temp controller

i got a top freezer fridge in my garage that i was going to use for a fermenting chamber. i got a temp controller ordered but was wondering if i should put the probe in a bottle of water or just hang it in there? and if i keep the fridge part around 62-64f will the freezer part be colder? enough to store some cold beer!

This is what I use for fermenting as well. My probe just hangs so that the ambient temp is controlled. I also have those (crappy) stick-on thermometers on all of my carboys. And I keep a large glass of water in the door of the fridge with a real thermometer in it. All this being said, I know exactly what the temp of my beer is. As far as the freezer goes, I would't put ice in it but if you like your beer around 45-50F then the freezer would probably work, but I have never tried it. I have a second fridge in which to keep drinkable beer.

thanks

Anyone else tried this

I have some bubble wrap that is folded over a few times and taped (on three sides) to the side of the fermenter. I don't tape the top side so it forms a little pocket and I slide the probe in there.

BiscayneBrewing said:

I have some bubble wrap that is folded over a few times and taped (on three sides) to the side of the fermenter. I don't tape the top side so it forms a little pocket and I slide the probe in there.

Click to expand...

This. Taping the probe to the fermentor and insulating it is the way to go as the beer temp will be warmer than ambient air once fermentation gets rolling.

BiscayneBrewing said:

I have some bubble wrap that is folded over a few times and taped (on three sides) to the side of the fermenter. I don't tape the top side so it forms a little pocket and I slide the probe in there.

Click to expand...

I do this too for buckets, I have a thermowell for the better bottles.

I would say at the minimum put it in a glass of water. The air temp HAS to be colder than a mass of liquid in order for the mass to get cold. This is what I do until I make my bubble wrap pocket.

I tape my probe to my bucket w/bubble wrap over it....

Placing the probe on the fermenter and insulating it from the ambient air seems to work best for me. I've tried putting it in free air, a jar of water and against the fermenter.

My main problem with having it in free air was that the freezer cycled on/off every 10-15 minutes. This would lead to considerable excess wear on the compressor. When the probe was in a jar of water the freezer cycled less often, but the actual temperature of the fermentation went higher because of the yeast activity. Placing the probe against the fermenter and insulated from the air compensated for the temperature rise of the fermentation. I did one experiment of placing the probe in a thermowell in the beer, but didn't see any major difference, except for one additional item to sanitize.

It did take quite a bit of experimentation using multiple temperature probes with a BCS-460 to come to my conclusion, but I'm confident that my method works best with my equipment.

I have a chest freezer ferm chanber with a 2 stage temp controller. I cut a small recess into a block of rigid foam insulation and duct tape it to the side of the fermenter. When I spot checked it against an immersed thermometer,the WOrt temp was 2 degrees higher than the external sensor pretty consistently.