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Best Conical Fermenters
The Diboshi 35L Stainless Conical Fermenter is the best conical fermenter for most home brewers at $139.00, holding a full 5-gallon batch with headspace to spare.
Conical prices in this catalog run from $119.00 up to $930.00, and most 5-gallon brewers never need to go past the low end of that range.
Diboshi 35L Stainless Conical Fermenter (316)
Diboshi
At $139.00 it holds a 5-gallon batch with the headspace a conical needs, in 316 stainless, for a fraction of what the largest tanks in this catalog cost.
Price last checked at publication and changes often.
What a conical actually buys you over a bucket
A conical fermenter is defined by one feature: a cone-shaped bottom that funnels yeast and trub to a single point, where a valve lets a brewer drain that sediment without disturbing the beer sitting above it. Every other feature, a racking arm partway up the side, a sample valve, a clamped lid, exists to support that one job. A bucket or carboy can make good beer just as well; a conical simply makes yeast harvesting, trub removal and repitching cleaner.
The tradeoff is price and footprint. Stainless steel costs more to manufacture than plastic or glass, and a conical needs vertical clearance underneath it to open the dump valve into a container, which a bucket sitting flat on a shelf does not require. Anyone considering a conical should measure the space where it will actually sit, including room below the cone, before comparing capacities.
Capacity should be sized the same way as any other fermenter: a 5-gallon batch wants roughly 6.5 gallons of vessel to leave room for krausen. That means the smallest conicals in this catalog, in the 20 to 35 liter range, are already sized correctly for a standard batch. Buying a much larger conical does not change how a 5-gallon batch ferments, it just adds unused capacity and unused price.
Lids on these conicals also vary between simple gasketed lids and clamped, tri-clover style lids, and that difference affects both seal quality and how easy the lid is to remove for cleaning. A clamped lid generally seals tighter and shows up more often on the larger, more expensive conicals in this catalog, while a gasketed lid on a smaller unit is quicker to open and close for routine checks. Neither style is inherently better; a brewer who checks fermentation often may prefer the faster gasketed lid, while a brewer prioritizing a tight seal for extended, unattended fermentation may prefer the clamped design.
How the conicals in this catalog compare
| Model | Capacity | Material | Price | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diboshi 20L Stainless Conical (316) | 20 L (about 5.3 gal) | 316 stainless | $119.00 | Smallest true conical in this catalog |
| Diboshi 35L Stainless Conical (316) | 35 L (about 9.25 gal) | 316 stainless | $139.00 | Best fit for a 5-gallon batch with headspace |
| Fermtech 6 Gallon Conical Fermenter | 6 gal | Stainless | $219.00 | Established homebrew brand, racking arm |
| WELONSTAR 17 Gallon Stainless Conical | 17 gal | Stainless | $389.00 | Room to scale toward larger or combined batches |
| Diboshi 30.4 Gallon Stainless Conical | 30.4 gal | Stainless | $930.00 | Large-batch or multi-batch scale, not a single 5-gallon batch |
Why the price ceiling is so high, and who should ignore it
The jump from a $119 Diboshi 20L to a $930 Diboshi 30.4-gallon tank looks like a quality gap, but it is mostly a capacity gap. Both drain from a bottom valve and both hold a sealed lid; only the two smallest Diboshi models are explicitly listed as 316 stainless. The larger tank exists for brewers filling more than one 5-gallon batch at a time, or scaling toward small commercial volumes, not for brewers who want a better version of the same 5-gallon setup.
A brewer deciding between sizes should count actual batches, not aspirations. If the plan is one 5-gallon batch at a time, a 20 to 35 liter conical covers it with the recommended headspace and leaves budget for other gear, a chiller, a grain mill, a better regulator. If the plan is genuinely two or three batches combined into one vessel, or a move to 10-gallon batches, the larger tanks start to make sense, and the WELONSTAR 17-gallon or the Diboshi 30.4-gallon become reasonable rather than oversized.
