The Minibrew® 6.5xe gallon fermenter newer model

[Nebraskan]

What are the opinions of conical fermenters, and this one is the newest model the 6.5 gallon XE model with improvements over earlier models. https://www.minibrew.com/products/6-5x-gallon-conical-fermenter?variant=25674595014

Just wondering about 2 things. Is conical a good choice?
2. If you save yeast, how long can you store it in the refrigerator where it is still good for starting another batch?

Price on this doesn't seem bad. I think putting wheels, like you see on office chairs, would be a very good idea. Allow you to roll it out of the closet or "wherever" to where you want to work with what's in the fermentor.

Wish it had the option for Tri-Clover fitting (Sanitary) for the bottom.

Has anyone used one of these, and can they be slightly pressurized for moving product to another vessel?

 

[Nebraskan]

Well, guess I'll find out soon enough. One is coming for Christmas (it it lasts till then. LOL Talked with John the owner and I like the idea of not messing with preparing SS. I can't remember anytime we passivated our new Stainless Steel tanks. Will have to ask about that. I like the idea of chemical inert HDPE as I know lots of wineries and breweries have used this.

 

[AkTom]

Looks very nice. And not a bad price.

 

[FunkedOut]

...Has anyone used one of these, and can they be slightly pressurized for moving product to another vessel?

On their website, it doesn’t say much, but what it does say sounds promising:

Now you can pressure brew if that is your thing.

I’d be curious to know what they recommend as a max operating pressure and how to handle that stopper hole. A bulkhead fitting with threaded fitting for ball lock post would be convenient.

Also, the dimensions would be nice to see listed.

 

[Nebraskan]

Was visiting with John (owner) tonight and that 6.5 gal conical minibrew can handle 25 PSI. Right now he's waiting on a shipment of lids and gaskets into complete the setups. He says he's heard of lots of customers fermenting and then plugging to create gas pressure right in the fermentor without having to siphon off into another container.

 

[Nebraskan]

Got the Conical fermenter in and took about an hour to assemble. The 4 angle stanchions are mounte at the top of mine, HOWEVER, it shows how to set it up to move them to the bottom 2 holes, and to use that drilled rubber stopper, 3/8 90 deg barb and tubing to allow it to go to a water blow off container, so you can then put it in a refrigerator. Overall height is now 25 instead of 33.

I am looking at it and think if you wanted to pressurize it some, you could merely put in the tapered rubber stopper with the hole in it, FROM THE INSIDE, with an attached plastic barb and connect to a CO2 gas line. If you want to get fancy, you could also drill and tap a hole on top of the lid for fitting a lower pressure air gauge. OR drill a hole to support putting in the "IN" side of a ball lock keg fitting and pressure it with your gas and gauge setup. Again, I'd do the lid. Reason is it would be a LOT cheaper to order a replacement lid, or heck just order an extra lid when you buy the unit, and use it for this purpose.

I do not know, HOWEVER, how much pressure it could take. I know the Brewtech Ss can only handle about 2 lbs safely. I would not pressurize it though without an adjustable pressure relief valve fitted on the top of the tank, for safety reasons.

It comes with 2 ball valves, a 1/2 for the side and also the double ended nipple, as well as a large 3/4 in one at the bottom, again, with the double ended SS nipple. It did not come with anything to reduce, nor put on a barb on the bottom valve which would have been VERY nice. a 3/4 NPT Male to 1/2 female NPT would have been nice.... so I ordered one on Amazon. Not a lot of 3/4 NPT to barb fitting out there. I can, and did order, a 3/4 NPT Male to 1 1/2" tri clover fitting. At least I can cap that with a gasket, tri-clover end and 1.5" SS cap.

 

[Nixon66]

Looking forward to your review of it after some use!

 

[Nebraskan]

BTW, Talked with John Thomas today of Minibrew. That tank can withstand 20-25 lbs of pressure. Which means if someone wished to set up a controlled pressure release, you could pressure ferment in this thing. I suggest to John using an old pressure cooker part with those little round pressure release setting that have 5 - 10 - 15 lbs settings and just set it on 15 lbs. The little round relief would jiggle occassionaly when the pressure exceded 15 lbs and then settle back down. You could also install a simple ball lock "IN" post, or a regular valve stem (from tires) and an inserted pressure gauge into the tank and just CO2 the amount of gas you wanted in there to move beer from fermenter to another vessel, or simply "gas" it well.

 

[Nagorg]

How big is the top opening? Can you get your arm in and reach everything for cleaning?

 

[FunkedOut]

Thanks for the info.
25” tall is nice for a freezer.

Saw this pic on their site that I had not seen before:

looks like an NPT nipple with a lock nut. Prolly an o ring as well.
that should hold the 25psi easy.

 

[Nebraskan]

How big is the top opening? Can you get your arm in and reach everything for cleaning?

About 4.25" across the threads. Easy to get your arm in there as I had to put that special 3/4" Weldless Bulk Head Fitting in the very bottom of the cone. So, yes, it is easy to get your arm and hand in there to clean. Also, it easily lifts out of the frame so you have just the HDPE fermentor that you can rinse out in a bath tub, or hose out with a garden hose without issues. Does not weigh that much.

 

[Nebraskan]

BTW I went to the winery last night and took some pictures of tank lids. Our 5300 gallon fermentation tanks with chilling jackets have 9" lids. One of our other tanks, a 1970 gallon tank, used for fermentation or storage (and we have used it for fermenting just this last fall) only had about a 4 inch lid in it. Tall narrow tank but only 4" lid. That's a 1.5" Tri-Clover clamp on top. So don't get too concerned over the size of the lids on these small home brew conicals, as long as you can get your hand/arm in there to clean. Also, when we ferment, either cider or wine NONE of them have their lids on. They are completely open. This included those 7300 gallon Fiberglass tanks that we ferment cider in. They have a pretty large opening though for the lid, something like 26" across. They are not on the tank as wine/cider is starting nor during fermentation either.

 

[adam01]

BTW I went to the winery last night and took some pictures of tank lids. Our 5300 gallon fermentation tanks with chilling jackets have 9" lids. One of our other tanks, a 1970 gallon tank, used for fermentation or storage (and we have used it for fermenting just this last fall) only had about a 4 inch lid in it. Tall narrow tank but only 4" lid. That's a 1.5" Tri-Clover clamp on top. So don't get too concerned over the size of the lids on these small home brew conicals, as long as you can get your hand/arm in there to clean. Also, when we ferment, either cider or wine NONE of them have their lids on. They are completely open. This included those 7300 gallon Fiberglass tanks that we ferment cider in. They have a pretty large opening though for the lid, something like 26" across. They are not on the tank as wine/cider is starting nor during fermentation either.

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These things are nice. I have the older model. I setup my fermentation refrigerator to a height that I can gravity fill a keg using a short hose from the side port. I also use a hose into a glass instead of an airlock - in case the yeast gets vigorous.

Enjoy.