DIY Conical < $50.00

[Thirsty Boy]

I put a Hefe in it this evening. That should test the bugger out.

[TB]

Novel idea, very creative. I'm amazed you happened to find a funnel that fit the bucket so well, that would have been quite a stoke of luck I would think.

Now I don't mean to be negative here but isn't the idea of a conical fermenter so that you can remove the yeast and trub at the end of primary fermentatiuon by dumping out the bottom valve (also allowing you to easily harvest yeast for subsequent repitchings) and thus allow you to secondary in the same vessel off the yeast and trub?

It appears that you just did your primary ferment in the conical then racked into another vessel for secondary, leaving the yeast and trub behind, which basically negates any benefit of the conical bottom. So essentially, you have just made another plastic primary fermenter.

FWIW, I use the standard 30L plastic Coopers style fermenters (same as any HBS in Australia) and when I rack into a secondary fermenter I don't have any issues with yeast or trub carrying across. The transfer is very clean and all the yeast and trub remains in a nice solid cake on the bottom of the fermenter as most people would be aware. In that last few litres I just carefully tilt the fermenter to get the last bit out and hardly any yeast gets stirred up at all or gets out to the secondary.

The arguement of getting clearer wort out of a conical over what you get out of a standard fermenter or carboy is null and void. It is exactly the same.

Maybe with your next brew you can try dumping the yeast and trub after primary and doing your secondary all in the conical and see how it performs in regards to yeast and trub removal in that first dump.

Sorry to be a bit on the negative side here but I really don't see any advantages of fermenting in a conical and then using it in this sort of way.

Best of luck and hope the hefe turns out nice.

Theo

[brewsters millionths]

didn't he say he got the beer out through his racking port after he'd finished fermenting straight into his lagering tank? that is the point isn't it?

[Thirsty Boy]

isn't the idea of a conical fermenter so that you can remove the yeast and trub at the end of primary fermentatiuon by dumping out the bottom valve (also allowing you to easily harvest yeast for subsequent repitchings) and thus allow you to secondary in the same vessel off the yeast and trub?

It appears that you just did your primary ferment in the conical then racked into another vessel for secondary, leaving the yeast and trub behind, which basically negates any benefit of the conical bottom. So essentially, you have just made another plastic primary fermenter.

You're sort of half right there Theo. What you see in the pictures is whats left over after a couple of turns at pulling yeast and trub out of the bottom of the fermentor. I sort of subscribe to Jamil's point of view when it comes to the standard idea of racking to a "secondary" in as much as I dont really see much of a benefit, if you dont have actual trub i the fermentor. I mainly wanted the conical to be able to get rid of that thop/protien trub, and to avoid having to rack (I HATE to syphon). I'm sort of feeling my way with the conical trying to work out a balance between loosing precious beer, and sucking out yeast etc.

The Pilsner I made went through primary and secondary in the conical, and then racked into a lagering vessel for a few weeks. The Hefe came straight out of the conical into the bottle.

So its sort of just another plastic fermentor, and its sort of a proper conical. It kind of has the potential to be both depending on how I end up using it. Of course it might end up just being a pain in the arse and I could just ferment in a bucket after all. Dunno, got to try out all the methods and see. Either way. It was fun to make

See ya

Thirsty

[Bugeater]

{much snipped}
So its sort of just another plastic fermentor, and its sort of a proper conical. It kind of has the potential to be both depending on how I end up using it. Of course it might end up just being a pain in the arse and I could just ferment in a bucket after all. Dunno, got to try out all the methods and see. Either way. It was fun to make

That is the reason I built one too. I love to build shit just for the sake of seeing if it will work. I will probably use it a time or two just to say I did it and then most likely stuff it off into a closet somewhere.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

[pantrybrewer]

That is so amazing! It gives me lots of ideas, my father works for a plastics manufacturer and they have special welders that bond the funnel and bucket together as long as they are Polyethelene.

Thanks a lot, I'd say this is the brewing idea of the year IMHO.

[Batz]

Firstly hello Thirsty Boy and others,I am new to the fourm although I have lurked here a few times.
Thirsty,do you have a diameter of the funnel or perhaps a stock number?
I am going to make one of these babies!

Batz

[Thirsty Boy]

Batz,

It was a 300mm funnel with a screen that fits inside. Its easy to work out the right one, its the one that sits perfectly in the TOP of a 20litre food grade bucket. These funnels are made for the wine industry and I think that they are purposely designed to fit into the top of the food grade buckets. You can get 350mm ones that I think fit into the top of 25 litre buckets, but I'm not sure.

I can only give you the location of parts in Melbourne, here is the link to the Grain and Grape Homebrew shop where I got them, but anywhere that supplies home winemakng will probably have them. Food grade buckets from Bunnings. The O'ring is a replacement for a standard HB fermentor lid.

http://www.grainandgrape.com.au/equipment.htm

They are good fun to make and seem to work well. Have fun