New Speidel fermenter

[BrewerBen]

I Don't think ive seen any posts about this but as i'm deciding on a new shiny fermenter i've been doing lots of looking around and came across this fermenter from Speidel:

http://speidels-braumeister.de/shop/en/ ... tion-tank1



Its the first home brew sized fermenter i've seen with a built in cooling jacket and am wondering what everyone thinks of it. I was thinking i could connect it up to a maxi 110 cooler. Its not a conical but does have a main tap and "clear beer" tap.

[Secla]

Have you seen the ss brewtech conicals ?
They do a jacket for them aswell, not built in but an optional extra

[simon12]

Spiedel stuff always costs alot more in the UK (If thats where you are, note they will not ship here direct). I suspect the brewtech Secla mentions will be slightly cheaper and the optional cooling solution is an immersion heater/chiller system that comes with the temperature controller and an insulated jacket which should work better and the whole design looks better to me. A maxi cooler is ideal for either.
Note I have seen neither solution in person but if I had the cash to spend on 1 i'd go with the brewtech.

[darkonnis]

Go brew tech, the speidel stuff is the best gear if you have a brewery. At our level it would be an utter waste of money which won't see a return.

[IPA]

Go brew tech, the speidel stuff is the best gear if you have a brewery. At our level it would be an utter waste of money which won't see a return.

£530 doesn't seem seem expensive for 60 litre FV with built in cooling

[darkonnis]

Go brew tech, the speidel stuff is the best gear if you have a brewery. At our level it would be an utter waste of money which won't see a return.

£530 doesn't seem seem expensive for 60 litre FV with built in cooling

I've just had another look, you're right thats not too bad. I thought it didn't include the VAT My main thing is though is that it isn't actually conical, sure that yeast port will give you some but not all, 60° or close to it is the right angle otherwise it tends to congregate on the side walls. I think for that much money I'd get another conical with an internal coil

[orlando]

I would email MrLard first.

[Fil]

Go brew tech, the speidel stuff is the best gear if you have a brewery. At our level it would be an utter waste of money which won't see a return.

£530 doesn't seem seem expensive for 60 litre FV with built in cooling

I've just had another look, you're right thats not too bad. I thought it didn't include the VAT My main thing is though is that it isn't actually conical, sure that yeast port will give you some but not all, 60° or close to it is the right angle otherwise it tends to congregate on the side walls. I think for that much money I'd get another conical with an internal coil

perhaps its just me and the yeasts ive used but i have a 'correct' shape conical and a 30-40l brew isnt masive enough to push out a solid yeast cake out the 1/5" butterfly valve with gravity alone.. i need to employ percussion (banging a screwdriver handle against the cone) and on occasion upto 5psi added internal pressure to move the yeast slug/plug..

[darkonnis]

Ah, what I'm getting at Fil is that you actually get a yeast plug. That tank shown will likely have a flat layer of yeast not too dissimilar to using a bucket along the bottom. I found that you need to drain the yeast fairly regularly if you want to get a good easy harvest.

[BrewerBen]

As much as i like the Speidel fermenter and all the conicals there are around now i think for me they take up too much space. I'm trying to keep the brewery as compact as possible so want to sit above a under counter fridge/kegerator. I was originally thinking of using a thermopot with a immersion heater and cooling coil hooked up to a maxi 110 but have noticed on mr lards twitter feed that he has some budget stainless fermenters that aren't conicals and with triclamp fittings. As a added bonus he does a racking arm which is handy as i tend to keg/bottle straight from primary and am getting fed up with tipping the fermenter to get the last few litres out. I'm almost sold on them, my only concern is the lack of insulation on the fermenter but is it really a issue as there are plenty of conicals about with a cooling coil in and they don't seem to have insulation?

[orlando]

As much as i like the Speidel fermenter and all the conicals there are around now i think for me they take up too much space. I'm trying to keep the brewery as compact as possible so want to sit above a under counter fridge/kegerator. I was originally thinking of using a thermopot with a immersion heater and cooling coil hooked up to a maxi 110 but have noticed on mr lards twitter feed that he has some budget stainless fermenters that aren't conicals and with triclamp fittings. As a added bonus he does a racking arm which is handy as i tend to keg/bottle straight from primary and am getting fed up with tipping the fermenter to get the last few litres out. I'm almost sold on them, my only concern is the lack of insulation on the fermenter but is it really a issue as there are plenty of conicals about with a cooling coil in and they don't seem to have insulation?

A coil and a maxi 110 to control fermentation temps obviates the need for insulation, probably the way to go, have mine arriving today so should be able to report more thoroughly in a few weeks.

[darkonnis]

You really do want insulation on your tanks, you need to make it easy as possible for the system to keep the temperature the same. otherwise you get swings, its also important to insulate metal surfaces when crash cooling because you get ltos of condensation, which will eventually go mouldy (on the outside of the tank) whilst it shouldn't get into the beer, I prefer not to take the chance.

[orlando]

You really do want insulation on your tanks, you need to make it easy as possible for the system to keep the temperature the same. otherwise you get swings, its also important to insulate metal surfaces when crash cooling because you get ltos of condensation, which will eventually go mouldy (on the outside of the tank) whilst it shouldn't get into the beer, I prefer not to take the chance.

Thanks Cooky, I will keep an eye on that. Reluctant to cover up all that shiny but it is all about the beer after all. Quite a steep curve I'm on again.

[GrowlingDogBeer]

As much as i like the Speidel fermenter and all the conicals there are around now i think for me they take up too much space. I'm trying to keep the brewery as compact as possible so want to sit above a under counter fridge/kegerator. I was originally thinking of using a thermopot with a immersion heater and cooling coil hooked up to a maxi 110 but have noticed on mr lards twitter feed that he has some budget stainless fermenters that aren't conicals and with triclamp fittings. As a added bonus he does a racking arm which is handy as i tend to keg/bottle straight from primary and am getting fed up with tipping the fermenter to get the last few litres out. I'm almost sold on them, my only concern is the lack of insulation on the fermenter but is it really a issue as there are plenty of conicals about with a cooling coil in and they don't seem to have insulation?

By the time you have a fermenter, then add in the bulk of a maxi 110, then plug in an immersion element you end up with lots of awkward cleaning and quite a lot of stuff.

Is it not easier just to get a small conical and put it in an undercounter fridge, which you could stand on top of your kegerator. They do fit.

[Aleman]

Steve, That's not really a conical though

At 33" tall a chronical doesn't fit in an under counter fridge . . . especially if you have to use a blow off tube . . . I also think its too wide to fit in like the brew bucket

I solved it by getting a tall larder fridge I was wanting one about 1.4 to 1.5m high, but missed it on eBay, but got a taller one from Gumtree for less.

I've always been a little sceptical about controlling fermentation temp by using the air temp in a fridge, but my experiments with the chronical in the fridge using a homebrewed BrewPi have been very promising.