Ramblings/Poll for opinions #2: Fermentation temperature control

I built a son of fermentation chiller. It felt cool to build stuff. Only used it once. It is too much hassle in my opinion. I'd rather just get a fridge and a temp controller. Much more precise. I ended up dumping the son of fermentation chiller and spending too much money and time on it. Also, when you're not using it anymore, it takes up waaaay to much space and the wife gets angry.

I now have a standing glass door fridge where I keep all my beer. When I am fermenting, I put most of my beer on the top shelf and stick the fermenter in there. My beer all warms to room temp, which is not ideal, but that's what I got.

 

One thing to think about... fermentation temperatures are not very close to keg refrigeration temperatures. So if you want to be serving while you are fermenting, you'll need two fridges/chambers.

 

I have an old coleman cooler, 48 or larger I assume. I used silicone to seal the drain plug, added a wooden collar tall enough for the top to close over the fermentor, and finally drilled a large hole for the airlock. Now I place fermentor inside, add water and ice in soda bottles and can keep 64F all day and night without worry. I use much less Ice than my old "regular" swamp cooler, you know a plastic box and tee shirt.

 

I have a 7ft GE chest freezer and Johnson A419 controller for fermentation. Got the freezer for $200 on sale and the controller for $75. Can probably find something cheaper on craigslist. I didn't want to deal with the transportation and the store delivered it and carried it down the basement stairs for me. I can just barely fit two buckets in there. Could fit a couple 1 gallon jugs on the hump. Works great. I have it in the basement so in the winter time it doesn't have to cycle on to often and I get no moisture. Summer time it has to work a little harder and just a little bit of moisture. Though about getting a larger freezer but it was not going to fit through the basement door.

 

You could just brew Brett beers or Saisons and ferment at room temp 70 F. If your talking English strains and other temp sensitive strains, a chest freezer with external thermostat regulator does the job well. External thermostat regulator is priceless. Allows for ferment temps, cold crashing temps, serving temps. Beautiful thing.

 

There is nothing more critical to improving your beer than controlling fermentation temp. If you are really as serious about brewing as you sound you'll do whatever you need to do. Fridges don't make good fermentation chambers, they aren't meant to be operated at 60F, you will probably burn out the compressor motor-I know I did, twice before I read the hint i just gave you.

 

" Fridges don't make good fermentation chambers"...as opposed to freezers with temp controllers...right?

Mine seems to work pretty good if I can keep the moisture and mold at bay.

 

If I lived in the south, I would want a cooling device devoted to fermentation and another one devoted to serving kegged beer at appropriate temps. In the north, I can get away with not chilling my fermentations, most of time (unless lagering). A heating mat with a temp controller comes in handy, though.

 

How do you make your fridge stay in the 60's? I used a Johnson controller on mine, but I burned up 2 fridges before I gave up and built my ferm chamber with a window AC. It could be that both used fridges were bad, but I had used one as a backup for several years(to keep food for our big parties) so I knopw it worked fine at normal fridge temps.

 

My FREEZER with temp controller seems to only cycle infrequently. Maybe you had the on/off settings too narrow?
Again, I think a chest FREEZER might be a better choice than a FRIDGE for a fermentation chamber. Better insulation, maybe or a beefier compressor?

 

i built a son of fermentation chamber maybe 18 months ago and i really like it. i have used it for at least 20 batches. it works great for ales in the high 50s to mid 60s. usually i can get away with just two ice changes and then i let it warm up once fermentation activity slows down.

lagers are more drawn out and require a lot of ice-changes.

i also have a chest freezer with a419 that i use for lagering and storage of beer.

 

I guess I misunderstood you that you were using a fridge. I definitely agree that a freezer is better than a fridge. I've had my freezer kegerator since 2004 and it still runs like a champ, but for my 12 gallon conical I had to do a custom build-there aren't many fridges or freezers it fit in.

 

I'm waiting for a SS conical of sorts...I want a 10 or 12 gal one also...something like this maybe, but larger:
http://www.farmhousebrewingsupply.com/brew-bucket-stainless-fermenter-free-shipping/

cheers