Ferment in 15 gal stainless pot?

[brewdrummer]

I brew 10 gallon batches and I hate glass carboys, hard to clean, heavy...

Does anyone ferment in a 15 gal stainless steel pot with a cover?

If so what are the pros and cons?

Thanks!

[foomench]

If a keggle counts, yes. I have a friend that ferments in one. He made a lid that he cranks down with a bar through the handholds of the chimb to seal. I use a conical, so any pros and cons would be speculation on my part. Sealing might be difficult, but then I generally seal my carboys with just a piece of sanitized aluminum foil, so that wouldn't be a big issue for me.

[andy77]

Jamil spoke of a friend who won medals fermeting a light lager of some sort in his brew kettle. This is good proof of concept considering the delicacy of light lagers. I'm sure you'd have to figure out a way to make it airtight and sanitary, but I'm sure it could be done.

My first idea, create a dip tube that picks up from the very bottom of the kettle (unlike other BKs). This way you can chill, let the break settle, then dump much of it.

IIRC, back when I frequented the Green Board, there was a retired engineer who sort of did an opposite thing. He stuck a burner underneath his conical and boiled his wort in that, then chilled and fermented.

[bikefoolery]

When I want the super low height to width I'll ferment in my B3 15 gallon kettle, trub and all.

Pro: geometry, heat sanitize, can get your meat paws into clean it. Easy for top cropping yeast. hard to break.
Con: 10 gallons is heavy to get into a fridge for temp control 40 lb pot + ~90ish pounds of liquid). No brewing until that beer is done. Maybe some oxygen pickup issues towards the end of the ferment(only if the beer is going to be around along time). Can't see it ferment.

Another option is the Olive Oil Fusti (25L, 30L or larger). They are basically large stainless old school milk jugs. But be sure to inspect in person. Some fusti's have good smooth internal welds, others do not. Also, some have a rubber foot ring attached, which won't work for heat sanitizing. I'm going to get 2 of them when funds provide.

Have you thought about trying better bottles? (not an advert, just an honest question) I'm trying them out now, and I'm pretty happy so far for most of my beers.

Cheers,
The Fool

[Quin]

It would essentially be a stainless steel bucket.

The only drawback I see would be if you had a valve/thermometer, etc. that wasn't tri-clamp. You would need to disassemble all NPT valve or other connections and pressure cook them to make sure they are sanitized.

If you're using an unmodified stock pot and a siphon, then it wouldn't be an issue.

BTW, I use a 3 gal enamel steel pot for making 2 gal starters for lagers. Works fine.

[brewdrummer]

thanks guys!

I think I might try to convert a keg, drill for a valve and disessemble it everytime to make sure its sanitary.

I'm not too concerned with it being sealed as long as I time the transfer to lessen any oxygen pick up.

hmmm gotta think about it more.

[beltbuckle]

if you are going to ferment in a keg, why mess with drilling holes in it or modifying it? Why not just pull the spear out and use it.

[pfooti]

Yeah, I've spoken to people who ferment in half-barrel kegs, no conversion. The tricky bit is just getting things positioned correctly before you fill it, since that thing ain't moving. I just use three buckets. I even made a little cpvc manifold thing so I can fill all three at the same time, mainly because I love fiddling around with brewing gadgets.