The WELONSTAR model marketed with a built-in cooling system does not list a capacity in its own name the way its plain 17-gallon sibling does, which is a genuine gap worth stating plainly rather than guessing at. It is a different kind of upgrade regardless of size: buying temperature control hardware bundled into the fermenter itself, rather than buying capacity. That is worth comparing against a standalone controller paired with a chest freezer, which usually costs less and works with any fermenter already owned.
Brewers who eventually want to run two 5-gallon batches side by side, a warm-fermenting ale and a cool-fermenting lager, for example, sometimes find it cheaper and simpler to buy two of the smaller 20 to 35 liter conicals rather than one large tank, since two smaller vessels allow two different temperatures and two different yeast strains running at the same time. A single large conical only helps when the batches can actually be combined into one recipe and one fermentation.
Racking arms, sample valves and other conical-specific features
Beyond the bottom dump valve, some conicals in this catalog add a racking arm, a rotating pickup tube partway up the vessel's side that lets a brewer draw beer off above the settled trub without disturbing it and without needing to tilt the fermenter. The Fermtech 6 Gallon Conical in this catalog includes this feature, which is one reason it costs more than a plain valve-only design. A sample valve, often a smaller secondary port, lets a brewer pull a hydrometer or refractometer sample mid-fermentation without opening the main lid at all, cutting down how often the vessel is opened to outside air.
These extra ports are also extra places for a seal to fail if they are not cleaned and checked regularly. Every additional valve or port on a conical is one more gasket or O-ring to inspect before each batch, and a conical with more features generally means more maintenance, not less, over its working life. A brewer who values simplicity over convenience may prefer the plainer valve-only design even at a similar price.
None of the conical fermenters in this catalog publish a pressure rating, which matters for anyone hoping to combine a conical's yeast-harvesting convenience with closed-transfer or spunding capability. Among the products listed here, pressure fermenting should be left to the purpose-built pressure-rated fermenters covered separately on this site.
- A racking arm draws beer above the trub layer without tilting the vessel
- A sample valve pulls a gravity reading without opening the main lid
- None of these conicals are pressure-rated; use a dedicated pressure fermenter for spunding
Moving a conical without a helper
A full conical fermenter is heavier and more awkward to move than a bucket of the same capacity, since the weight sits lower and the shape has no flat bottom to slide across a shelf. Most brewers set a conical in its final spot empty, then fill it in place with wort or must rather than moving a full vessel at all. This is worth planning around before buying, since a stand or a dedicated shelf strong enough to hold the filled weight, plus the valve clearance mentioned earlier, needs to exist before brew day rather than being figured out afterward.
Some of the larger conicals in this catalog, including the WELONSTAR 17-gallon and the Diboshi 30.4-gallon, effectively require a permanent or semi-permanent spot in a dedicated brewing area for this reason. That is a real commitment beyond the purchase price, and it is worth weighing against a smaller conical or a bucket that can still be carried, if heavily, by one person when full.
How we chose
These rankings come from each manufacturer's published capacity, material grade and fitting specifications, checked against verified owner reviews for fit, seal quality and valve reliability. This is written from specifications and owners' reported experience, not from running batches through every conical in this catalog.
The three tiers
These are three genuinely different builds, not the same product at three prices. Buy the tier that matches how much you already know you will use it.
Diboshi 20L Stainless Conical Fermenter (316)
Diboshi
$119.00 for a true 316 stainless conical is the lowest entry price into bottom-valve harvesting in this catalog, sized for a smaller batch or a 5-gallon batch fermented with less headspace to spare.
$119.00
View on AmazonFermtech 6 Gallon Conical Fermenter
Fermtech
A 6-gallon conical from an established homebrew brand at $219.00, with a racking arm and sample valve, sized correctly for a standard 5-gallon batch with headspace to spare.
