Temperature

Hi everybody,
I'm new here and I've read quite a few posts on these forums. While reading, I noticed that many of you are anxious about your fermentation's temperature. Also, I read Charlie Papazian's book which says a temperature around 20C is ideal. I'm about to brew my first batch in about two weeks, which will put us in the very first days of august.

I'm lucky to be in Montreal, where most of the year, the temperature is easily managed to be around 20 C (68 F) in my appartment. However, the temperature can still get pretty warm (85-90 F) during summer. I wouldn't want to start brewing and have problems because the temperature rises some days later.

So, I'm looking for some cheap cooler easily available in Canada. I live in an appartment for the moment, and the space is very limited, so I'll put my fermenter in a small wardrobe with doesn't have a lot of space. It is about 5' x 16" x 10' . The wardrobe contains many other objects which can't go anywhere else, so I need a really, really cheap cooler.

Any idea on how I could chill my fermenter when there are warm days? I don't wanna spent 200$CAD, as my budget is very limited, and well... it's only for some months. The rest of the year is fine. And... Well, I'm about the worst handyman you ever heard of.

I don't wanna make lagers right now, because, well... I still never brewed a batch by myself. So all I need is an ale tmeperature.,

two words swamp cooler

Click it will give you loads of cheap ideas

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/first-post-temp-control-127210/

Brew Your Own: The How-To Homebrew Beer Magazine - Techniques - Controlling Fermentation Temperature: Techniques

Also, find the temp control podcast on the brewing networks' "Brew Strong Show"

Yeah, I saw those, but I didn't find any stores in my area (Montreal) selling some of these. I also tried searching on ebay, and there were some, but they were almost all too big, and the portable ones were like 200$ CAD+ Shipping @ 180.00$...

Seems like our stores doesn't sell swamp coolers because of humidity.

Go to the local big box store and pick up one of these...


Get a bunch of old 0.5 L water bottles and freeze them. Fill the bin with water to about the 1/3 mark and place your fermenter in it and regulate the temp with the water bottles.

One Rubbermaid storage container big enough to hold your fermenter and several gallons of water is all you need. $12

beerkrump said:

Go to the local big box store and pick up one of these...

Get a bunch of old 0.5 L water bottles and freeze them. Fill the bin with water to about the 1/3 mark and place your fermenter in it and regulate the temp with the water bottles.

Click to expand...

Seems to me like the best idea for me (the simplest).

Is it a problem if only the first half is cod? Because I don't think I can find a rubbermaid container high enough to cover the carboy while fitting (in width) in my wardrobe.

The easiest way is to increase the thermal mass needed to stabilize the temp. The frozen water bottles are ok IMHO but I found a bucket or carboy submerged 1/2 in water with a wet terry cloth towel and a box fan lightly blowing on it does the trick. Make sure the towel hangs down into the water to use capillary action to stay wet. The water will evaporate off of the towel carrying excess heat. Cheap and almost hands off with the exception of adding more water. Just a thought

Maybe a Rubbermaid's Trash bin would be nice too. Large, high, easy to fill water in to cool it.

Edit : Nevermind. Too large.

Half way up the fermenter is plenty.

Catch-22, here's the irony of a swamp cooler, it's efficiency goes down as the humidity goes up. So it works best in a desert and worst in a swamp.

You are right. That is what I forgot to mention. When I was in the army at Ft. Bragg, this didn't work due to the humidity levels because of a lack of evaporation. Here in the west it works quite well.

Also works for heating in the winter.

And at what frequency do you need to put ice to refresh your water? Each day? Each two days? Each 12 hours?

I understand my question is pretty vague ; it depends on how much water you have (more water==more thermic inertia), but I need to make up an idea. You can tell me an example : how much water, which temperature, etc.

keep an eye on the temps and replace ice as temps climb.
I usually swap out bottles in the morning before going to work, after work, and just before bed. BUT, mine is sitting in the garage, in 90F - you may get by with less, sitting inside the apartment. (my tub has a small leak that I haven't gotten around to fixing yet...)

Hang Glider said:

keep an eye on the temps and replace ice as temps climb.
I usually swap out bottles in the morning before going to work, after work, and just before bed. BUT, mine is sitting in the garage, in 90F - you may get by with less, sitting inside the apartment. (my tub has a small leak that I haven't gotten around to fixing yet...)

Click to expand...

Great. This week-end, I'll go see at some local stores if there's some large cooler that happens to be the good size or to find a good Rubbermaid container like yours. I feel like this is a great idea, actually.

Ice chest coolers hold the temps well, too. - less ice swapping. Don't know about the VAT in Canada but if you can find the large 70qt rolling Igloo "cube" it will hold a carboy or bucket.

Re-usable freeze packs work well with water baths and also in insulated coolers. But temps must be monitored often while the fermentation is cranking (first 2-5 days). Be a little wary of immersing some taps for long periods. I'm pretty sure I picked up an infection that way, although many brewers do this with no issues.

At any rate, controlling fermentation temps is crucial. Fermenting at the high end of the yeast's specified range is usually not a good idea.