Chest freezer fermentation chamber questions

My Inkbird runs about 1° below actual temp, expect yours to vary a little either plus or minus. If your thermapen has been calibrated I would use that as a reference point. You really aren't trying to chase air temps though. I suggest you put a 5 gallon bucket of water in the freezer and let it stabilize overnight, then measure with your thermapen. This will tell you what to expect when you add wort (minus the temp rise from fermentation).

Remember it takes hours to change the temp of 5 gallons of liquid. I don't try and set a "tight" temp range. As long as the heater (or fridge) cycles every hour or so the wort temp will be fairly steady . . . my experience is much less than 1° variation. I use a thermowell and my wort temp barely flinches with an eight degree differential (cooling) in the summertime. If your basement is a steady 59, my guess is maybe a 2 or 4 degree spread will work (the bucket of water should tell you when you nail it). It's possible during active fermentation you'll have the cooling element on to keep a mid-60s range. The key is as long as it cycles every hour or so you'll be good.

Congratulate yourself for testing all of this before adding the precious wort.

 

Running a chest freezer in the 60s is going to take some trial and error. The freezer will.continue to chill well after the compesser turns off. The coils get really cold, so you'll be pulling heat.

Placement of the probe is critical.. the bottom is colder than the top and the inside walls are literally freezing when running.

Do some experimenting.
Also, air temperature will change quickly. Liquid temps not as fast.
Cheers.

 

Sounds almost perfect for a lot of different beers if it is a steady 59*F

 

What's your altitude?

 

So, what are you brewing? A saison or a lager?

 

Yes, if at sea level (or thereabouts), which is less than 0.5% error. The second test is to make an ice slurry in a water glass. Make sure the ice is packed all the way to the bottom and when stabilized it should read 32 (maybe a hair over). This test point is probably more important that the boiling test. My thermapen was spot on right out of the box.

 

Do you think a freezer would benefit from having the probe in glycerin?

 

I rest my case ...wish I had a 59*F BASEMENT ...my fermentation chamber gets used mostly for lagering. cheers