$219.00
View on AmazonDiboshi 30.4 Gallon Stainless Conical Fermenter
Diboshi
30.4 gallons of stainless capacity at $930.00 is built for combined or scaled-up batches, not a single 5-gallon batch. A brewer making standard 5-gallon batches should not buy this; a 20 to 35 liter conical does the same job for a small fraction of the price.
$930.00
View on AmazonEverything else worth considering
VEVOR 8 Gallon Stainless Brew Bucket Fermenter
Flat bottomed stainless fermenter with a sampling valve, easier to clean than a conical.
VEVOR 16 Gallon Stainless Brew Bucket Fermenter
Sixteen gallon stainless fermenter for ten gallon batches.
WELONSTAR 17 Gallon Stainless Conical Fermenter
Wide mouth seventeen gallon stainless conical for beer and wine, with a dump valve for trub and yeast.
WELONSTAR Conical Fermenter with Cooling System
Stainless conical with an integrated cooling system, which removes the need for a separate fermentation chamber.
Before you do this
None of the conicals in this roundup are rated as pressure vessels. Keep the airlock or blow-off tube on any of them clear and working; sealing a fermenter that is not pressure-rated can build pressure the vessel was never built to hold.
Related on BrewGearCalc
- Best fermenters for home brewing
- Best pressure fermenters
- Best fermentation temperature control
- Yeast pitch calculator
- Reference
Frequently asked questions
- What size conical fermenter do I need for a 5-gallon batch?
- A conical in the 20 to 35 liter range, roughly 5.3 to 9.25 gallons, covers a standard 5-gallon batch with the headspace it needs for krausen. Going larger does not improve how the batch ferments, it just adds unused capacity and cost. Larger conicals, 17 gallons and up, make sense only for combined batches, scaled-up recipes, or brewers running more than one 5-gallon batch through the same vessel at once.
- Is 316 stainless better than plain stainless for a conical fermenter?
- 316 stainless resists corrosion and pitting from cleaning chemicals and acidic wort better than lower grades of stainless over years of repeated use, which is why it shows up in the smaller Diboshi conicals in this catalog. That said, any stainless conical from a reputable brand will hold up fine for years of normal homebrew use with routine cleaning; the grade matters most to brewers who plan to run the same vessel for a decade or more.
- Can I dry hop through the top lid of a conical fermenter?
- Most conical fermenters have a lid designed to open for adding hops, though the exact opening size varies by model, so it is worth checking the listed lid diameter before buying if dry hopping matters. A wider opening makes it easier to drop in hop pellets or a hop spider without disturbing the fermenter, while a narrower port may require a funnel. This is a real difference between models worth comparing before purchase.
- Do I need shelf clearance for a conical fermenter’s bottom valve?
- Yes. Unlike a bucket that can sit flat on a shelf, a conical needs open space below its dump valve to drain trub or yeast into a container, and needs enough height for a brewer to work under it comfortably. Measuring the actual space where a conical will sit, including room below the cone and above it for the lid, before buying avoids discovering a fit problem after the fermenter arrives.
- Is a $930 conical actually better than a $139 one for a home brewer?
- Not for fermentation quality on a standard 5-gallon batch. The price difference in this catalog is almost entirely about capacity, not a better basic design; both drain from a bottom valve and both hold a sealed lid. The larger, more expensive conicals exist for brewers combining multiple batches or scaling toward larger volumes, not for making a single 5-gallon batch turn out better.
- How do I clean the bottom valve on a conical fermenter?
- Disassemble the valve according to the manufacturer's instructions after each batch, soak the parts in a cleaner like PBW to break down protein and trub buildup, then sanitize before the next use. Trub and hop debris can pack into the valve's threads and seals if it is left to dry, which is the most common cause of a sticking or leaking conical valve over time.
Researched from published brewing formulas, manufacturer specifications and verified owner reviews. This is general guidance, not professional advice.