Newest Threads

koch711 · 07-20-2012, 07:37 PM

Negative - the top collapses a little. Not a big deal though, doesn't affect anything really. I use a racking cane to prop it up. Keeps a nice cool stable temp with just a few frozen water bottles. Great product for the price.

**discokid2k** · 07-20-2012, 07:55 PM

well if the only negative is a collapsing top, and the positive is a happy wife....no contest. Wife wins. I will be ordering shortly>

**alestateyall** · 07-21-2012, 01:03 AM

Here is my review.

I really like the cool brewing bag overall. I have used it twice. The first time I filled the bag with water half way up my carboy. The second time I went with no water inside the bag, just air. It worked well in both cases.

With the water bath method I used less ice. I got the water bath water from an ice bath used when cooling the hot wort after boil. That limited the amount of ice needed on day one in the bag. I think I used 2 2L bottles on day one and then added 1 2L bottle per 24 hours on the following days. I think because the water bath and beer are a big thermal mass the temp holds steady this way and that is why it took less ice. But the water bath method has the annoyance of water which you have to dump at the end.

For the just air case I had to use a lot of ice (3 2L + 5 16.9oz bottles) to get it down to about 62F overnight. Once down there I used 2-3 2L bottles to stay at 64F during heavy fermentation on a 5.5G batch.

I change bottles every 24 hours. I could probably go longer but once per day is easy to remember.

I live in the deep south and my house is at 80F (which sucks for me and the beer). I am am easily able to keep the fermenter in the mid to low 60's with the cool brewing bag with both the water bath and just air methods.

The top of the bag does collapse onto your airlock. It does not put much pressure on the airlock when just sitting there but you do have to be careful when zipping up not to push on the airlock too hard. I did break an airlock. I had an old double bubble type. Those are tall and skinny unlike the 3 piece air locks which seem more short and squat. When I was closing the lid on the cooler I pulled down to get the zipper aligned and broke the air lock. It was an old air lock which had undergone its share off stress being removed from a bung (I always have trouble with that; they stick together too well). I am going to replace the airlock with a 3 piece one. Right now I am using a blow off tube into a 1G bucket of water sitting at the bottom of the bag. That works well since the bag lid presses down on the blow off tube and holds it in place. I may stick with this method and just use an air lock when the fermenter is sitting out of the bag aging beer (I don't cool it after fermentation ends).

Edit: I tried a large a plastic cup over the airlock one day and it easily held the top of the bag up away from the airlock. The day I broke my air lock I was going without the cup. The only issue with using the cup over the airlock was the bubbling was louder due to echoing. My wife didn't like that.

Here's a link to what I mean by double bubble airlock: http://www.rebelbrewer.com/shoppingcart/products/Double-Bubble-Airlock.html

Here is a link to what I mean by 3 piece airlock: http://www.rebelbrewer.com/shoppingcart/products/3%252dPiece-Airlock.html

Another great thing is the bag collapses and is easily stored when not in use.

I also like that the bag blocks out light. My kids leave the light on in the room where I ferment constantly. No more worrying about skunky beer.

Finally when I ordered the bag it shipped very quickly and I got an email with a tracking number without having to ask.

**Dolomieu** · 07-21-2012, 04:58 AM

I've read a bit of this thread and was wondering if a piece of properly sized pvc pipe slide over the airlock and neck of the carboy would solve the slumping issues. My apologizes if this was already thrown out there. I wasnt able to read the entire thing.

koch711 · 07-21-2012, 12:05 PM

That would solve it along with a pop bottle longer with part of both ends cut off.

**alestateyall** · 07-21-2012, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dolomieu

I've read a bit of this thread and was wondering if a piece of properly sized pvc pipe slide over the airlock and neck of the carboy would solve the slumping issues. My apologizes if this was already thrown out there. I wasnt able to read the entire thing.

