Lawrence Brewers Guild

I was looking for some input on how control the temp better in my first stage fermentation. My basement is just about 68 deg all summer and Fall however once the yeast starts going i can not keep it from going above 72 deg. I was looking trying to save for a Metal conical fermentation.

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/145-GALL ... 3C135.aspx

I have was wondering if of you have a way to keep the temp from going past the ideal range.

I know several members have found effective ways to control fermentation temps.
I think Clint was telling me about setting the fermenter in a tub of water with an aquarium heater to keep the water a constant temp. Cooling can be done with a fan and cloth draped over the fermenter with the cloth extending into the water to keep it moist.
I think a lot of us use old refrigerators with a temperature controller that monitors temps with a thermowell in the wort.
jim

JMcG wrote:...Cooling can be done with a fan and cloth draped over the fermenter with the cloth extending into the water to keep it moist.

For a carboy, some people use an old t-shirt and the carboy 'wears' it. Just make sure it hangs down far enough to be in the water in the tub (as Jim pointed out). It may not even require a fan being blown on it, the evaporative effect may keep it cool enough if you are already at an ambient temp of 68F.

Another method (that I have used) is to build a fermentation box out of 2" pink foamboard (from Home Depot, etc.) and put frozen 2-liter bottle(s) in the box along with the carboy/bucket. I have maintained low 60s using this method. If my wort is warmer than desired to start with, I put 4-5 bottles in the box, and when it reaches desired temp, I can cut it back to 1-2 bottles. Note that bottles condense as they melt (put a towel in bottom of box) and they need to be replaced every day. I have a upright freezer for groceries that I also keep about 6 bottles frozen (even though I haven't used this method in years, LOL).

During the winter, I have a storage closet in the basement that gets down into the lower 50's on its own. If your basement is warmer in the summer, brew ales that don't mind a little higher temp, then brew your cooler ales or warm lagers in the winter.

The fermentation chamber idea is really the best one I've found. Modeled after Jensen's, I built a box out of mostly scrap plywood and 2x4s with large doors on the front, lined it with high R-value insulating foam panels, put a small (free -- thanks again Wes & Megan!) window-unit AC through a hole in one side and put a temperature control on the AC unit that kicks on and shuts off based on the temperature detected by a probe in a thermal well set inside your fermentation vessel. This makes sure that it's the liquid temp of your fermenting beer, not the ambient air around it, that determines when to decrease the air temperature inside the sealed box.

This was essential when I lived on the 2nd floor of an old apartment in the summer, and cooling every room to fermenting temps was out of the question. It was much more cost efficient and green to chill only the cubic footage I needed for my fermenters.

But if you're already in a basement, your AC won't have to kick on very often at all to keep things where you want it. It's much more efficient than it sounds, and only a hassle during the relatively easy building phase. Forgetting to swap out frozen water bottles is something I would do, so this was much more convenient and consistent.

As a bonus, it's footprint is completely negligible -- actually, it doubles my useable floor space -- because I built the box well, rather than just taping together foam panels, the top of the box is strong enough to serve as a shelf that I can stow all of my brewing gear on top of.

I have my old plans around here somewhere if you're interested. I could post them if you like.

Matt

I would love to see the PLANS!

does it look like this?

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/another ... er-143443/

You could go with a refrigerator-based model like that... but I got a LOT more useable space and efficiency with a small window AC unit. I'd be concerned that the compressor on a mini-fridge would burn out over time, asking it to cool that much more air-volume than it was ever intended to. Plus, if my window AC dies, I can easily adjust the height of the opening (if need be) to fit a new one. When (not if) that fridge dies, you gotta rebuild the whole thing or get the exact same make and model to fit the box you built around it.

Here's a quick mock-up of what I built... it's not perfectly to scale, but it should give you an idea of how little wood you actually need to pull it off. When it's all screwed tightly together, it's VERY stable and strong. The way the 2x4s connect to the plywood creates perfect pockets for the foam to wedge into. When it's all together, there's no wood showing on the inside at all, except for the cross-bars that support the window AC unit. I even used packing tape to tape up the seams in the foam, so if a fermenter did blow it's top, it wouldn't get into the cracks. The whole interior can be wiped down with a sanitizer-soaked sponge if need be.



