BrewJacket Immersion Cooler

Looks very cool.

 

Very cool, and I would consider it if it would fit into any of my carboys.

 

Why didn't the guy just use a blanket or a tarp with his AC before? Way too much work went into that cardboard box.

 

Cool idea, How do you power it ? how do I fit it to bucket ?

 

Pre-drilled lid.

 

I guess if cost really is not the issue and you just don't have the space to ferment and store beer in a refrigerated environment, this looks like it would be pretty slick. But if you have the space, there are cheaper solutions. Like buying a 50 buck temp controller and slapping it on the big ass 1980s chest freezer that the previous occupants left in the cellar because they were too lazy to lift it out. What? Everybody doesn't have one of those?

 

I'll admit that I'm more of a pop-up picture kind of guy and just grazed the article. There is not ONE picture of how it hooks up to the top of a carboy. My first concerns are oxidation and bugs getting into the thing. Any thoughts?

 

I'd be interested on one (or maybe two). I have beers going on at the same time that I want to ferment at different temps. This would solve that problem. I don't really want to add another fridge to my brewing room.

 

I actually just sent a link of their kickstarter page to a venture capitalist I know, who's emailed me back the next day expressing a great deal of interest. I see its $300 to get a unit via kickstarter campaign, does it say anywhere that that's the anticipated retail price? 'Cause I think that might be $80-100 too high for max appeal. But I would be extremely interested in one or two of these at $250 each, say, of these, and to just for lagers; the ambient in my townhouse in the summer is at least 72 and the ambient in a closet I had hoped to use for fermentation but which also includes the hot water heater, has an ambient of about 80. (I know, brew saisons with the Saison Dupont strain!).

I didn't have this problem in my old city Craftsman, where the temp in the (former) coal chute was 50F in the winter and a cool 60-62F in the hot Denver summer; I could use my chest freezer for lager primaries and keg dispense but also do lager primaries all winter and ale primaries all summer in the coal room. Not so now, and I could use the smaller chest freezer I have now strictly for dispense and do my fermentations anywhere in the joint a better bottle will fit, which is a lot of places even in the much smaller crib I find my empty-nester self and wife living in these days...

One of the first bits, and to this day THE most important bit, of information I ever read from Jamil, and this was maybe 10 years ago, was that the difference between a decent home brewer and an award winning home brewer was precise control of fermentation temps...

 

I don't have any further information, but IMHO, the majority of people that would consider this thing aren't going to pay much more than $150-$200.

 

yeah, but maybe they can make it cheaply enough that they can sell it for $150.

I don't know, though, I saw Silicon Valley last night & it are me think these kids need an IP lawyer, like 6 weeks ago!

 

I wonder what the energy usage is like. Otherwise I agree they should be cheaper. You can get a new chest freezer big enough for four carboys at a time for less than two of these.

 

Fermentation control is so important. It's one of the fundamentals. So if you can avoid fermenting at too high a temperature, you're that much closer to beer nirvana. First thing I bought when I got to tx was a freezer and a controller. It's too hot to ferment reasonably here most of the year. Well worth the investment.

Other fundamentals also are important, especially sanitation, pitching temperature, and not getting TOO drunk on brewday. Oh, and not carrying glass carboys full of beer up the hill and into the double-wide wearing flip flops on a rainy day while drunk, lest you forget about that trick step and wind up one of the hundreds of thousands of multiple-amputees that have been victims of those ebil glass carboys.

 

What's in the Box?

• BrewJacket Immersion Cooler
• Insulated jacket that fits both carboys and buckets
• #10 pre-drilled stopper for the rod
• Your choice of a pre-drilled bucket lid or bulkhead adapter with co2 one way release valve for better bottles
• Universal power supply, 100v-240v; Cord provided for your country of choice

 

So, it appears from the website that they have just started shipping these. Has anyone got one on the way? I am very seriously considering getting one. I live in a fairly small house, the basement of which is already dominated by my homebrewing endeavors, and I would seriously consider getting one of these to avoid adding a big ol' chest freezer to my setup.

 

The one thing that stuck out when I read the pitch was "allowing you to achieve cold crash temps in the mid 30s in just a matter of days". Obviously, you aren't going to be fermenting most beers at that temperature range, but how long does it take this thing to get your temp down to, say, 60F if your ambient temperature is in the 80s (or worse)? You can't afford to take two days to reach your ideal fermentation temperature in a lot of cases.

Aside from that one issue, it looks like a cool product. If they could get the price down to under $200, then it would be cheaper and simpler than buying a temp controller and a freezer to achieve temperature control. Heck, even if you already have all that gear, it might be worth grabbing one to be able to ferment beers at two different temperatures at the same time.

