Anyone use a conical primary such as the one here I found: http://www.minibrew.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=6 What are your thoughts?
I personally would spend the extra few bucks for a Stout conical, you should check them out. Personally I use carboys due to the price difference. It would be nice to have one though.
I don't brew enough to make it cost effective. The gains are minimal but the cost is significant (at least on my homebrew scale)
I have a Blichmann 14.5 gallon. You can do a few things with it that are nice. You can dump the trub. You can rouse yeast or get hops back in suspension by using CO2 from the bottom. You can dump the yeast when fermentation is done, harvesting the yeast, then dry hop. Will try and set up to use the Hoprocket as a torpedo this year.
I used to use one just like that. Infected 6 batches with it (bought used). Honestly, I didn't care for it even without the infections. I could never get the yeast and trub to actually dump properly, it would always stick to the walls and then slowly peel off while transfering and I would have a lot of sediment left. I had a cherry Imperial stout that has tons of sludge in it because ti wouldn't pour clear from the conical.
I almost bought one of those on sale a few years ago for $150 but didn't pull the trigger. I wouldn't pay $230 for one, that's for sure.
plastic ...blech! I bought my 14.5 gal SS from Stout Tanks - http://conical-fermenter.com - a few years ago. Not sure I'd spend that kind of money on plastic, particularly a small one, though if money is really, really tight and you really, really want it, it may keep you happy for a while, and there's probably a used market for it when you inevitably decide to upgrade. Personally, I'd stick with carboys until you can spring for a proper upgrade.
I've certainly thought of getting one since starting brewing - however, what do they have that any other large container doesn't? Racking the yeast away from the beer isn't nearly as important as I first thought, and any container with a valve near the bottom can be adapted for a CO2 line to attach, if you so desire.
One item that I would love is not to have to rack and just use the same vessel has a primary/secondary. From my understanding a conical allows for this. If I did get it, I could only does ales in it and not lager.
Most folks skip the secondary vessel because beer will clear and condition quite well sitting on a yeast cake, even for months at a time. I only use a secondary for ciders or split batches where I might add peppers to one portion, something else to another, etc. But you're right - if you want to get that yeast away from your beer a conical seems like a nice way to go.
As soon as I built a fermentation box for my 12.2 gallon conical I was able to use it year round in my garage. At that point it became handy. I don't worry about getting too much gunk from the kettle, I can just dump it on the second day. I can easily take samples from the racking port, and harvest yeast for starters. But until I came up with a temp control solution I had to wait for cool weather or just brew saisons.
