ways to cool conical fermenter

monty73741 · 10-21-2008, 08:36 PM

i was thinking of ways to cool my conical fermentor. i thinking after seeing soneone's keggle that had the copper tubing brazed inside the keggle i was going to do the same thing just run cold water thru. I have no room in my house for another freezer. so that would be the best for me...I cant do lagers but i dont like lagers anyhow

Tenchiro · 10-21-2008, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by monty73741

i was thinking of ways to cool my conical fermentor. i thinking after seeing soneone's keggle that had the copper tubing brazed inside the keggle i was going to do the same thing just run cold water thru. I have no room in my house for another freezer. so that would be the best for me...I cant do lagers but i dont like lagers anyhow

Wet t-shirt or towel and a fan might be the simplest, but you would have to tend it fairly often to make sure it doesn't dry out.

monty73741 · 10-21-2008, 11:39 PM

i want to make something i dont have to tend to. I am a realtor so my schedule is not the same every night, plus i have the need to build something complicated

**beerthirty** · 10-21-2008, 11:47 PM

Soldering or brazing to the inside will give lots of bacteria forming areas. Do it to the outside then wrap a hot water heater blanket around it to insulate it.

**mrbowenz** · 10-22-2008, 01:53 AM

Here is a brilliant idea I am going to incorporate shortly, you would still need a cooling source but the build idea is fantastic:

This would work for a conical too:

Picasa Web Albums - Kevin - Carboy Coolin...

Desert_Sky · 10-22-2008, 02:14 AM

heres the way I see it.

I spent an awful alot of money on the conical itself, no way am I going half ass in keeping that thing cool. Keep an eye on craigslist for a used full size freezer that you can turn into an awesome temp controlled fermentation chamber.

WBC · 10-22-2008, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chimone

heres the way I see it.

I spent an awful alot of money on the conical itself, no way am I going half ass in keeping that thing cool. Keep an eye on craigslist for a used full size freezer that you can turn into an awesome temp controlled fermentation chamber.

I have a 27 gallon conical (Blichmann) and made an insulated container 4 inches thick from foam board from my building supply and used an air conditioner to keep it cool. A Ranco controller keeps the temperature stable. The AC sits on the insulated base which is on the floor. I just lift off the box to get at the conical. I clean it in place. It works great for Ale or Lagers. It was so big that most refrigerators were just too small.

I know of another guy who has a stainless chiller coil that has bulkhead fittings on the conical lid and quick disconnects. He has a Ranco controlled freezer with a stainless tank with food grade glycol and a submersible pump with another Ranco controller that runs the pump. The sensor is in a thermowell in the conical lid so it senses the beer temperature. The pump only runs to circulate the glycol when the Ranco relay runs the pump. It works very well. He does have a box with insulation over the conical but it sits directly on the cement floor. I think he had to control the freezer temperature so the glycol would not freeze beer on the chiller while the pump ran. Like I said this thing works well but does require 2 Ranco controllers.

**Jaybird** · 10-22-2008, 06:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WBC

I have a 27 gallon conical (Blichmann) and made an insulated container 4 inches thick from foam board from my building supply and used an air conditioner to keep it cool. A Ranco controller keeps the temperature stable. The AC sits on the insulated base which is on the floor. I just lift off the box to get at the conical. I clean it in place. It works great for Ale or Lagers. It was so big that most refrigerators were just too small.

I know of another guy who has a stainless chiller coil that has bulkhead fittings on the conical lid and quick disconnects. He has a Ranco controlled freezer with a stainless tank with food grade glycol and a submersible pump with another Ranco controller that runs the pump. The sensor is in a thermowell in the conical lid so it senses the beer temperature. The pump only runs to circulate the glycol when the Ranco relay runs the pump. It works very well. He does have a box with insulation over the conical but it sits directly on the cement floor. I think he had to control the freezer temperature so the glycol would not freeze beer on the chiller while the pump ran. Like I said this thing works well but does require 2 Ranco controllers.

All that.. Why not just put the fermenter in the fridge??

WBC · 10-22-2008, 07:06 AM

It's too big unless you extend the door.

Desert_Sky · 10-22-2008, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WBC

It's too big unless you extend the door.

what a wonderful problem to have