Actually I forgot to mention in my review I used a large plastic cup over the airlock one day and it worked great. The day I broke my air lock I was going without the cup. The only issue with the cup was the bubbling was louder due to echoing. My wife didn't like that.

**DonTX** · 07-21-2012, 01:59 PM

My last couple batches were off due to high fermentation temps. Just ordered a couple of these last night. Looking forward to using them to help with this Texas heat.

**CoolBrewing** · 07-24-2012, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kehaar

Here is my review.

I really like the cool brewing bag overall. I have used it twice. The first time I filled the bag with water half way up my carboy. The second time I went with no water inside the bag, just air. It worked well in both cases.

With the water bath method I used less ice. I got the water bath water from an ice bath used when cooling the hot wort after boil. That limited the amount of ice needed on day one in the bag. I think I used 2 2L bottles on day one and then added 1 2L bottle per 24 hours on the following days. I think because the water bath and beer are a big thermal mass the temp holds steady this way and that is why it took less ice. But the water bath method has the annoyance of water which you have to dump at the end.

For the just air case I had to use a lot of ice (3 2L + 5 16.9oz bottles) to get it down to about 62F overnight. Once down there I used 2-3 2L bottles to stay at 64F during heavy fermentation on a 5.5G batch.

I change bottles every 24 hours. I could probably go longer but once per day is easy to remember.

I live in the deep south and my house is at 80F (which sucks for me and the beer). I am am easily able to keep the fermenter in the mid to low 60's with the cool brewing bag with both the water bath and just air methods.

The top of the bag does collapse onto your airlock. It does not put much pressure on the airlock when just sitting there but you do have to be careful when zipping up not to push on the airlock too hard. I did break an airlock. I had an old double bubble type. Those are tall and skinny unlike the 3 piece air locks which seem more short and squat. When I was closing the lid on the cooler I pulled down to get the zipper aligned and broke the air lock. It was an old air lock which had undergone its share off stress being removed from a bung (I always have trouble with that; they stick together too well). I am going to replace the airlock with a 3 piece one. Right now I am using a blow off tube into a 1G bucket of water sitting at the bottom of the bag. That works well since the bag lid presses down on the blow off tube and holds it in place. I may stick with this method and just use an air lock when the fermenter is sitting out of the bag aging beer (I don't cool it after fermentation ends).

Edit: I tried a large a plastic cup over the airlock one day and it easily held the top of the bag up away from the airlock. The day I broke my air lock I was going without the cup. The only issue with using the cup over the airlock was the bubbling was louder due to echoing. My wife didn't like that.

Here's a link to what I mean by double bubble airlock: http://www.rebelbrewer.com/shoppingcart/products/Double-Bubble-Airlock.html

Here is a link to what I mean by 3 piece airlock: http://www.rebelbrewer.com/shoppingcart/products/3%252dPiece-Airlock.html

Another great thing is the bag collapses and is easily stored when not in use.

I also like that the bag blocks out light. My kids leave the light on in the room where I ferment constantly. No more worrying about skunky beer.

Finally when I ordered the bag it shipped very quickly and I got an email with a tracking number without having to ask.

Thank you for the very detailed review!

**Beer-lord** · 07-25-2012, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DonTX

My last couple batches were off due to high fermentation temps. Just ordered a couple of these last night. Looking forward to using them to help with this Texas heat.

You won't be disappointed. I actually had to use less frozen packs this morning as my temp was going down to 61 and I want to keep it at 64-65!
It only takes about 12-24 for my 5 gallon bucket to adjust to the temperature. Last week I pitched at 74 and put in 2 ice packs at 3 pm. The next morning the temperature in the bag was 59 and the temp on the bucket thermometer was 66. Not bad at all.
I've now used this for 9 weeks in a row thru 3 batches.

scottvin · 07-25-2012, 01:49 PM

I have a question - due to the heat in the summer I am only able to get my wort chilled to around 85*. If I place this bag in a 68-70* basement, how long will it take to get my wort down to sub-70*?

Thanks!