A simple cooling technique, effective?

CornyKegs 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
M

mew

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2006
Messages
851
Reaction score
10
So I've been looking for some simple way to control fermentation temperatures. I say simple because I don't want to spend all that much cash.

One simple technique I've seen people use is to put the fermenter in one of those round buckets usually used for cleaning supplies, fill it with water, and then add frozen water bottles to lower temps.

My questions are: does that technique effectively control temps? can it cool to 65 F on a 80 F day? are the other simple techniques that I should look into?

Thanks for any replies, I appreciate it!
 
It will work. Another option is to get a heavy carboard box a bit larger than your fermenter and some cheap insulation. Line the box and add a couple containers of ice. I had no problem cooling down to a decent temperature on 80 degree days in my garage last summer.
 
I've had great sucess with my Yooper Lagerator (see the pics in my gallery), basically a 5 day cooler with a lid I made out of styrofoam so only the airlock peaks out. It works great in the winter for making lagers, and for keeping ales in the low 60s in the summer. I use cool water, and ice bottles to get the temp where it needs to be. I use a floating thermometer in the ice bath to monitor the temp. Not only does it keep it cool, it keeps the temps from fluctuating too. My beers are much improved since I added this simple temperature control to my summer brewing.
 
There's a ghetto cooler in my signature line that works really well too, provided you have access to an A/C vent on the floor or at the baseboard level on a wall.
 
YooperBrew said:
I've had great sucess with my Yooper Lagerator (see the pics in my gallery), basically a 5 day cooler with a lid I made out of styrofoam so only the airlock peaks out. It works great in the winter for making lagers, and for keeping ales in the low 60s in the summer. I use cool water, and ice bottles to get the temp where it needs to be. I use a floating thermometer in the ice bath to monitor the temp. Not only does it keep it cool, it keeps the temps from fluctuating too. My beers are much improved since I added this simple temperature control to my summer brewing.
Click to expand...

That's pretty slick. I'll have to keep that in mind come summer time. I've been trying to plan ahead for a way to keep temps down during the hell months of summer and that seems to be one of the cheapest options since I already have that style of cooler laying around.

Thanks:ban:
 
Hey thanks for the ideas. Yooper, your lagerator looks pretty cool. I've got an ice cube for my mash tun! I'm debating between something like YooperBrew suggested or the more high-tech son of fermentation chiller. I guess it comes down to $$$. Thanks!
 

Similar threads

A
Philly Sour fermenting?
Replies
5
Views
847
DuncB
D
Zippy123
Yeast starter for pressure lager (~68 F ferm)
Replies
10
Views
744
rallenhall
rallenhall
R
Question regarding hops and cooling wort
Replies
30
Views
2K
Broken Crow
Broken Crow
shoengine
Warming the beer
Replies
3
Views
483
shoengine
shoengine
yard_bird
Simple: Imperial Stout
2
Replies
43
Views
2K
yard_bird
yard_bird
Yakima 300

Latest posts

Back
Top