alternative to typical fermenter

[alanb]

could also go zero grav space shuttle style and the beer will just float around in blobs, that would be bad ass!

[liammckenna]

Lighten up.

Sarcasm does a lot of us good.

The only people really bothered by sarcasm in my experience are those who think they know more than they actually do and get a little embarassed when they hear a veteran response. The rest of us more humble folk have a laugh at ourselves and get on with it when faced with sarcasm.

I wake up every morning thinking that of the total sum of knowledge about beer and brewing, I know virtually nothing. And that's after 25 years.

I post here out of genuine interest in helping people out with some free advice. I've also had some great laughs here as well.

You don't have to take my advice or even listen to it if you don't want to. That's the beauty of a forum like this. You can also tell me you think I'm full of it. I don't mind.

You don't have to play in this playground if you don't want.

I also think the original poster is someone trying to sell us all alternative tanks anyway.

PRC group? Interesting that we haven't heard from the poster.

Uh-huh.

Liam

[MatthewS]

Liam.

You are FULL OF IT! Full of laughs and good times on this site that is.

keep it up and thanks for the years of info and laughs on probrewer.
Matthew

[Rosie]

Yes, please keep the sarcasm! After (or during as the case may be) a long one, nothing beats reading some of your guys stuff.

I like the clown urinal one, that could work!

Jeff

[gitchegumee]

Hello?

Urinal clown races? That would NEVER work. Or if someone did challenge, it would be to see the other guy "win" and have a balloon of piss blow up right in front of him. That might be quite funny.

[Rosie]

I guess I didn't think about the balloon bit. Just will never forget my introduction to the communal urinal troughs here and how I've witnessed pretty stiff competition at the trough to see who could get the most urinal mints (not the cakes) to the drain...

[PRC Group]

ouch...tough crowd....I am glad to see that not all brewers are beer geeks sitting inside reading comic books all day but actually can throw a little shit out there to see if they get a response, I like it....and yes, I do love the sarcasm....that said, I did ask a question, and yes I did turn to this forum for some advise..... in that question I asked for a creative response which I guess that most didn't have one but to say that using anything but the industry standard was wrong, well I guess you are not very creative....maybe you have spent all your brewing years being told what and how to do your job, that must be fun for you.....without going into my entire business plan, which by the way will be my 20th bar/restaurant venture, I will need approximately (100) 15 to 30 gallon fermenters and also the same for serving tanks....that would be 200 fellas....and that does not include my main 7BBL system which is not a part of this question.... the atmosphere I have created and my target clientle does not favor a corporate setting, no matter how much money I spend or do not spend, and yes I plan on spending several hundreds of thousands....but not just on tanks.....where I can appreciate the good sarcasm and what must seem to be against most "brewing religions" sorry guys but I am a brewing "Atheist" and I am looking to break from the heard....so if you are going to be like the rest of the sheep and are not able to answer my original question on creative thinking, keep with the rest of the heard but please keep the sarcasm coming, I can take it..... I am just curious if you are smart enough to answer my question or just dumb enough to be a smart ass?....for the others that took the time to comment, thank you for your input....so again, any suggestions to alternative fermenters or serving tanks seeing that I will need approximately 100 of each and also taking into consideration the size being 15 to 30 gallons?.....thanks

[Mike Elliott]

Be easy, there.

Hundreds of fermenters? Sounds like a LOT of work for some poor unsuspecting brewer. Remind me not to sign up for that one.

Also, one 15.5 gallon serving tank = one standard keg. Easily found, relatively inexpensive, but perhaps too mainstream.

Seriously, though, just get some standard fermenters and dress them up a little with some marine-grade chemical-resistant paint and laquer. You could even get crazy and go mixed media on their shiny corporate asses.

Nothing says, "Damn the man," like some really good papier mache.

[fa50driver]

sheeple

I personally never thought of a stainless steel fermenter as "flashy corporate" I rather thought of it as a necessity for sanitation, quality control, repeatability, and simply a product of "modern" technology.

I feel like such a sheep now. I eagerly await the creative genius who comes up with the answer to this riddle.

