Suppliers of 25 to 50 gallon glycol fermenters?

[ipabrewer]

I'm looking for suppliers of 25 to 50 gallon glycol fermenters (either jacketed or the type with stainless coils inside the fermenter that I run glycol through).

I have a relatively local supplier that I've ordered from, but it is waaaaaaaaaaaay past the original delivery date and I fear it isn't going to work out and I really need to come up with a solution that doesn't involve buying more plastic or glass.

I saw Stout Tanks has them, but it's really overkill and way expensive. I need something in the $1k to $2k range per fermenter.

So who can y'all recommend?

Signed - Desparate

[foestauf]

What kind of yeast do you use to ferment glycol?

Try SS Brewtech. They did homebrew equipment but I believe they are doing some 1bbl and 2bbl stuff now.

[ipabrewer]

What kind of yeast do you use to ferment glycol?

Try SS Brewtech. They did homebrew equipment but I believe they are doing some 1bbl and 2bbl stuff now.

Thanks! I didn't realize they had the 1 BBL fermenters! This is probably the winner.

On the yeast, I'm using a variety of yeasts for different beers. I keep my A/C set to 68F, but it gets up to 75F on brew days and I'm wanting to smooth out the ester production of the various yeasts (though, mostly Fermentis S05) AND I want to be able to successfully brew with the so called Vermont yeast (and do things like Kolsch and Commons). Hence my need for glycol.

Incidentally, I already bought a used line chiller and have a diagram for setting it up to run 3 to 6 tanks. After that, I'm eyeballing the SS Brewtech system. Unless, of course, I'm able to jump to a 3 BBL brew system.

[JeffGCBC]

For the money why not go 2bbl now and double brew into them?

Jeff

[ipabrewer]

For the money why not go 2bbl now and double brew into them?

Jeff

I'm totally open, but I don't see any 2 BBL options on their site. I'm going to email them now.

Do you have any recommendations of anywhere else I can get affordable 2bbl fermenters?

[JeffGCBC]

Local guy here went to Glacier and got jacketed pressure tanks so he could ferment and carb in.

[Humulus16]

Brewers hardware has them too...

[ipabrewer]

Thanks guys. Looking at the four companies (SS Brewtech, Glacier, Brewer's Hardware, Stout Tanks), SS Brewtech is much more affordable. I have $3,400 in my budget at the moment. With that in mind, I can get two tanks from SS or one from any of the other suppliers (albeit, with a little $ leftover). I understand that SS's are chilled with a coil vs everyone else's that are jacketed. Another consideration is that I hope to get to a 3 BBL system after a year, and while I'll continue using these smaller fermenters for test batches, I don't want to drop more coin than I need to at this stage.

So considering all that...

Is there any reason I should want the more expensive jacketed versions?

And I've seen others who buy poly tanks and fit them with stainless coils, so cheaper and similar to SS's. But I'm not that handy building things myself, but should I be considering this option anyway?

[JeffGCBC]

If you are ugprading soon why not just get Plastic Speidels from morebeer and figure out some sort of climate controller option on the cheap?

If you arnt handy and you want to open a brewery, its time to learn to be handy

Jeff

Thanks guys. Looking at the four companies (SS Brewtech, Glacier, Brewer's Hardware, Stout Tanks), SS Brewtech is much more affordable. I have $3,400 in my budget at the moment. With that in mind, I can get two tanks from SS or one from any of the other suppliers (albeit, with a little $ leftover). I understand that SS's are chilled with a coil vs everyone else's that are jacketed. Another consideration is that I hope to get to a 3 BBL system after a year, and while I'll continue using these smaller fermenters for test batches, I don't want to drop more coin than I need to at this stage.

So considering all that...

Is there any reason I should want the more expensive jacketed versions?

And I've seen others who buy poly tanks and fit them with stainless coils, so cheaper and similar to SS's. But I'm not that handy building things myself, but should I be considering this option anyway?

[ipabrewer]

If you are ugprading soon why not just get Plastic Speidels from morebeer and figure out some sort of climate controller option on the cheap?

If you arnt handy and you want to open a brewery, its time to learn to be handy

Jeff

Indeed, I do need to get better at being handy. I'm an instructions reader. Ergo, if someone produced a "build your own glycol plastic fermenter" kit, I'd be on it like white on rice. But cobbling together various instructions I've seen online... not quite as confident on that. May have to jump right in and hope for the best though.

I actually am using plastic Speidels (and will be getting more). I've got the A/C set to 68F already. The problem is the front of the building (taproom) faces due West and on 90F+ days, it raises the temperature to 75F or higher. I am looking at window tinting and shades options to combat that heat.

On the brewery side, our direct fire kettles also raise the heat (the kitchen hood helps tho); in the long term, I want to switch to electric (more coin). I have been doing fine in Speidels with that level of temperature rise using Fermentis S05 yeast, but I need to be able to use more finicky yeast for some brews (such as a Common at around 62F).

But a bit of good news, hopefully. The original supplier promises to deliver my tanks in under two weeks. If that happens, we've have the solution in place. Then we wait and see how soon we can upgrade to a 3 BBL (or larger) system.

#nanoproblems

[NS_Nano]

If you fermenting such small volumes, why not just chill externally via an upright freezer and an off the shelf temp controller?

Check Craigslist. You can probably get an old upright freezer for next to nothing. Then add on one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Inkbird-Itc-3...ywords=inkbird

You could probably gain temp control for $100-150 per fermenter.

You could also grab the some of the 32 gallon speidels and you'd be in $300 or so per BBL for both fermenter and temp control. You can produce delicious beer on that, no problem. (And put your savings towards that 33 BBL upgrade.)

Jason

[ipabrewer]

If you fermenting such small volumes, why not just chill externally via an upright freezer and an off the shelf temp controller?

Check Craigslist. You can probably get an old upright freezer for next to nothing. Then add on one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Inkbird-Itc-3...ywords=inkbird

You could probably gain temp control for $100-150 per fermenter.

You could also grab the some of the 32 gallon speidels and you'd be in $300 or so per BBL for both fermenter and temp control. You can produce delicious beer on that, no problem. (And put your savings towards that 33 BBL upgrade.)

Jason

These are definitely ideas I need to be looking into. If my supplier doesn't deliver, then this is what I'm going to try. And, I don't have to be terribly handy to do this!