doctor electrons wrote ...

Yea they can get a little pricey! There are some major benefits of using conical
fermenters though and stainless steel is the only way to go in my opinion.
One of the biggest benefits is the dump valve on the bottom. Normally a home brewer
would "rack" their beer or wine off of the yeast into a secondary fermenter. Not with
this bad boy!! Opening the dump valve after the yeast has settled into the cone does
the same thing. The advantage is less contact with atmosphere and only one vessel
for your primary and secondary fermentations! Having it on wheels doesn't suck either!
The model i have (the one in the picture) can also be pressurized, only one i know of on
the market. That way, i can attach my co2 tank and pump the beer or wine into kegs
without contacting atmosphere. This almost ensures there will be no contamination.
I could go on for hours but ill save some for another post ;)

Edit:
The cider thing.
Here in the US we have apple juice, apple cider, and hard cider. Hard cider being the alcoholic drink.
Some of you may have heard of "Mikes hard lemonade". The word hard implies you'll catch a buzz.