[PRC Group]

Hundreds of fermenters? Sounds like a LOT of work for some poor unsuspecting brewer. Remind me not to sign up for that one..

see Mike, this is what I am talking about by creativity....what makes you think I would have ONE brewer?.....stay in the box Mike, it is a scary world out there....understaning that a keg is 15.5 gallons, a keg will not work when my need is for up to 30 gallons....thanks for playing tho

[lhall]

Stainless is your best option, it will stand up to the chemicals you need to clean in place. But check into things like the stainless chemical totes that some companies will lease to you. It would be an affordable alternative, but most of the ones I have seen are around 250-500 gallons. www.totetank.com is one place.

Good luck with your venture. It will be the hardest years of your life if you do make it.

[Guestimate]

I have to admit. I love the no gravity "space blob" idea. What would the fermentation look like? Would the co2 move out in all directions? Or would the blob just continue to grow into a foamy mass? How about filtering? Would you just shove the hose into the middle of the blob?

In all seriousness, all materials to be used for tank construction have advantages and disadvantages. Stainless steel is the number one choice due to it's durability, chemical resistance, ability to hold pressure, and heat transfer. If someone gave me the task of building a brewery without stainless steel. The hot side would be made out of copper, the fermentation tanks would be made out of stone, and the maturation tanks would made out of Oak. I realize this is not creative either as this has all been done before the invention of Stainless Steel.
We have to remember that our craft is very, very old. Most of the things we do are a result of trial and error by those long before us.
The only other alternative might be new composites that equal the attributes of stainless steel. I do not know of any, but I can guarantee if they exist they will not be cheap.

Kevin

[liammckenna]

PRC poster:

If you're serious, and thanks for explaining your business plan a little better, I have a legitimate suggestion for you.

To echo Mike, however, it will be a hell of a lot of work whether it be one or a hundred brewers.

You know, one for each fermentor.

In future, for your ease of use, when approaching the forum for some free advice/guidance/help, try to remember we are largely pragmatic technicians, here to serve at our pleasure, not yours. We are nothing if not 'creative'. Our pragmatism demands it on our usually tight budgets. As someone so new to this game, I might be a little more humble in my approach.

Perhaps that is just me.

The difference between you and I is simple, I don't need your advice, so I really don't care if you think I'm an ass. You, however are seeking some good advice, are you not?. If you piss some of us off with your 'biting' command of the language you may ultimately not receive the due guidance/attention your query deserves.

Just sayin'

Nonetheless. There are many keg manufacturers in this world who can build/already builld the vessels you seek out of stainless steel with fittings/couplings/systems that will meet your needs with vessels which are easily cleanable and would meet your criteria of maintaining pressure, being about 30 gallons, looking very different from 'flashy, corporate tanks (you could decorate them any way you please), and if housed in temp. controlled environments, should give you years of flexible, fermenting and conditioning pleasure.

To start I would suggest Franke container systems to start. There are many others. Here's a link for your viewing pleasure

For the record, the last comic book I read was a 'Richie Rich' on a car trip with my parents 35 years ago (I'm 45 now, just to clear up any possible question. for instance: if you thought I was 55, that would mean I was reading the comic on a car trip with my parents when I was 20. Now that would be disturbing).

Luck to ye, PRC.

May the beer gods smile upon you.

Pax.

Liam

[PRC Group]

Liam, thank you for your response and your view, you have my attention and respect.....I have never been one to blog, you get one guy that wants to be the "funny man" then his body jumps in and all the sudden the topic has gone off on so many tangents that no one remembers what the topic was about....so thank you for your honesty and help....I am not against using stainless, but as mentioned with so many small tanks needed the costs can add up quickly and new shinny fermenters and viewable serving tanks would actually work against the atmosphere that has been created....for insight, would you like it if your favorite little neighborhood brewpub all the sudden was purchased by Anheuser-Busch?...me neither, so I have to be careful....having multiple serving vessels is easy, keeping it low key and real is another animal entirely...thanks again

[BeerBoy]

Too Kind...

To the OP:

Really? You want the collective wisdom of this board to hand you the Key to the Kingdom? Any true Brewer worth their salt would humbly ask for greater wisdom - where's you cred? This is not a, "oooh, I'm gonna keep this a secret cuz I just reinvented beer" kind of deal.
From what's you've laid out, it sounds like you're just trying to make a buck without making beer - true? You've got to lay it out or I don't think anyone will play. I'm not in.

FarmerD
Dave's BrewFarm - A Farmhouse Brewery
Wilson, WI