Intro and DIY help requested...

Hi all:

I believe this is my first post so an intro is in order, mike from Norcal here. Long time brewer but still consider myself a bit of a newby because I don't brew that often. (Sorry been lurkin' way too long).

I built the attached brew stand quite a few years from parts that fell off of trucks and landed in my driveway. So consequently I have very little actual $$$ into building my system.

The design was copied from b3's gravity sculptures a few years back, I added a SS recirc loop from RIMS inside the HLT. All of the lines are hard-piped SS which is nice and a pain in the ass at the same time. Knowing what I know now - I'd change a few things, maybe go single tier but it works.

On to my question...

I got a hold of a 12 gallon SS tank that I made into my fermenter. I cut a top out of 3/8 in. acrylic to act as a lid and I use small spring clamps to hold it down during ferment to keep the gak out. It has worked fine up till now.

In an effort to improve my beers beyond druckin frat party bathtub ale... I want to control my fermentation temps. Previously I would only brew during the spring and fall with an occasional summer/winter brew for fun. My last brew (which had been aging a while in the kegs) turned-out out like buzzard puke and I had to toss it rather then subject myself to any further embarrassment. No to mention the crying heartache of wasting $ and time on that batch. I think I have the culprits identified - lax sanitation and WAY TOO HOT FERMENTATION/CONDITIONING.

So I plan to build a small fermentation cabinet in the garage using a 5k Haier air conditioner. To that end I need a better way to seal my fermenter than spring clamps (Until the day I get a nice SS conical - come-on Lotto).

Crap - I can't post photos due to my low post count.

Let me describe my fermenter in words - its about 15" in dia and about 2' tall. It was previously used to mix photo chems so it adds a bit of unique character to my brews. It has a flat rim at the top that rolls-under that I put a gasket on then the acrylic lid. I stuff an airlock in a hole in the lid and then clamp it down with small spring clamps around the perimeter (about 8 in so). This works fine for previous stink brews but I want to take it up a notch and fab something better. In addition, I want to be able to roll the fermenter into my future temp controlled fermenting cabinet and all of those spring clamps around the perimeter would be getting in the way and getting knocked off in the process of putting into the smallish cabinet I envision.

If anyone has any ideas for a better lid clamp I'd be grateful - understand if no one has any ideas BASED ON NO PHOTOS...

Finally thanks to everyone for all the informative posts and DYI here on the board - even lurking I've learned allot and have been humbled by the ingenuity found on these pages.

I guess I can post non-sense until my post count goes up high enough - unless someone can help me out here otherwise.

Thanks and (here's to you...sip).

mike

MODS: Can you move this to the appropriate forum - DYI? (jeez, I need to stop drinking at work).

First off, Welcome!

Guess I'm not sure what size chamber you're thinking about building, but a 5k air conditioner should be able to freeze a chamber the size of your fermenter in about 27.3 seconds

That's a lot of cold in a little bitty space.

As for holding your lid down, a few ideas come to mind...
Material holding clamps for a drill press or mill. (I don't have a pic, so I'll describe them ) I don't know what they are called, but they screw down to a table and have a lever to clamp down on stuff. Think 1/2 of a vice grip pliers...

Or - Take some surgical tubing, tie the ends to make a loop smaller than your fermenter is tall, and set the fermenter on them. Then just stretch them over the lid. Think big azz rubber bands holding a playing card on top of a beer can!

Or - If you're lucky and the diameter of your fermenter matches a large Tri-Clover clamp, you could maybe persuade one of those to work for you.

Or - If your lid is the exact same diameter as your fermenter, you could use electrical tape to seal it.

Hmm... I'm running out of ideas...

Cinder block? Dead weight always works!

If your fermenter has a lip, you could drill through the fermenter and the lid and use machine screws and wing nuts?

REALLY big binder clips (No, seriously, could work )

You could make a caster board - Since you talked about moving it while it's full - Cut a circle of plywood that's about an inch larger then the fermenter all the way around. Screw some wheels to it to make it easy to move, and put a bunch of eye bolts in the top side around the edge. Then you could use bungie cords to strap the whole thing down to the caster board.

Can't think of anything else right now.

A spare fridge and an external thermostat works great for primary fermentation, and they can be found cheap or free on craigslist. Post a link to your pics and we can make them appear. Once you have 25 posts your photo links will work on their own.
I wouldn't worry as much about the lid as the temp. Many of the worlds greatest beers are fermented in open tanks. Have you thoroughly cleaned this photo chemical tank? Photo chems are nasty stuff, I used to work with them a lot.

OK here's a link to some photos I posted on Photobucket, can someone reply back if they work?

http://s878.photobucket.com/albums/ab348/mikeatfhc/Brewing/

This should give you guys a better idea of what I am working with as far as the fermenter goes. And just for fun I threw-in some photos of my outdoor kitchen and bar.

SweetSounds - great ideas... I really like your idea of drilling through the lip and using through bolts and wing nuts - that wouldn't be too hard to do. As the lip of tank rolls under I would just need to figure out a way to get say a flat nut or bolt head to conform to the curve (say a small piece of pipe 1/2 in. long with a hole through it maybe). Have to think this thru a bit. I've looked all over for a tank band clamp or a tri-clover that would fit and haven't found anything yet anywhere.

As you can (hopefully) see from the photos the tank has three wheels already so no need to build a moving dolly. (ten gallons of beer in this tank with only one handle makes lifting this a two-man job).

bendavanza - thanks for the tips, I just bought a 5k Air conditioner off CL yesterday that works great for $40 so I am going to go with that and I already have a Ranco single stage for controlling the A/C, further I really want to avoid lifting the fermenter so what I want to do is be able to roll this thing into the future cold box.

My ever-changing current plan is to now put the cold box outside in a section of my shed - this way I can make it bigger and combine fermenting with conditioning. I have an area that I built for storing firewood that shares the same roof as my shed that I can take some of that room and make an (uh-oh) outdoor cold box. As I live near the Sacramento Valley in Norcal we can expect 105 in the summer so it'll have to very well insulated, without doing the math as yet I think I can make this work.

In addition, I live in a very small house that has no freaking closets I can use, no floor space and no room the garage at all - I have to go out to the shed. In fact nearly all of brewing gear is outside. I'd love to build a dedicated brewing shed but that ain't gonna happen so I gotta do with what I got.

The collective wisdom of the board is encouraged to critique, shoot holes in plans and add their thoughts. thanks guys.

Picture link works. Nice backyard by the way.

Welcome to the board. You are right down the road from me. It does get hot here! I like the wheels idea for the fermentor. FYI, we are getting another LHBS in Downtown Sac and one in Woodland. There are a lot of Ferm-chamber builds on here. Definately post your pix as you build it.

I'd go with the cold room outside then, you may want to read this thread by John Beere https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-latest-project-walk-cooler-11440/