I'm working on putting together a brewing setup, but have run into something of an impasse with keeping things cool for fermentation. The basic setup I'm thinking of is a mini-fridge with 3-5 gallons of water/glycol mix that gets recirculated through a stainless coil in the fermentation vessel. There are a few questions I have, and I was hoping some of you could point me in the right direction on them.
Thing One: Is that enough coolant for keeping two or three five gallon batches down to lagering temps if the ambient temperature is between 75-80 degrees? (The fermenters would be insulated, of course)
Thing B: How should I size the coil in the fermenter? I'm thinking about using 1/4" OD stainless tubing, good size or too small? How about length, would it need to be 20' or longer?
Thing the Last: What about the pump? I was looking at getting one of the pond pumps, but I don't know what size. In looking I think people were using one pump with controlled valves when they were cooling multiple fermenters, is this correct?
Thanks for any help. I'm sure I'll have more questions before all of this is over.
Thing One: Is that enough coolant for keeping two or three five gallon batches down to lagering temps if the ambient temperature is between 75-80 degrees? (The fermenters would be insulated, of course)
Thing B: How should I size the coil in the fermenter? I'm thinking about using 1/4" OD stainless tubing, good size or too small? How about length, would it need to be 20' or longer?
Thing the Last: What about the pump? I was looking at getting one of the pond pumps, but I don't know what size. In looking I think people were using one pump with controlled valves when they were cooling multiple fermenters, is this correct?
Thanks for any help. I'm sure I'll have more questions before all of this is over.