Conical Fermentors

[Alex Daniel]

Does anybody know if there is someone who makes conical fermentors on the homebrewer scale in nz? or does anyone have expereince with ordering these from overseas? what sort of prices etc

[Liam Callaghan]

Sorry Grant, didn't see this post, been flat out the past two weeks...

Plastic is 35 litre, stainless is only 27 litre.

 

Good news on the Stainless, first one will be in transit to me some time tomorrow so hopefully post some photos over the weekend :p

 

Plastic is only a week away or so, the guys are trying hard but flat tack with a couple of huge jobs.  Hopefully beers on Monday will inspire them to work 26 hours a day and get my job out sooner!

 

Hope you like the stainless, I'll try and get a few people over to have a look so they give some feed back on here, I'll be looking to take pre orders then, maybe a very good deal on the first 10 so I can get more feedback on it.

[Grant R Baker]

Thanks for the info.. and understandable.

 

both sound pretty interesting.

[TBone]

Did they show up Liam? 

I'd be keen to check them out... your in Auckland right? 

[Liam Callaghan]

Stainless arrived :p

Plastics are next week some time, catching up with the boys this arvo to see how we are doing.

Stainless is looking mint, I'm taking it over to show a couple of pro brewers in Auckland this week for a review, I'll post some photos in the next day or so. 

Big cider week for me with 400kg of apples arriving on Thursday and I still have to put my new 140 litre fermentors together and make a stand for them...

In Auckland yes mate, pm me if you want to pop over and check out the stainless or wait until I have them both.

[Liam Callaghan]

Big weekend smashing apples and pressing them with Richards awesome press!  Sore back arms and feet but 260 litres of cider in the workshop, stoked with it!

Here are a few images of the stainless fermentor, been a little too busy this week to sort it out because of the cider project but should be all ready to roll mid next week.

27 litre capacity

1.5mm thick stainless

1 1/2" port at the bottom

I'll post the full stats tomorrow when I can keep my eyes open.  Next week I'll get it out for review and if anyone wants to have a look give me a shout and I'll try and tee it up.

FYI This is just a tank so you will need to play with it before you can use it (stand, lid, valve etc.)  This could be as simple as a piece of play with a hole in it and a lid off a crock pot.

It is fabricated in NZ by NZ engineers and is one size only.  They have been awesome to deal with and are happy to help out up and coming brewers in NZ.  It should be sub $400. 

Hope you like it and look forward to getting some reviews to you shortly 

[Ralph]

260L of apple juice! Damn fine work. Did you hijack a crate of apples?? Nice work on the conicals as well!!

[Liam Callaghan]

Ordered a crate to be delivered from Hawkes Bay (25c/kg).  Unfortunately the guy I bought my ute off had the foresight to glue the canopy on the back so I had to handball each and every one from the crate to the back.  Gave each one a little polish of course...and ate a few!

Bubbling away like a mad thing, absolutely stoked!

[Hillman]

What yeast are you using for the cider? And what are you doing with 260L of it?? The conical looks awesome.

[Grant R Baker]

That's a supply of cider. What are you storing that in after fermentation...? 50l kegs?

 

SS looks pretty good... got me thinking about stand, lid, ball/butterfly valves etc etc.. but will wait to see yer plastic 35l model.

[Liam Callaghan]

Hey Grant,  Its a big lump of cider alright, really happy with it so far too, great taste.  Was afraid it would end up thin and incipid but its far from it.  Might have to bulk the % and add a little sugar syrup depending on how far it goes.  There is enough to experiment a little.

Stoked with the Saider (Cider with Saison yeast - name coined by Raffe before I get into trouble :p)

I used a mix of yeast Hillman.  SN9 wine yeast, Nottingham ale yeast and Farmhouse Ale (Belgian). with a good dose of yeast nutrient and a dab of olive oil as I didn't have much chance to oxygenate it after pasturising.  They all had a good 3-4" of foam on top within 24 hours, the Nottingham went nuts!

 

I'll follow up with the SS conical specs and price shortly, will do a one off deal on the first 10 to get some out there and get some responses.  Took it in to see Ben Middlemiss late last week and got a really good review.  Awesome wielding, was very impressed.  I'm trying to find time to get it into show Ian Ramsey and Steve from Hallertau but life is getting in the way...

 

You'll like the handle on the plastic ones Grant, some really nice additions to get with it if you need or want.  If you had the energy you could swing it over your head with this handle!

[Tilt]

Interested in your thoughts on the different yeasts there Liam once they've had a chance to do their thing - I'm planning a cider or two over winter - the lame arsed bottled juice  type though - and wondering about which yeast, if any, will leave a little body and "appleyness" behind.

[Ralph]

Plenty of opinions on the internet about yeast for cider. Champagne yeasts often get used and is what I used 2 years ago but tend to go quite dry. S04 has been recommended too and I tried that last year... still goes dry and does not leave much body. I have gone back to Champagne yeast (dried packets of Lavellin from the homebrew shop).

Only way to get body into store bought apple juice is to add something in that will not fully ferment. People recommend adding crab apples to normal apple juice to give enough tannins etc to add a bit of body and a bit of interesting flavour, otherwise apple juice has mostly fermentable sugars and will ferment most of the way through.

Another way to get some body into your cider is to use wild yeasts as these will often not ferment fully... quite a large risk of making a whole lot of cider vinegar tho...

For general information including things you may want to add to get the right acid level etc have a read through this http://homepage.ntlworld.com/scrumpy/cider/cider.htm