Heat wave during peak Fermentation! Need temp control.

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ZBrewMan

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Well, I have a couple wonderful batches of banana kerosene in my two primaries. Just guessing, though. Very unusual heat wave struck cali central coast and toasted my beer! Been 74-78 ambient even with fans and closed shades; Fermometer reading is off the charts. If I had to guess, I would say that my beer has been fermenting at 80-85 degrees. Uggh!

Porter-safale S-04
Stout-safale S-05

It's very frustrating after all the work on brew day... so I realize that I need some serious temp control. I want something that will hold two primary 6.5g carboys and will also look fairly nice in my kitchen.

I was thinking about the following chest freezer:
GE 7.0 Cu. Ft. Chest Freezer - FCM7SUWW at The Home Depot

And a digital temperature controller. Could someone point me to a good one?

Good idea? Bad Idea? Got a better idea? I'd love to hear it!
 
I dont have any better ideas, but man that heat did come out of no where. Lucky for me i was putting my fermentors in a crawl space under my house. Sorry to hear about yours good luck with it though.
 
I can't help you with the controller. Someone on here will though, it's come up enough times. Try a search?

As for your brews, at least a porter and stout will not be as overly effected by the fruity esters.

How many days were they fermenting before the heat hit?
 
I hear ya. Same thing happened to me last week or so with my Banana IPA. I'm hoping some cooler temps and a few extra weeks in the primary will help clarify it out.
 
Might want to just try a swamp bucket in place of the freezer. Leave the use of a freezer for lagering and dispensing if you keg.

Really easy to make a swap bucket. Just get a container large enough for your primary to go into, like a Rubbermaid box. Put the primary in there and then fill it about 1/2 way with water. You can then drape a towel around your primary and lay the ends of the towel in the water. This will wick up the water in the container. Finally, point a fan at the primary to help evaporate the water from the towel. The evaporation will provide cooling for the primary and the whole setup shouldn't cost you more than $5-10.
 
Another vote for the swamp cooler. I have an old restaurant bus tub that my fermenter fits in, but a Rubbermaid container or the like is readily available for very little money. Put your primary in it, fill it up with water and swap out frozen water bottles on a regular basis. I can maintain a steady 63-64° even in the dead of summer that way.

Obviously if you have the money and inclination, go for the freezer, but this works well as an interim measure.

Chad
 
Or you can go the pretty cheap Son of fermentation route. I just built one for $35, between sales and having a few of the components on hand. A swamp coooler with a few frozen bottles of water works very well also.
 
Just to clarify, you didn't taste it, you're just assuming it must be farked?

What stage of fermentation were these beers in? Were they still churning like mad when the heat wave struck? Or had it subsided some?

Also, I second the water tub idea if you're concerned about expense or space. Walmart sells these rope handled tubs for $8 that are the perfect size for a fermenter and some frozen water bottles.
 
Very unusual heat wave struck cali central coast and toasted my beer! Been 74-78 ambient even with fans and closed shades; Fermometer reading is off the charts.


Man, no kidding. Wish we would have had some notice about that beforehand. Fortunately, both of my current batches are in secondaries and fermentation should be complete so I'm hoping they aren't as affected by the temp increase.

If you find yourself in a pinch and don't have a swamp cooler or fermentation chamber handy, throw them in the tub filled with cold water (and perhaps some ice). It will definitely keep them cooler for a while, at least until you can get something more permenant.
 
I can't help you with the controller. Someone on here will though, it's come up enough times. Try a search?

As for your brews, at least a porter and stout will not be as overly effected by the fruity esters.

How many days were they fermenting before the heat hit?

I did search a little, but I didn't find anything that would work specifically with a chest freezer. I'll take another search. Thanks.

They were fermenting one full day before the heat hit. The porter with the S-04 went crazy and I was glad I had a blow-off tube.

