Fermentation chamber ideas

what is your definition of in expensive? I got my chest freezer at home depot for $189 and johnson controller for 60ish on amazon

 

You could probably find a used chest freezer on craigslist for $100 or less, and you could wire your own stc 1000 temperature controller for $25 in parts

 

Maybe craigslist? If youre vigilant you can find chest freezers for 50-100

 

I get the "inexpensive" part but you are talking about one of the biggest quality jumps a home brewer can make and there are free or really inexpensive stuff out there. Start asking around and poking right now for a fridge or freezer. They are out there. A temp controller can be purchased or built. Local homebrew clubs and homebrew forums are a good way to find stuff also. New homebrewer's are constantly cycling in and out as well as older homebrewer's just getting bored.

 

Google "son of fermentation chamber". It's probably the cheapest way to control fermentation temperatures.

 

You can find a lot of used fridges/chest freezers (I'm using a used fridge) that people want to get rid of (craigslist/freecycle would be a good place to look).

Alternately, you can buy a heat wrap at most beer supply stores and a temp controller, and heat the beer to control the temp. This only works if you have a ground temp cellar/crawl space, etc.

 

A very simple and cheap way to cool your fermentations is a large bucket or Rubbermaid pan which you fill with water and place your fermenter in and then use refreezable ice blocks or soda bottles with water/ice to maintain a set temperature. This method does require that you monitor the fermentation temperature and change out the ice periodically. Alternatively, you could just place a T-shirt or towel over the fermenter and let it wick up water and cool via evaporative cooling; a fan increases the cooling.

For ‘heating’ you could just wrap some blankets around the fermenter. Fermentation is an exothermic reaction and the blankets will retain the heat and effectively raise the fermentation temperature.

There are very cheap and effective means to maintain fermentation temperature if you are willing to monitor the situation.

If you want a hands off method then a temperature controller is needed: either a chest freezer with an external temperature controller or the SOFC (which has a thermostat in it).

Cheers!

 

I got a mini fridge off craigslist for $50. I think it cost me $35 to set up a STC thermo-controller. My 6 gall bucket fits fine in there. You will want a 4.5-5 Cubic foot one. If you have the room, I would suggest getting a deep freeze. Much easier to work with and set up. If you know you are going to get a SS conical, you might want to go ahead and get a full sized fridge it will fit into.

 

I've got a used side by side that I converted using a Johnson controller and building a shelving unit inside..Total cost was about 65 and I can fit 6 carboy in it..

 

This cost me about $250 to build, including the window AC, then a simple Johnson temp controller for $50. With this setup I can maintain fermentation temps in the mid 50's in my garage in the summer, and that garage can get over 100F easily.

 

200 watt aquarium heater in a trash can. This one is keeping my saison at 80 deg.

 

Can you explain your blow off tube setup? Is that a 1+inch tube just shoved into the carboy neck?

 

Yep.

 

That's what I use too. I wrap it with some plastic wrap where it goes into the carboy's neck because my tubing is a tiny bit too small.