Swamp Cooling Questions

Hello Everyone

I am brewing my first batch since about 20 years ago. I made only one batch back then but nonetheless, I am back.

I am brewing an IPA that asks for 60-72f temperature during fermentation.
I am looking at getting a swamp cooler going with a large laundry basket- but wouldnt a thicker container such as a heavy duty (brand new) garbage can be a better option? I can pretty much sink the entire glass carboy in enough water and have a nice area to add bottles of ice as needed.

I might be getting the help from the kids (5,8,11) in reading temperature during the day and adding bottles removing bottles as needed.


Should I go with this large can idea? It might piss the wife off because its so big but heh it will be in my room and well hidden.

After the primary fermentation, I am going into a secondary. While I read it may not be as important to keep the same temperature as consistent as with the initial fermentation stage (1 week), I am sure it wont hurt.

Would keeping the carboy in its secondary fermentation stage in the swamp cooler make a better beer if I can maintain lets say- 67f the entire way through? (from primary and secondary)

Thanks for the noobish questions. I look forward to joining this awesome community.

Cheers

Mike

I have a 50 qt shelf tote that works great, like $15-$20. The more water you have in it the harder it will be to keep it cool so I wouldnt use a large can. Mine is about 3/4 the height of my 6.5 gal carboy and has handles which make moving my carboy a lot easier.

yes to all your questions. the thicker option should hold temp longer in theory. and yeast will still be active in secondary, just at A LOT slower pace. if its poss temp control every stage of the process. including the starter.

By bigger don't necessarily go too deep, especially with a Carboy, you want to be able to easily raise it and lower it into the vessel without injury!

Too much water will take too long to cool down or warm up, you really want just enough water around it to hole the ice jugs.

Also, keep in mind the yeast you use with your temperatures, some prefer to free rise as active fermentation slows down to stay in suspension and not just drop out too quickly.

I haven't found much difference between thicker or thinner plastic. What works well for me is a 10 gal rubber/vinyl tub with 3 or 4 gal of water and just enough space around the sides to fit a couple 20 oz frozen bottles or ice packs. What is very important is to throw an old comforter or sleeping bag around your cooler. Once you're down to temp, you'll go from using 3 bottles twice a day with no insulation to one or two bottles a day to maintain a 65 degree temp in an 85 degree room. It's amazing what some insulation does... oh, and the water only needs to be halfway up the carboy or bucket... the insulation will make a nice cool space all around your fermenter.

By "thicker container" I assume (in spite of myself) that you're not talking about the thickness of he walls of the container, but the volume of the container itself...?

You're obviously able to put more water in the bigger container, but that's both good and bad, depending. The more water you have, the longer it will take to bring the temp down, so if you're putting in a new batch, we're only able to chill down to 74 deg, for example, and need to ferm closer to 66 deg, it'll be quicker work for you and the ice/frozen water bottles to get to temp with 6 gals in your swamp cooler instead of 10.

Once your temp has stabilized, however, a high volume can be your friend, since more water will "insulate" better than less water. Insulate is the wrong word here, but hopefully you get the idea. You'll be better buffered from quick temp swings if there's more water absorbing the heat/cold.

I use one of these and love it. It takes about 12 hours to get your temperature from 75 to 65 (depending on your room temp) then you only need to swap out 1 or 2 jugs of frozen water or ice packs.
I love it.
https://www.cool-brewing.com/
Not as messy as a swamp cooler.

I bought a 27gal heavy duty storage bin at HD for $10 and put the old valve from my 10gal MLT through the side near the top. My ground water is 64 F (been In the 90s here in the twin cities the past week) and the basement is 75 Faucet just barely cracked for very, very slow trickle, outflow at the top through the push valve (a zip tie works great to hold the button down). Outflow goes Into the washing machine (or a bucket when the washer is running). Maintains 68 with very low flow and I don't have to mess with bottles of ice.

I have a small cooler that fits my 2 gallon fermenter perfectly i fill it over half with water and rotate some 3-4 20 oz frozen drink bottles a few(3) times a day,when doing a lager. I only did 1 lager so far but it worked perfect and was one of my favorate homebrews.