CoolBrewing

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Peter,

See attached picture for a 5 gallon carboy keeping my winter warmer lager at cool 52 degrees. The dimensions of a standard 6.5 gallon carboy are 12.5"x20.5" plus 4" for most airlocks so they should fit no problem however they can vary so I would recommend measuring your 1st to be sure before ordering.

LoudounBrew

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Interesting idea. One issue that might arise is that a Swamp Cooler because it is using water is quite effective at keeping the wort temperature at pretty close to the water temp - probably +/- 1 or 2 degrees. Water is just very good at pulling away heat. So this being air, it'd be a bit less quick at pulling the heat out of carboy during the heavy fermentation. But you have the same issue with a refrigerator, though you can control that with thermostat. (Of course, that whole set up is a tad more than $50, isn't it.)

On the other hand, a positive is that this doesn't have, yep, water, which is a bit of a pain. Also, I have a better bottle with spigot, so I'm concerned about contamination (I understand the many reasons why I shouldn't, but I am). As a result, I'd need a garbage bag to protect.

Regardless, it's a clever idea. It's definitely worth a look.

How well does it maintain temperature, i.e. if you put a could of frozen water bottles into the bag, how many degrees colder is the inside of the cooler and how long does that effect last. Do I need to put in new bottles every six hours, every day, every couple of days, etc.?

CoolBrewing

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Good Questions!

So far I am actually surprised myself at how well this works compared to a traditional swamp cooler where I was switching out 3-4 ice 2 liters every 12 to 24 hours!

Now it is hard to put a specific saying that 1 frozen bottle will lower the wort temperature so many degrees because there are many other variables in each situation. However In our testing so far we observed the following with a 5 gallon batch:

2 frozen 2-liters switched out every 36 hours lowered and then kept the temp an average of 11 degrees cooler than the outside temp.

3 frozen 2-liters switched out every 36 to 48 hours kept the temp an average of 15 degrees cooler than the outside temp.

We will of course keep testing with more variables such as batch size and style for more data and a nice bonus of more beer!

dzlater

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Are those the beer's temps, or air temps inside the bag?

CoolBrewing

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That is the wort temp

CoolBrewing

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Hi All,

I thought I would share this graph for those who would like to see the detailed data of the testing referenced in my previous post. The attached graph shows the temperature outside the cooler, wort temp and the difference in degrees between the outside and wort temp. This batch had 2 ice 2 liters switched out every 36 hours for the first 3 days then moved to 3 ice 2 liters switched out every 36 to 48 hours to keep the temp right around the desired 52 degrees. The temp could be lowered faster if 3 ice 2 liters were used starting out verses 2.

As you can see there are no issues reducing the wort temp from room temperature by roughly 10 degrees in 24 hours.

Whippy

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Oh, I VERY much look forward to getting one of these!! It seems to be the answer to my prayers

__________________
Two weeks to ferment, two more in the kegs
but in just one night it was drained to the dregs

LabRatBrewer

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This looks very interesting. What is your timeline to releasing the product?

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I like to see a man of advancing years throwing caution to the wind. It's inspiring in a way. - Rita

alestateyall

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I want one.

I use a water bath and change 64 ounce bottles (sometimes more) ever 8 hours to drop the temp about 15F.

Your product sounds better.

I would love more characterization results so when I buy you can give me a good guess on how much ice to add how often.

__________________
Twitter: @alestateyall

CoolBrewing

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Thanks for your feedback! We will work on adding as much detail in terms of characterization results to our website as possible.