DIY Fast Ferment Conical Fermenter

[Brewmegoodbeer]

Hello fellow home brewers,

I have recently been looking into the Fast Ferment Conical fermenter, and this thing is awesome! You are able to primary and secondary in the same vessel without moving the beer, and then you can siphon from the fermenter, nice, clear beer. The problem is, just the fermenter is 100 bucks, and then the stand is 50, and since I am a grad student with over 100,000 in loans, I ain't got money for that! I took an idea from another DIY conical fermenter on here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=445207, where you take two food grade buckets, make a truncated cone out of one and weld the other bucket onto the cone, making a conical fermenter. I am also attaching cpvc piping to run down to a yeast trap just like the Fast Ferment Fermenter. I have attached pics of what I have done so far. I have yet to sand the bottom seal so don't judge my welding work or the uneven, unsanded cut on the cone . The bottom picture is the fermenter that i got my idea from, except I will have a yeast trap with a valve to separate it and dump it. I have about 38 dollars into this (6 for buckets and 32 for piping and fittings). My next steps are to do some sanding, attach the yeast trap, weld the bucket to the cone, and to make a stand. Stay tuned!

 

[stlbeer]

'merican engenuity at it's best! Looking good!

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

Here is an update: I sanded down the bottom hole of the conical, I built the yeast trap, and I prepped the cone to be welded to the other bucket. I plan on naming this "Classy Ferment" since it has a classy mustache. lol Check out the pics.

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

Check out what I have done so far. I created this from 2 buckets, a mason jar, and some piping. The fast ferment conical fermenter costs 150 with the stamd. I have less than 40 into it. I built the stand from a bottling bucket and simply cutting a hole in a lid the fits the conical at an appropriate place and height above the bottom of the bucket.

 

[day_trippr]

Kudos for the effort.
But, be very thorough with your cleaning and sanitation regimen going forward...

Cheers!

[edit/ps] Have you hydro-tested it yet?

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

The brownish black color looks weird but it is from some of the plastic burning as I was welding it. Some of the black specs are a mixture of burnt plastic and specs imbedded in it from the sand paper I used. I soaked it in bleach for a day to try to get it to turn white and to get some of the specs out but was not really effective. Its pretty smooth with no huge crevices. Other than it not being white, it should be fine.

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

Hydro tested it yesterday and I marked at couple spots where drops were coming out where the cone meets the bucket that I can fix. Ill continue doing that until completely leak proof. That's the hardest part. Lol

 

[jerbrew]

I bet it is. Welding plastic sounds frustrating. Cool project.

 

[dsniegocki]

Major kudos to you, good idea and good job so far. You are going to have some major nooks and crannies at the bottom to host some unwanted guests, you're going to have to clean and sanitize the bejesus out of this thing. : )

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

I wish I could just coat it all with a wax lining. Any ideas?

 

[treacheroustexan]

Following. Curious to see how your beer ferments in this! Keep us posted!

 

[LBussy]

I wish I could just coat it all with a wax lining. Any ideas?

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

Boom! Silicone food grade spray! Works on plastic surfaces and waterproofs too! This is the answer to protecting from nooks and crannies and water proofing!

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

In fact, you can spray any plastic fermenter with this to coat it!

 

[CascadeOK]

Love the idea, but with commentary on the forums about a scratch in a fermenter and someone having infection problems despite strict sanitation I'd have some concerns.

But...I have a 20 gal pot and when I do only 5 gal batches its hard to get enough depth in my pot for my wort chiller, so I would drain my pot into my 5 gal bucket and put chiller in that. Works great. So I'm thinking you could do the same. The 190 degree + temps would heat the plastic up helping to kill anything you might have missed with your chemicals. Just be careful nothing separates and burns you with scalding hot wort. Keep us posted!

 

[allanmorgan]

Parts list for the valve and pvc tubing used?

 

[dsniegocki]

Love the idea, but with commentary on the forums about a scratch in a fermenter and someone having infection problems despite strict sanitation I'd have some concerns.

But...I have a 20 gal pot and when I do only 5 gal batches its hard to get enough depth in my pot for my wort chiller, so I would drain my pot into my 5 gal bucket and put chiller in that. Works great. So I'm thinking you could do the same. The 190 degree + temps would heat the plastic up helping to kill anything you might have missed with your chemicals. Just be careful nothing separates and burns you with scalding hot wort. Keep us posted!

I had a similar issue with my 15 gal pot... solved it by re-coiling my IC to a wider circle. Result was a bigger diameter and a "shorter" height IC. Now the entire length of the copper tubing is submerged. If your IC has a smaller diameter than your pot, you may be able to do the same.

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

Piping parts list:

1 x CPVC 3/4'' ball valve
2 x CPVC 3/4'' threaded adapters
2 x Nylon 3/4" FPT X MHT adapters (these screw into the cpvc threaded adapters on the opposite side of the cone and in the mason jar)
2x small sections of 3/4'' cpvc pipe to run from the ball valve to the cpvc threaded adapters
cpvc cement
get some gaskets as well

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

So I have been looking for a truly food safe silicone caulk to coat the areas that I melted plastic to 1) seal it and make it completely water proof and 2) seal the nooks and crannies where bacteria might hang out. I found one on amazon that does seem to be truly food safe: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K19YCX6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20. I found the MSDS sheet and it appears to be mostly inert material and I have attached it. It seems that many have used it for food purposes. Silicone is a common plastic that bowls, plates and kitchen utensils are made out of, so I am going with this product.

View attachment msds for food grade sealant.PDF

 

[allanmorgan]

Thanks for the parts list brewmegoodbeer! Very much appreciated! This has inspired me and am now looking into making my own conical fermenter.