It's Now day 3.5 and there is no observable bubbles coming into the blow-off container.

viking999 said:
Just to clarify, you didn't taste it, you're just assuming it must be farked?
Nope... I guess I was being a little dramatic. :eek: At 86 degrees during peak fermentation I would be very (pleasantly) surprised if there weren't some major off flavors
BrewN00b said:
I hear ya. Same thing happened to me last week or so with my Banana IPA. I'm hoping some cooler temps and a few extra weeks in the primary will help clarify it out.
I'm hoping the same thing. I'm definitely going to leave it on the yeast cake longer.

rsmith179 said:
Might want to just try a swamp bucket in place of the freezer. Leave the use of a freezer for lagering and dispensing if you keg.

Really easy to make a swap bucket. Just get a container large enough for your primary to go into, like a Rubbermaid box. Put the primary in there and then fill it about 1/2 way with water. You can then drape a towel around your primary and lay the ends of the towel in the water. This will wick up the water in the container. Finally, point a fan at the primary to help evaporate the water from the towel. The evaporation will provide cooling for the primary and the whole setup shouldn't cost you more than $5-10.

Seems like most people agree with you. I've thought about the swamp bucket as well as the Son of Fermentation chamber. These are definitely good ideas. I have a couple reasons why I was leaning towards a freezer. I have a SS bench in my kitchen that this freezer would fit nicely under. No real loss of space. Also, it would look much less cluttered/messy if I just had one freezer instead of a couple of swamp buckets.

I'm also thinking about presentation value for those (too rare) occurrences when a lady comes to visit. With the freezer/controller setup I can be proud and say: "Hey baby, wanna come check out my fermentation chamber?"

Worth a shot at least! :D

Thanks all!
 
yeah same happened to me. was caught off gaurd, hitting 100 today in Phoenix was almost there yesterday, I looked at my amber cervasa yesterday when i realized it was 85 in my house and the temp was off the thermometer... oh well it was in range for the first week so hopefully it won't have any ill effects. Need to move my fermentor back to the cool room now that summer heat is here..... or set it up in the guest bathroom with a towel. :)
 
OP, At 24 hours you will probably have fruity esters. Hopefully not to bad. They may even fit the style depending on what they are. Usually a fruityness of some sort. Hopefully not banana.

Hophazard, you beers are past vigourous feremntation so you should be fine.

Let us know how a sample tastes when fermentation is complete. Regardless, it should still taste like beer.
 
You can use a Ranco Johnson or love temp control with a chest freezer. I have Johnson analog control on my upright freezer all I did was make a small slice in the gasket so it went around the probe wire . Then a little silicone to seal the slit. I am going to use a Love control on the next unit just a cleaner install .
 
I use this:



with great success here in Florida. Inexpensive and effective.
 
You can use a Ranco Johnson or love temp control with a chest freezer. I have Johnson analog control on my upright freezer all I did was make a small slice in the gasket so it went around the probe wire . Then a little silicone to seal the slit. I am going to use a Love control on the next unit just a cleaner install .

I have a similar setup. I have a digital controller for a chest freezer, I just put the probe in through the top and the seal is good enough for a chest freezer. I usually tape the probe to the fermenter but if I'm doing two at once I'll let it sit in the air. I really love it for it's ease of use. I can set it at 65 or whatever and leave it until I'm ready to keg, sometime it just sits there for 3 weeks to a month easily keeping it at temp. I have a separate fridge for a kegorator.
 
OP, At 24 hours you will probably have fruity esters. Hopefully not to bad. They may even fit the style depending on what they are. Usually a fruityness of some sort. Hopefully not banana.
I truly hope you are right!
Let us know how a sample tastes when fermentation is complete.
Will do.

I use this:



with great success here in Florida. Inexpensive and effective.

This is my second favorite option... I might still go this route if I chicken out of the chest freezer setup.

springer said:
You can use a Ranco Johnson or love temp control with a chest freezer. I have Johnson analog control on my upright freezer all I did was make a small slice in the gasket so it went around the probe wire . Then a little silicone to seal the slit. I am going to use a Love control on the next unit just a cleaner install .

That sounds simple enough... Is the love controller that much more difficult to install? I'm an engineer, but kind of a newb when it comes to electrical stuff and certain DIY projects. With good instructions I can usually get the job done though.

