15 gallon conical tank working as a hard cider fermenter

[WATSONBREW]

Dudu Diesel sells cone bottom tanks and a few other peices of equipment for making beer. Reasonably priced too.

[ayelvington]

@WATSONBREW Please provide a link to their web site!

[trumpetchump]

plastic-mart -dot- com

conical bottom food grade tanks.

[MrMrtiki]

Working fine .

[Crypticx666]

Are these safe to use as fermenters? I mean are they HDPE food grade? does anyone know? I'm thinking about getting a 30 gallon one for my Extract brewing, so i can have 4 cans in one big fermentation!

Thanks for the vid!

[ayelvington]

@Crypticx666 The ones that I got are food-grade. You know that I sanitize the heck out of them before starting, so all is good. Yup, 30 gallons of beer ought to hold you for a while!

[Crypticx666]

@ayelvington yeah i always brew 15 gallons at a time, but this is imperial so that's more like 18 gallon US and I brew that at least once a month! haha. So i have to deal with racking and dealing with 3 carboys at a time, so i really wanna go with conical so i can just put it in there, then wait a few weeks, and straight into keg!

[britarthc]

@Crypticx666 have you done all grain?

[Crypticx666]

@britarthc Yeah I actually just got into it. I have done a few small 1 gallon test batches, first one was a throw away, the 2nd one seems ok but still think the alcohol may be a little low but the 3rd batch has been doing active fermentation the past 3 days, like 1 airlock "pop" ever 5 secs even on the third day, which is pretty good for a 1 gallon carboy I think.

[bjcpc0337]

Do you regularly reuse your yeast with the bottom valve? If listed in Craigslist or Ebay, do the biodeisel folks also call it a conical fermentor?

[ayelvington]

@bjcpc0337 I do not save/recycle the yeast. I either flush it down the toilet, or spread it on the lawn. Whatever is easier. We process our own sewage, so flushing probably feeds the digester!

I don't know what the biodiesel folks call the tank, but I just search on the terms "conical" and "biodiesel". I got VERY lucky with the purchase, and I doubt that I could afford to replace the tanks that I have.

Al

[indymedic]

@ayelvington I've seen them online called induction or inductor tanks. That is what thee Biodiesel folks call them. This looks like the same one listed on agrimart and tank-depot sites. The 15 gallon tanks are around 55 to 65 bucks and roughly the same for the stand. I've been looking at these pretty seriously. Luckily agrimart has a dealer about an hour from me.

[ayelvington]

@indymedic That is exactly what they are, and they are food grade as long as that are only used for processing juice/cider. You do want to rework some of the fittings on them to eliminate areas to trap food debris so they are easier to clean. You are very lucky to have a dealer nearby since shipping charges are a bit steep (and getting worse every day).

[IdiocracyApocalypse]

i made a hard cider once and it was great

[ayelvington]

@IdiocracyApocalypse Then make some more!

[crm75c]

Hey did you bother sealing the collar that the lid screws into? I have seen on the web people were using silcone 50 food grade seal the ring into the fermenter and then weather stripping on the lid. I was looking at finding a gasket for the collar and an o-ring for the lid.

[crm75c]

Dude awesome find on these tanks. I found them on few sites with a stand for under 200. What are you using for a collection unit on the bottom? Are the fittings on the bottom threaded on the outside or inside?

[ayelvington]

I've been searching for another deal as good as these were, but no joy.

I have two taps on the side that connect to my pump/filter for racking. The bottom just drains the lees into a bucket.

The bottoms are threaded on the inside. There is a pipe clamp around the base to minimize spreading that would damage the threads.

Good luck on your search!

[burleman]

@ayelvington What kind of valve did you tap into the side of the cone? I've got a 60 gallon tank much like yours and I think it would be a great addition. Also how did you get the lid to seal? If you could help me out I'd be greatful. Thanks!

[ayelvington]

@burleman I bought the side tap from Norther Brewer, and I sealed the top using a food-grade caulk around the fitting (replaced screws with stainless bolts), and I put weatherstripping around the lid (with electrical tape over the gap where the two ends come together).

The side tap started to leak after about 6 months, so I'm going back to that to see if I can find a better solution. I think I'd go with a drilled plug and pipe in the lid for sampling until I found a better side tap solution.

[ayelvington]

Ebay, but keep an eye on your local Craigslist for folks that realized they would never make biodiesel.

[iridetriumphs]

Where did you get the Conical from? looking to get one for home brewing that is not $300. Proost!

[burleman]

@iridetriumphs

I've got a 60 gallon tank that serves me well. If you're still looking send me a message and I can give you the name and number of the guy I spoke with, and a link to their catalog.