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bfinleyui · 12-08-2012, 05:05 PM

So based on that, looks like with some diligent attention, I could use this to cold crash before bottling, to get a clearer beer... Awesome

dgarner58 · 12-14-2012, 04:49 PM

just ordered this...looks like a great inexpensive way to keep my stuff in the 60's without taking up a bathtub.

dbsmith · 12-16-2012, 04:33 PM

Got my lager chilling at 50 degrees easily. This is a great product! Not only can I now do lagers properly, but I can have people over without my girlfriend being embarrassed by the ugly swamp cooler.

bfinleyui · 12-30-2012, 03:35 AM

I've got both brews currently fermenting in this bag, one a 3-gallon Magic Hop Dust IPA, the other a 5.1 gallon cream of 3 crops hooked up to a blowoff. One gallon milk jug and one half gallon milk jug are keeping them both under 65, even as they're both bubbling away.

lockwom · 01-03-2013, 09:54 PM

Worth mentioning a very simple test case before I got too ambitious with this thing.

Fermenting in a 68 deg F room, keeping a aggressively fermenting beer at 66 F for the past couple days by only rotating out single 20 fl oz bottles of ice every 12 hours. As a test last night, I took the bottle out without replacement for about 30 mins, and the carboy temperature climbed 2 deg very rapidly, showing that the ice are indeed regulating the temperature extremely well.

Each time I've swapped the water bottle for a freshly frozen one, there has been substantial ice remaining, meaning I could have probably left each small bottle longer. With my analog Johnson temperature controller, I felt I had just as much supervision of the early stages of fermentation.

This beer would have easily climbed into the 70s were it fermenting without any controls, so I'd already declare success.

As a side note, I have the blowoff tube running out of the bag, sandwiched between the two zippers because I have the chamber in a precarious spot in my small house, and I'd rather someone not accidentally bump the bag and spill sanitizer and open the blowoff to air. In the future, I'll probably keep the blowoff tube inside the bag because I measured the temperature of the sanitizer solution the blowoff is directed to, and it was 64F in a 68F room -- indicating the blowoff is carrying cooler air out of the bag with it, and should stay contained in the bag. Good to know when I have an extended 60F fermentation up next!

Another experiment for next time: prechilling the chamber before I pitch the yeast and move the carboy inside, giving the ice a head start. Perhaps I can record temperature timeseries with a Raspberry Pi or Arduino next time so I can remotely monitor my fermentation temperature.

dbsmith · 01-03-2013, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lockwom

Another experiment for next time: prechilling the chamber before I pitch the yeast and move the carboy inside, giving the ice a head start. Perhaps I can record temperature timeseries with a Raspberry Pi or Arduino next time so I can remotely monitor my fermentation temperature.

This is what I do. I just leave the coolbrewing bag open by the opened porch door while I'm brewing so that the bag is nice a cold by the time my fermenter goes into it. I guess in the summer you could put it in the fridge!

**alestateyall** · 01-20-2013, 03:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThreeGnomes

I bought one when they first came out.. put it away and forgot about it until today. I'm planning on using it during the summer when its hot.. with the ice bottles

But, has anyone tried using it during the winter when they want to raise the temp just a bit? I'm not thinking hot water bottles..

Suggestions??

How about a heating pad and a fan? I put a small fan inside to circulate the air when cooling and it works wonders. I suppose air moving over a heating pad would have a similar effect.

bfinleyui · 01-20-2013, 03:59 PM

Maybe put the cooler on top of the pad, so there's a little heat, but not directly on the fermenter?

**Nikobrew** · 01-20-2013, 05:35 PM

I was thinking the same thing. It's 4f out right now though so I'm figuring in the garage I'd need a pretty nice heat pad or a really strong heater to keep temp, then I'm concerned about safety if there's an actual heater involved. I may put it inside but indoor space is more limited right now. If hot water bottles did the trick that would be awesome. I wonder if any testing has been done on this.

HokieBrewer · 01-20-2013, 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThreeGnomes

I bought one when they first came out.. put it away and forgot about it until today. I'm planning on using it during the summer when its hot.. with the ice bottles

But, has anyone tried using it during the winter when they want to raise the temp just a bit? I'm not thinking hot water bottles..

Suggestions??

Exactly what I'm doing right now. We have a sunroom that stays at about 60 during the day and 55 at night. I keep the bags open during the day and it stays 64 inside ambient and then o zip them shut at night...