 

[rtracer]

Cool project and looks like fun, though I am a little worried about your seams, and nasties wanting to make them a home possibly introducing infections.

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

Your welcome! Keep me updated on your progress.
UPDATE:
I have been looking thoroughly for a sealant that is completely food safe and it does not exist. I finally came up with an exceptional idea. I found plastic bucket liners on amazon that are specifically made for marinating and storing meat. I am running a liner through the fermenter, and screwing it seal tight to the bottom of the adapter on the fermenter. This will work to where no beer comes in contact with the welds I made! Infection free and sanitary!
I also wanted to show you guys what I am doing to drain the fermenter. A carbonating cap I have fits perfectly on the mason jar adapter that I will cut the top off so beer flows through.

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

Check out my other thread on this project! https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=593253

I'm using a food grade liner that is used to marinate and store meat in 5 gallon buckets for restaurant use. I will use a liner in the conical each time to prevent wort from seeping into any small cracks or divots.

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

Check out the stand I just made for it out of a bottling bucket and a lid that fits an appropriate place on the conical to both hold it up and place the mason jar slightly above the base of the botllung bucket

 

[rtracer]

Cool, looking forward to hearing results

 

[rmchair]

I like the bucket liner idea. I was a little concerned you may have released some plastic agents. Last time I did a project t like this I ended up about 1 Uber ride from buying the commercial version.

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

Yeah the bucket liner should work perfect. I'll post pics of how exactly that works as soon as I get the liners in the mail. Id like to add that ai just invested in the 45 dollar fast ferment insulation jacket to keep it cool. This product will fit my fermenter perfect. I was going to buy a chest freezer but I am concerned about not finding a chest freezer that will support the 36" height (counting airlock) of this fermenter. The insulation Jacket is perfect!

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

UPDATE: Hey guys, I know I have not updated on here in a while. It is because I ran into some problems making this, but I finally have a water tight fermenter! I got the brew jacket in the mail and it is going to fit the fermenter perfect. I had some issues making things water tight and after a long search, I finally found a product that is safe. JB waterweld can be used on potable drinking water tanks and is NSF approved for that use. I used the putty to make water tight seals from the outside of the fermenter. There has been 5 gallons of water sitting in my fermenter for 3 days and not one drop of a leak. I am going to keep the water in there until I brew just to prove that this thing is ultimately water tight. There was then the issue of lining the inside of the fermenter with the plastic liner without any beer flowing into the bucket outside of the liner. I then got the idea of using the the "liquor bottle stoppers" to plug into the holes of the bottom of the fermenter and the racking port from inside the fermenter. This forms a seal with the liner and the holes to where no beer will flow in between the liner and the wall of the fermenter, keeping it dry. These are of course safe to use bc their function are to plug liquor bottles that are then used for consumption. I then thought long and hard about what the function of a conical fermenter is and if I really did not want to make a yeast trap when I could just do it the old fashioned way and dump the yeast. I also decided to dump the yeast instead because the hole on the bottom of my fermenter is not that big, so I am not sure if much yeast will fall into the mason jar. Opening the valve and dumping the yeast will create a suction force that will get more yeast out of my conical, so I am going with that. All I have to do is drill the hole for my airlock and my fermenter is complete! Here is some pics!

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

I have finally finished and I now have a conical fermenter! I cant wait to test it out! I have named it "The Classy Ferment". If anyone has any questions on how to make your own, feel free to ask! Cheers!

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

Here is essentially how im going to rack into a bottling bucket. This is water that has been sitting in the fermenter for almost a week without a drop of a leak. I want to use a bottling bucket so I can mix the priming solution evenly with the beer before bottling. Doing so in the conical would mix up the yeast that i want to stay in the bottom of the cone when racking.

 

[treacheroustexan]

When do you plan on putting a beer in there?

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

Thanks for following! I am hoping that will be next Monday after my exam. Pharmacy school has got me doing nothing but sitting in class and sitting on my couch studying for my weekly exams and quizzes. I look forward to brewing in this and I will post updates on my first brew in it as soon as I can. Im thinking a smoked vanilla porter will cristen the fermenter nicely.

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

Here is a nice little finishing touch on The Classy Ferment! Ill be fermenting in it Monday, a smoked vanilla porter!

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

My Smoked Vanilla Porter is officially in my fermenter and im awaiting the airlock to start moving! I transferred the beer in last night and let the trub settle to the bottom over night. I just dumped the trub and pitched the yeast!

 

[treacheroustexan]

My Smoked Vanilla Porter is officially in my fermenter and im awaiting the airlock to start moving! I transferred the beer in last night and let the trub settle to the bottom over night. I just dumped the trub and pitched the yeast!

Hope it's working as planned!

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

9 hours later, the airlock is going nuts! Check out the video of it.

View attachment trim.FEA88EA6-A2DC-4D97-9003-168835635925.MOV

 

[bionut]

Great job, but so much work for almost no benefit other than having a conical... It won't make your beer better.

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

I think that having a conical is worth the effort. 1.clearing virtually all of the yeast and trub out of your beer when you are done with it. 2. Less surface area contact with the bed of dead yeast and trub when your beer is fermenting. 3. You do not have to do any transferring (primary and secondary in 1 vessle). Can anyone think of anymore? Do you see breweries fermenting in giant buckets? Lol

 

[Brewmegoodbeer]

Also I am proud to say I built my own conical. Worth the time spent. It was a fun project. If you see anything to do with your hobby as "work" then its prob not a hobby to you.

 

[treacheroustexan]

Also I am proud to say I built my own conical. Worth the time spent. It was a fun project. If you see anything to do with your hobby as "work" then its prob not a hobby to you.

As a DIY guy myself, I know exactly how you feel. Glad it worked out for you!