Another mother of fermentation chamber

Today I tested a cooler that I made close to the mother of fermentation, available online. It worked well - I put three 1/2 gal milk jugs with ice in the evening, and filled a 6.5 gal carboy with the tap water at about 75 degrees. The fan kicked in immediately, and worked all night. In the morning the water was 57 degrees. (Well, actually I use centigrade, so it was from 24 to 14.) Then the fan started turning on and off. The only bad thing is that the milk jugs developed cracks and leaked, so I'll probably go with the blue elements.

I did make a few changes in my design. First, I did not want a removable top. Instead of hinges I use metal square tubes and bolts. I also added a 12v light and a viewing hole in the front door, so I can see the bubbles without opening the door Here are some pictures:

Here are some more pictures of my cooler.

a peephole!?

what an ingenious idea. I never would have thought of that.

How many carboys can you fit?

That peephole is pure win, in my opinion. Your ferm chamber looks really nice.

I gotta get back into this obsession!

I love the peephole! I was thinking of doing something like that to my fermentation chamber, but never really got around to it.

What did you use exactly?

This is really nice, but I have a SOFC and switching the ice is a real bother especially if you travel. It never fails that I let the ice completely melt at some point and let the internal temperature rise too high. I can't see how these ice-based chillers are worth it compared to just getting a small chest freezer and using that.

This is the first time I've really looked at this type of fermentation chamber so forgive my dumb question. Does the ice go in the bins at the bottom? Does the air just circulate through the inside of the chamber or is it drawing in outside air as well?

By the way, real nice job, it reminds me of the ice boxes from back in the day!

Hatchbrew said:

How many carboys can you fit?

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Two. I have only one so far, but am thinking of getting a second one.

DrDarwin said:

I love the peephole! [...] What did you use exactly?

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I bought it at Home Depot. Sold normally for 14.27, it was on sale for 3.50, could not pass the deal. I don't see the brass finish online, it might be discontinued, but the satin-nickel is available (SKU # 553012). It is called Defender Security 1 in. Big Eye Door Viewer. The only minor problem with this viewer is that it is designed for 2" doors, and I have 2" insulation plus another 1/2 inch of plywood. Luckily, my insulation is a sandwich of two 3/4" pink sheets, and a 1/2" sheet covered with foil. I just cut out a 2x2 square of the 1/2" layer around the hole, and plastered with a foil tape. Works for me!

BetterSense said:

I can't see how these ice-based chillers are worth it compared to just getting a small chest freezer and using that.

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First, it is a fun to build. Second, you get exactly what you need in terms of size, color, you name it. Third, it is nearly silent. And consumes only a fraction of electricity in comparison with a freezer. Finally, it fits in any room much better than any appliance - in fact, this chiller is more of a furniture I also considered a chest at first, then a broken fridge as a chiller, but at the end decided on this MOFC. I still need to test it in real settings though. Will let everybody know after my first fermentation. This Wednesday I will be brewing a clone of Northcastle Brown Ale.

LarryC said:

Does the ice go in the bins at the bottom? Does the air just circulate through the inside of the chamber or is it drawing in outside air as well?

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Yes, the ice goes in the bins. This area has its own door, so no need to open the upper door and letting lots of warm air in in order to put fresh ice. Most of the time the air circulates inside. I tried to make both doors as airtight as possible, but there might be some leaking, it is hard to tell. And of course, certain amount of fresh air gets in every time you change the ice.

for the ice jugs try 1 gallon windshield washer fluid jugs. there alot thicker then gallon milk jugs, they work great in my chiller

Looks like something you would grow pot in! lol..

Hoodweisen said:

Looks like something you would grow pot in! lol..

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I think pot had its part in this somewhere.

Beautiful work!

congrats on getting your temps under control!

Hoodweisen said:

Looks like something you would grow pot in! lol..

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If you can make beer in it, why would you need anything else?

Hang Glider said:

Beautiful work!

congrats on getting your temps under control!

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Thank you! Cannot way to see the chiller in action.

This is awesome.

But, ice based?

That's like restoring a classic car, but not putting in an engine, and instead strapping it to a horse.

badmajon said:

This is awesome.

But, ice based?

That's like restoring a classic car, but not putting in an engine, and instead strapping it to a horse.

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Well, since I already have a fridge in the kitchen and can get all the ice I need for free, this setup is better to compare with a classic car which does not have an engine, and is pulled around by your daily driver

bredstein said:

Well, since I already have a fridge in the kitchen and can get all the ice I need for free, this setup is better to compare with a classic car which does not have an engine, and is pulled around by your daily driver

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I built one of these a couple months ago and it worked GREAT for me!!! Once it got down to temp, i was only changing ice jugs every 2 or 3 days... I keep this in my basement and now that winter is approaching... I was considering changing up the wiring (I have it on an analogue Johnson Controls temp controller) and plugging in an electric heating pad in place of my 120v circ fan. So if my basement is 55 degrees (Michigan), I can maintain warmer temps...

Nice work... I don't have the wood on mine, just the foam box. I may cover it eventually though.

One other thing I did, you may want to consider, is I have a trey of desiccant in the chamber just before the fan... to keep things nice and dry.

Happy fermenting bro!

dannedry said:

I was considering changing up the wiring (I have it on an analogue Johnson Controls temp controller) and plugging in an electric heating pad in place of my 120v circ fan. So if my basement is 55 degrees (Michigan), I can maintain warmer temps...

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I wish I had a 55 degrees basement. Well, I wish I had any basement! Here in Texas you don't have anything deeper than a slab At the same time I am finishing school, and may land in some colder state soon, so I added an extra 12v line just in case. If I need it later, I'll hook it to the "heat" connector of the thermostat and use a small light bulb instead of ice.

dannedry said:

One other thing I did, you may want to consider, is I have a trey of desiccant in the chamber just before the fan... to keep things nice and dry.

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Thanks for advice. Yes, I noticed moisture on the jugs, hopefully some silica will take care of that.

Here are some numbers. The carboy with 5.25 gallons of beer cooled down from 77 to 67 degrees in 15 hours. I had a little more than a gallon of ice in 8 small food containers, and at the beginning they melted relatively fast, in about 10 hours. At 67 degrees they last 14 hours. The best part is that the fan kicks in every 2.5 hours for 8-10 minutes. I am glad with my insulation job!

I am really surprised by the efficiency of this cooler. Friday afternoon I put 1.5 gallons of fresh ice, set the thermostat at 77 degrees, and left for Houston. Two days later (48 hours) I came back, and expected to see all the ice melted and the fan running with the temperature in the high 80s. However, the fan was not spinning, and it was 72 degrees inside! The ice melted though which is normal. I'll see how long it will take until the temperature will start going up.

This is a really old post, but hopefully someone who has built this can help me with one thing. Whats the best method for passing wires through the foamboard and then closing it back up so there are no leaks?

I drilled as small of a hole as possible, ran my wires, and then filled the rest of the hole with silicone caulk.

Worked for me.

jglazer said:

This is a really old post, but hopefully someone who has built this can help me with one thing. Whats the best method for passing wires through the foamboard and then closing it back up so there are no leaks?

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Ok so once they are in place there's no removing them. Got it. I wasn't sure if people had a technique that enabled you to add/remove wires as needed.

Thanks!