Anyone use conical fermenters for grist-in ferment?

[stevea]

I think it's pretty obvious why grist-in ferments are ill-suited for beer brewery conical fermenters, but has anyone done this successfully ?  Maybe some re-circ slurry pumps to keep things happy ?

How about using brite-tanks as grist-in fermenters ?

 

[bluestar]

We have used poly cone fermenters. The 60 gal have a pretty high angle cone, but we found the fermentation provides sufficient agitation for our mash bill to keep the solids moving and suspended until near the end of the fermentation. We have to stir things up before pumping over, otherwise, there is a solid plug at the bottom of the cone where the valve is, and you can't pump out. You need a good size valve on the exit, we are using 2" triclamp hardware there. Still, it was a bit of a challenge, so we switched over to 200 gal, with a much shallower cone. These work much better, although you still want a stir up before pump out.

[stevea]

Thanks sincerely bluestar.   I've an opportunity for some brewery conicals  - ~20 beer barrel size  - at a good price, but the ~60 degree cones scares me.