swamp cooler question

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Riddick

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Im doing my second batch, a chimay red clone, and its bloody hot in my apt. so before i did anything i got a bucket, doing teh swamp cooler method. definately is working as the temperature is a nice 68ish and the blowoff is bubbling nicely. my question tho is how do you regulate the water temperature? i have 16oz, 32oz and 2liter bottles of ice in my freezer, it seems to make the temperature fluctuate. how do you know what temperature to add the bottles to? not sure if im making any sense while asking this...
 
the water temp will fluctuate a bit, that's ok, it's not a perfect solution but it's way better than nothing.
 
does fluctuation matter with the fermenter temperature tho? if it varies between 66-70(with slight dips up/down from there) does that affect anything in regards to the beer?
 
I don't think a 4 degree fluctuation is going to make a big difference. I keep mine in an air conditioned closet and it ranges 62-68 ambient temperature, depending on the outside temps. I've not noticed any "off" flavors in my beers. The biggest concern, IMO, is keeping it from getting too high.
 
Don't bother regulating the temperature for a Chimay clone. Let the temperature rise. You might want to get an aquarium heater to try and push the water temp up to 80 F.

Not sure what yeast you are using, I'm assuming it is a Belgian strain, which like it hot. If it's harvested Chimay, they apparently let it rise up to the low 80s
 
My 2-gallon third batch is sitting in a pan of water with a black t-shirt clamped around the outside, wicking up water. Room temp is 71 or so, carboy temp is 65-66 consistently. Last batch was somewhat disappointing in flavor, and I wondered if it was off-flavors from yeast at a higher temp (upwards of 74) using Safale 04 both times. Two more weeks in the primary and three in the bottles and I guess I'll find out.
 
Last batch was somewhat disappointing in flavor, and I wondered if it was off-flavors from yeast at a higher temp (upwards of 74) using Safale 04 both times.

Yep, that will give you strange flavors, and some higher alcohols (fusels).
 
What if you don't use the fan vs using the fan... I have a dampfbier in primary now going around 72/73. Thats ok for that style but I need to drop at least 5 degree for the next one. I can get a tub but not sure if I can afford a fan...
 
What if you don't use the fan vs using the fan... I have a dampfbier in primary now going around 72/73. Thats ok for that style but I need to drop at least 5 degree for the next one. I can get a tub but not sure if I can afford a fan...


It depends upon the welt bulb temperature for your location. Basically, wet bulb is the temperature of the water in the air. It changes seasonally, but usually remains consistent day to day. A swamp cooler will get you wet bulb + 3 to 10 deg. depending on the efficiency of your system.

You can get a small fan quite cheap at the Walmart. It doesn't take much.
 
OP, are you really using a swamp cooler or just a tub of water?

hmmmm, im guessing a tub of water then. didnt know there was a difference? completely new to this, a few friends of mine that used to brew told me about this method, they called it swamp cooler method or whatnot. what would be the difference?
 
arturo7 said:
It depends upon the welt bulb temperature for your location. Basically, wet bulb is the temperature of the water in the air. It changes seasonally, but usually remains consistent day to day. A swamp cooler will get you wet bulb + 3 to 10 deg. depending on the efficiency of your system.

You can get a small fan quite cheap at the Walmart. It doesn't take much.

That is crazy talk. I guess I have some reading to do. My last beer I fit my carboy into my cooler and just added water and ice bottles. That worked pretty well but I don't want to use the cooler again. Fan... My car broke down I might not even be brewing now...
 
What if you don't use the fan vs using the fan... I have a dampfbier in primary now going around 72/73. Thats ok for that style but I need to drop at least 5 degree for the next one. I can get a tub but not sure if I can afford a fan...

You can get a perfectly adequate fan for under $20 online. You don't need a huge amount of air blowing past your t-shirt; in fact, that's counterproductive since it makes the water evaporate faster and the shirt dries out. You just want a little air moving across the shirt to encourage evaporative cooling. In fact, I used an oscillating fan aimed just above the fermenter. That got the air stirred up enough to get that shirt really cold against the bucket. If you can toss in a couple of ice bottles to drop the water temp it's OK, but not necessary (unless it's really hot in your house).

A wet t-shirt and a fan kept a couple of my batches in the mid-60's through a summer.

Also - and this is really important - don't use a new t-shirt. They have some kind of stain guard or treatment that inhibits the water wicking up the fermenter. Use an old, well-washed shirt.
 
I am aware how much fans cost. I don't have an extra 20 bucks this week. I might not even be brewing but if I am I certainly won't be getting the fan. I am wondering if I can drop the temp 4 degree with just the water and frozen water bottles? Hopefully by the batch after that I can find a fan...
 
I am aware how much fans cost. I don't have an extra 20 bucks this week. I might not even be brewing but if I am I certainly won't be getting the fan. I am wondering if I can drop the temp 4 degree with just the water and frozen water bottles? Hopefully by the batch after that I can find a fan...

You don't need a fan for evaporative cooling to work. It just allows cooler temps on hot days. But you do need the wet t-shirt.
 
hmmmm, im guessing a tub of water then. didnt know there was a difference? completely new to this, a few friends of mine that used to brew told me about this method, they called it swamp cooler method or whatnot. what would be the difference?

Swamp cooler = evaporative cooling.
 
arturo7 said:
You don't need a fan for evaporative cooling to work. It just allows cooler temps on hot days. But you do need the wet t-shirt.

Thanks will try this.
 
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