I didn't put a floor in mine, as it's on the house's concrete slab (so no worries about spills or blown airlocks -- plus the cool concrete helps keep the inside cool), but you could. If you did though, I'd build a ramp so you could use casters to wheel the beer in and out. Easier on the back, and less chance for a shattered carboy.

One modification I seriously considered and still might do would be to put some kind of access panel in the top of each door, so I can look or reach into the top of the box to see/refill the airlocks bubbling away, etc, without opening the main doors and letting all my cool air out. I will also likely use some of that expanding spray foam to run a bead of insulation around the base of the box inside, further preventing any escape of the cold air inside and preventing any explosive fermentations from leaking out from under the box (but generally, I just use a blow-off and water jug to eliminate that problem).

Matt

jl72189 wrote:I would love to see the PLANS!

does it look like this?

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/another ... er-143443/

A fellow brewer friend of mine did this 5yrs ago. Still works like a champ...

Google "Son of Fermentation Chiller" for another, cheap alternative.

This is going to be perfect! do you line the plywood with something like this to line the box?

http://www.homedepot.com/Building-Mater ... =202938956

I may give this a Swing, I like the idea of a small access hole. I have 0 experience building this but i have not problem giving it hell till i get it to work.

jl72189 wrote:This is going to be perfect! do you line the plywood with something like this to line the box?

http://www.homedepot.com/Building-Mater ... =202938956

R factor of 1. Wont do much for you.
Id get at least a 3/4" or thicker foam board.

Agree. You want a higher R value than that. I went with something more like this stuff here:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_96554-46086-673 ... 4294937087

It wasn't exactly that brand, and it was pink, but it had a similar R-value (R-10 I believe).

You could probably get by with something with a lower R-value, but what you save in insulation, you'll lose in the efficiency of your box over time. Your call.

Matt

I may give this a Swing, I like the idea of a small access hole. I have 0 experience building this but i have not problem giving it hell till i get it to work.

The access panel idea will definitely get implemented someday on mine, and would suggest you build it into yours. I imagine cutting the top foot or so off of my two existing doors, moving their top hinges down so they'll open out as before, but then put a third full-width door across the top that has hinges on the top of the box, so it swings up to allow me to reach in without the majority of the heavier cold air escaping.

As for this project's difficulty, all you really need to build this is the right tools: a measuring tape, a circular saw (and a good safe place to cut, ie- sawhorses), a box cutter (for the insulation) and a drill (for both pilot holes and screwdriving). A second pair of hands never hurts to hold boards in place, etc, but are not absolutely required. Offer up a cold homebrew to most anyone and they'd likely be willing to help. Hell, if you're not too far away from me, I'll be happy to bring the tools and such over and help you myself.

Other than that... Be sure to wear eye protection. Measure twice, cut once. Watch your fingers and toes and you should be running in no time. If you don't know someone who will hook you up with a cheap AC unit, the Habitat for Humanity ReStore is a great place to look first. You'll get a cheap unit and help a worthy cause at the same time.

Matt

Thanks a lot guys I started to think i have enough confidence to try this. I would LOVE a have hand in doing this, I will offer Craft beer due to my home brew is not quite up to a par "hence the fermentation control". I was also kicking the idea around of making this a Dual purpose set up and making this the bench i brew on. So make a box on top of the cooling box to hold a circular cooler with Strike water and have that so i can Fly sarge into my mash cooler. Then Have the gravity fed into my boil Kettle. Then once i have it ready to go to fermentation i can place it into the cooling box. I guess if i am going to build this i might as well make this for a life time and be able use it for everything.

I think anytime you can maximize the use of space, it's a good thing. Turning your ferm chamber into a tiered brewing system sounds awesome -- so long as you're putting it in a garage or other WELL-VENTILATED area that's safe to use your burners in.

Go for it! If my ferm chamber weren't in a small, poorly ventilated shop in a basement, I'd steal this idea. :)

Matt