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

[donald stewart]

hi , I would like to say right from the start 

I AM NOT BAGGING FARRA  it is just about imposable to get a good weld on the inside

what i am saying is any one who makes a conical by welding will have the same prob

it still costs a lot of money for a welded conical that is hard to clean and saniti

look at the way http://www.blichmannengineering.com/fermentor/fermentor.html make there

with no welds

i wish i had gone to http://inibrewsupply.com/blichmann-stainless-fermenter-14-5-gal/ and paid a bit more , but been happy

i think if you want a conical save up a bit more and get a good one you will be happy forevery

if you live near Chris  have a look at his or if you are in QT call in for a beer and have a look

hope this will help

[Ralph]

Hey Donald $450 seems cheap for a conical stainless fermentor made here in nz. I would have thought it would be more like $1000? Is that the standard price for their 60L fermentor?

[Chris Mills]

Prices from Farra a bit more this year than when Donald got his - this could also be because I got a 152mm RJT opening on the tops of mine, but I have been happy with mine and have put many batches through them.

It is my impression that there are different kinds of welds with stainless and they all do the same thing. Some are tidier than others, but as long as there are no pin-holes or gaps for bacteria to grow in then you should be fine.

[Ralph]

I would have thought they would at least grind and polish the weld on the inside? The reason I was asking about the price is I was wondering if that was the usual standard, or if that was just one that somebody from Farra knocked up for a mate?

Grinding and polishing the weld on the inside of the vessel would seem like reasonably normal practice on SS designed for food/beer manufacture...

Anyway I guess I will find out as I have one on the way at some stage soon. I won a 30L conical from Farra in the National Homebrew Comp and have upgraded to a 60L for the price difference between the 2.

[Chris Mills]

I would expect that your 60L will look similar on the inside. Please let us know what it is like. The welds on my 60L FVs look much the same on the interior.

[Ralph]

Interesting. Will let you know once mine arrives.

[Ralph]

Yeh, looks exactly the same as yours on the inside. The welds are tidy enough for welds, but they have not been polished or anything so there is a bead inside the vessel. 

Photos etc here http://inzanebrew.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/new-brewing-bling-60-lit...

[Chris Mills]

Yours looks rather tidy. Curious pressure gauge assembly and use of a 4" RJT for a draw point on the side. You may want to be wary of krausen getting up into your pressure gauge as some yeasts can produce substantial heights of the stuff (Trappist High Gravity being notorious).

[Paul Fraser]

You lucky bugger!!

[donald stewart]

hi, just back from xmass break . i have had mine for two years how but at 450 i do not think it was cheap

i think http://inibrewsupply.com/blichmann-stainless-fermenter-14-5-gal/ is cheap and here in nz

it is a lot more money but it is better made and you will have it for years

[aldee]

price is good, nil stock & no indication of new stock arriving = not good

[Farra Engineering]

Hello, Farra Engineering here, I am not sure who "Steve the boss" is as we have never had a Steve work for us. I am a little confused as to why you would claim Farra would have sold you such a poor quality item. If you have purchased this off Trade Me other then off our account (farraeng) then it is NOT a Farra Product!

Our Fermenters are priced at $ 1,450 + GST (with carbonation manifold included) and the quality reflects this.

All our Welds are purge welded which is more then appropriate for Brewery standards