I have a similar setup. I have a digital controller for a chest freezer, I just put the probe in through the top and the seal is good enough for a chest freezer. I usually tape the probe to the fermenter but if I'm doing two at once I'll let it sit in the air. I really love it for it's ease of use. I can set it at 65 or whatever and leave it until I'm ready to keg, sometime it just sits there for 3 weeks to a month easily keeping it at temp. I have a separate fridge for a kegorator.

This ease of use and reliable, hassle free temp control is what I love about the chest freezer idea. Hell I could go on vacation for a couple weeks and not really worry.... unless the power went out. :eek:
 
You can buy the Ranco temp controllers pre-wired for pretty much the same cost.

The Ranco ETC Store

I also got hit by the heat wave, but luckily I was ready to keg the day before so I don't have anything in the fermentors right now.

What I plan on doing to prepare for summer weather is to make a heat exchanger style cooler. Right now I have a large 30g or so rubbermaid tub that I keep my two fermenters in. I fill it about 3/4 with water and have a fish tank heater in there. That was good for the cooler winter months. But not that its getting hot I am going to use the temperature controller to control a small water pump. The pump will pump the water in the rubbermaid through a copper coil that is sitting in a small cooler. The cooler will be filled with ice. It is essentially the same as a son of fermentation cooler, but using water as the heat exchange mechanism in the fermenter instead of air.

The rubbermaid tub is under a shelf, so I am going to get one of those small coolers with the handle and just hang it over the tub from some hooks. The water pump will go in the rubbermaid tub and connect to the copper coil in the cooler with vinyl tubing. The cooler will also have a small hole drilled in it near the top to allow any overflow from melting ice to fall back into the fermenter. This way I dont have to empty it out, I can just add ice when it is all melted.

I originally wanted to put the copper tubing in a small thermoelectric cooler, but that seemed pricey, and I saw someone else try to use one of those, and they seem pretty weak.

Its not the most glamorous option, but you could work around that. Except for the temp controller the cost should be pretty cheap - I have estimated less than $40.

However, I would also be interested to know of any chest freezers that can hold two 6g carboys without a collar (if that exists).
 
You can buy the Ranco temp controllers pre-wired for pretty much the same cost.

The Ranco ETC Store

I also got hit by the heat wave, but luckily I was ready to keg the day before so I don't have anything in the fermentors right now.

What I plan on doing to prepare for summer weather is to make a heat exchanger style cooler. Right now I have a large 30g or so rubbermaid tub that I keep my two fermenters in. I fill it about 3/4 with water and have a fish tank heater in there. That was good for the cooler winter months. But not that its getting hot I am going to use the temperature controller to control a small water pump. The pump will pump the water in the rubbermaid through a copper coil that is sitting in a small cooler. The cooler will be filled with ice. It is essentially the same as a son of fermentation cooler, but using water as the heat exchange mechanism in the fermenter instead of air.

The rubbermaid tub is under a shelf, so I am going to get one of those small coolers with the handle and just hang it over the tub from some hooks. The water pump will go in the rubbermaid tub and connect to the copper coil in the cooler with vinyl tubing. The cooler will also have a small hole drilled in it near the top to allow any overflow from melting ice to fall back into the fermenter. This way I dont have to empty it out, I can just add ice when it is all melted.

I originally wanted to put the copper tubing in a small thermoelectric cooler, but that seemed pricey, and I saw someone else try to use one of those, and they seem pretty weak.

Its not the most glamorous option, but you could work around that. Except for the temp controller the cost should be pretty cheap - I have estimated less than $40.

However, I would also be interested to know of any chest freezers that can hold two 6g carboys without a collar (if that exists).

Wow... sounds like quite a setup! Nicely done!

BTW: Thanks for the info for the Renco controller.

As far as the chest freezer goes. They don't specify whether the dimensions they give are interior or exterior. I have to guess they are talking about exterior. By estimating the proportions on the photo they give. It seems like the opening is around 80% of the total width. This yields a 3.5" wall. Therefore the opening is approx 30" wide by 15" deep. Since it is a 7 cubic foot freezer that leaves a interior height of about 27". My 6.5g carboys have a diameter of (approx) 13" and are about 25" high with a 3 piece airlock attached.

