thing to open and close it.
 
Also, here is my plan, does this sound good.

Use this to connect the 1-1/2 Value to the conical.

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?sku=30249&catid=520

Use this to connect to the bottom of the valve.

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?sku=30836&catid=976

And then this to the bottom of that.

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?sku=30828&catid=976

Then need to make a container or jar to go into that.

So far about $17 plus shipping for those 3 items.

How does all of that sound?
 
thanks Spotted Dog ans Squeeky for getting this rolling and thanks to all contributions. going to head out to Indiana and check out Ohio valley ag and see if they cant get me 3 of these in house so i can just pick them up. The swmbo loves little trips like this and it is only an hour from my house. Now all I need to do is figure out how I can partition a 6x6 ferm chamber to maintain a different temp for each conical. I am just getting started but I cant see any reason not to start with these since I am going straight to AG and kegging. this will be fun.
 
jflongo said:
I'm not sure if a conical is worth the hastle for a 5 - 6 gallon batch. That's just me though :D

Since I just moved up to 11 gallon batches, that's why I decided to go with the 15 gallon conical. For all my 5 - 6 gallon batch, I think I will stay with a pail or carboy, that's just me though :rockin:
Click to expand...

I brew 2 beers on average every week and a different one each time, so for me an 8 gallon makes better sense.
 
FuzzeWuzze said:
Lol seeing this post reminded me that i emailed Den Hartog Industries sales department who makes the Ace Roto mold series and asked if they had any plans on making smaller 8-10 gallon tanks as they would be a huge hit in homebrewing among other things.

Nearly a month later and still no reply, solid sales service! :D
Click to expand...

They already make them is why they probably did not answer.....

See here:

http://www.plastic-mart.com/category/19/cone-bottom-tanks
 
What's the MINIMUM height required for a "fermentation chamber", fridge, freezer, etc.???

The conical is 29", right? Could the valves and [horizontal] clear-PVC sight 'glass' make it at 39" or less??

I didn't want to get started until I got a fridge. Now I've got one, but I've only got 39" of height to work with. Wondering if I should have just gone with a standup freezer, now....
 
grndslm said:
What's the MINIMUM height required for a "fermentation chamber", fridge, freezer, etc.???

The conical is 29", right? Could the valves and [horizontal] clear-PVC sight 'glass' make it at 39" or less??

I didn't want to get started until I got a fridge. Now I've got one, but I've only got 39" of height to work with. Wondering if I should have just gone with a standup freezer, now....
Click to expand...

A standup freezer or a large fridge is best for a conical. A small fridge or chest freezer would be a pain.
 
My 15 gallon fits in a 14 cf standup freezer without an airlock. The 30 gallon fits in a 20 cf. Both use the medal stands that I bought.
 
grndslm said:
What's the MINIMUM height required for a "fermentation chamber", fridge, freezer, etc.???

The conical is 29", right? Could the valves and [horizontal] clear-PVC sight 'glass' make it at 39" or less??

I didn't want to get started until I got a fridge. Now I've got one, but I've only got 39" of height to work with. Wondering if I should have just gone with a standup freezer, now....
Click to expand...

Anybody with a horizontal yeast catcher feel like chiming in??

:tank:
 

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