 

The linked write-up is entitled: “BrewJacket Immersion - Lager Beer Without a Refrigerator”.

There is a discussion of:

“For example, if you are brewing a lager that requires primary fermentation at 52º F, set the device to 52º F and it will maintain that temperature for as long as it is powered on. Three weeks later when primary fermentation is complete and you need to do a diacetyl rest, increase the temperature to 65º F and Immersion will cut off power to the cooling unit and allow the ambient temperature of your house to increase the temperature of the beer. Once the temperature reaches 65º F, Immersion will power back on automatically, meticulously maintaining the set temp of 65º F. When the rest is complete and you need to lager condition the beer, simply select the temperature to cold crash, perhaps 35º F, and Immersion will cycle until the set temperature is achieved. For as long as it is plugged in, Immersion will maintain that temperature.”

There is a video which illustrates compatibility with a Better Bottle, Northern Brewer Big Mouth Bubbler and a plastic (HDPE) bucket. Also: “BrewJacket Immersion is compatible with brew buckets, Better Bottles, and Big Mouth Bubblers from Northern Brewer. All three need to be modified slightly, but we take care of that for you. All fermenters must be between 5 and 6.5 gallons.”

My question is concerning fermenting in a carboy of 5 gallons. Given the displacement of the Heat Transfer Rod plus the krausen that results from fermentation, how much beer do you end up with? Also, does the small plastic tube from the neck of the carboys function as a blow off tube (more beer loss)?

Is the intention to use fermenters for both fermenting and lagering? I have never fermented/lagered in one vessel before but I guess this could ‘work’. I have always removed my lager beers from yeast for lagering. I personally would be concerned about keeping my lager beers in a plastic bucket (HDPE) for the entire duration of fermenting and lagering.

To summarize my concerns for the various applications:

Better Bottle/Big Mouth Bubbler

· How is Krausen ‘managed’?

· A 6.5 gallon bottle has more headspace so that could ‘help’ with krausen management but then you have significant headspace. Is that a concern for the lagering phase?

Plastic Bucket

· My combined duration for making moderate gravity lagers is 2 months (fermentation time plus lagering time). Is it OK to keep a beer in a HDPE bucket for 2 months? Would there me too much oxygen ingress for that timeframe?

As others have mentioned, there are less expensive ways to address the production of lager brewing.

One other discussion topic is production amount. A chest freezer can accommodate multiple carboys. If a homebrewer wanted to produce multiple batches of lager beers simultaneously they would need to purchase multiple BrewJacket Immersion units.

I presently have two batches lagering; that would equate to $600 (assuming 300 bucks a unit).

The one positive of the BrewJacket Immersion units are they are small and therefore attractive for homebrewers who live in apartments or small homes which can not accommodate lagering chambers (e.g., a chest freezer).

Cheers!

 

I backed the Kickstarter and I anticipate receiving a unit soon. A few thoughts:

1. I was seriously considering buying a chest freezer, but in my apartment it would have taken up a lot of scarce space. As @JackHorzempa noted, this is a major reason people might consider buying the BrewJacket.

2. It's not just space, though. The BrewJacket is also much easier to move than a chest freezer, so for people who may move in the future (students, renters, et al.), a BrewJacket might make a lot of sense. Even if you're not moving to a new house or apartment, though, you might want to be able to ferment beer at a friend's house, or just move your setup within your house, and for those applications the BrewJacket is much easier to deal with than a chest freezer.

3. The BrewJacket is also allegedly much more energy-efficient than a chest freezer. I haven't verified this myself, but if it's true, it is another reason to consider the BrewJacket (particularly if you live in a region where electricity is expensive, like New England).

4. To answer @JackHorzempa's questions, check out these updates (one, two) from the Kickstarter website. The rod is 1.5 inches in diameter and 18 inches long, which by my calculation means that it displaces at most ~1 pint of space in the fermenter (and usually less, since the top portion of it is extending down through the neck of the carboy, which is hopefully filled with air anyway). That seems unproblematic to me in most circumstances.

5. Assuming the BrewJacket works as advertised, I think the big objection is the price. For me, personally, the price is worth it because of the advantages I've mentioned above. (Also, you have to compare the price to a chest freezer + temperature controller.) But then, I only ever brew one batch of beer at a time (or at least, I only ever need to temperature-control one batch at a time), and I rent an apartment in New York City. Other people (who have more space, more certainty of living in the same house for a long time, or who ferment more than one batch at a time) may find that the price isn't justified. Even though it won't do me any good (having already bought a unit), I hope the price comes down a bit so that more people can enjoy the product.

 

What type and size vessel will you be using to ferment/lager your beer?

Cheers!