Theoretically I can fit two inside without collars....

Anybody know more about chest freezers than I do? Do my calculations sound reasonable?

I think I'm going to go for this combo:

Renco controller

chest freezer

Unless someone convinces me that I would be making a mistake....

Pull the trigger??:cool:
 
I went through this when things heated up several months ago down here in NC. Did the swamp cooler for about 2 days and decided it was just not sustainable for me. I went out and bought a chest freezer on sale from HHGregg and picked up this JC controller from my LHBS: NORTHERN BREWER: Fermentation Temperature Control and haven't looked back since.

Works like a champ, set it and forget it.

In searching for the chest freezer Craigs List was pretty much tapped out so I went to several stores with my bucket and carboy until I found one that would fit.

My only regret is that I didn't buy a bigger chest freezer.

Pull the trigger, you will be very happy with your decision.
 
+1 on checking craigslist.

One quick question...Do the johnson analog temp controlers work for freezers or only fridges? I'm hoping either or.
 
In searching for the chest freezer Craigs List was pretty much tapped out so I went to several stores with my bucket and carboy until I found one that would fit.

My only regret is that I didn't buy a bigger chest freezer.

Pull the trigger, you will be very happy with your decision.

Awesome to hear! Yeah, I searched Craigslist too, but to no avail. Nothing that worked for my particular requirements. I figured that I was just going to have to get a new one.

I plan to buy tomorrow! :ban:

One quick question...Do the johnson analog temp controlers work for freezers or only fridges? I'm hoping either or.

I'm guessing it would work for both... but that is a guess!

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can answer your question.
 
If someone could post a model number for a freezer that can hold two carboys that would help out a lot. I know there is a post for freezer sizing for kegs, but I have not seen an equivalent for carboys. If I could get a decently priced chest freezer for two carboys that would be an ideal setup.
 
If someone could post a model number for a freezer that can hold two carboys that would help out a lot. I know there is a post for freezer sizing for kegs, but I have not seen an equivalent for carboys. If I could get a decently priced chest freezer for two carboys that would be an ideal setup.

So this freezer is being delivered next week. According to my rough calculations (earlier in this thread) it should fit two primary carboys. However, I'll definitely let you know for sure after it arrives.

Cheers :mug:
 
If someone could post a model number for a freezer that can hold two carboys that would help out a lot. I know there is a post for freezer sizing for kegs, but I have not seen an equivalent for carboys. If I could get a decently priced chest freezer for two carboys that would be an ideal setup.

For anyone interested:

The freezer I ordered (Model #:FCM7SUWW) to use as a fermentation chamber a couple of weeks ago was delivered today. I am happy to say that it does indeed fit two 6.5 gallon glass carboys, but JUST BARELY. There is a rectangular protrusion in the bottom corner of the freezer to make space for the compressor. It is definitely a tight squeeze in the horizontal direction with less than a millimeter to spare. My "brew haulers" made this a bit more difficult, but both fermenters are situated nicely now.

I also got the Ranco temperature controller.

Total cost for the chest freezer and temp controller was approximately $300 delivered.

Definitely happy with the purchase so far. :D
 
sounds like a good way to go. i live in central cali, so we see over 100 pretty frequently in the summer. as a pilot, i am often gone for a few days at a time and couldnt rely on anything that i would have to pay attention to. went the same way as many and it seems to be working great

used refrigerator - $25
climate control unit - $60

couldnt be happier! good luck with your setup!
 
WOW! I just encountered this thread and happen to have gotten a chest freezer FOR FREE, from someone who was using it to cool water. It has 2 holes in it that a tube ran through for the previous setup. After filling the holes with spray foam insulation, and then drilling some sheet metal to the outside (to make it less ugly) it seems to be holding freezing temperatures pretty well! (It keeps my food frozen!) Now I am moving on to the temp control. I was happy to find information about the temp control unit, as everyone I know had told me it existed but not where to find one! I'm gonna order one online asap.
And all this from a 5 foot tall girl brewer!!!!
Ill keep everyone posted on how it works out, and how the Kiwit I'm brewing tomorrow works out!
 
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