Coil for Fermentation Temperature Control

Hi all,

I was cruising the internet for a resolution to my fermentation temperature fluctuation issue and came across this gem:

http://www.ssbrewtech.com/products/ftss-temp-control-for-7-gallon-bucket-chronical



I thought... how hard can it be to build my own?

I was hoping you all could help with two questions I have:

1. Is there a reason why the cooling coil couldn't be made out of copper tubing?

2. What is the best method for coiling Stainless Steel tubing?

Thanks for your help!

MT

1. Copper is good for the wort in anything up until fermentation. After prolonged exposure to the wort, the copper is eaten away by the acidity and ends up in your beer...slowly poisoning you.

2. Winding as tightly as they have done requires specialized machines to make it as neat as that. SS is harder to bend than copper. You could coil some copper around a small object to get a small coil, but see #1.

Sorry to rain on your day. Stainless Brewing can create a ss coil about however you want, and they are quite reasonable considering the cost of the raw materials. I would give them a shot.

That tubing was probably "mandrel bent", if it is larger than 1/4 O D.

I think setting your fermenter inside of a larger vat with water in it and cooling the vat water with a copper coil would be at least as effective and probably less infection-prone than such a solution.

+1 on Stainless Brewing, reasonable prices and excellent quality.

The only issue I have with them is that they do not plan on selling the fermenter lid and coil by itself. You are forced to also buy their cooling unit also. Which would not work for me because I would like to build my own cooling unit.

FWIW, you could easily buy a bit of SS tubing and bend a cylindrical "chiller". From what I understand, a cylindrical "chiller" would be more effective because it would utilize convection currents to more evenly cool the fermenting wort.
Ex: The cooler wort would fall down the sides from the coil, forcing the warmer wort up the middle. This creates a donut shaped circular current keeping the liquid at a relatively even temperature.

P.S.
You want the coil not too much smaller than the diameter of the container for a more effective current.

I got my coil from FOXX, it's for a jockey box. I bent the ends with a bender and used swagelok bulkhead fittings and a beer washer to seal it through the lid. I use a neslab recirc chiller RTE-110 and I can hold lager primary and lagering temps even if the house is at 80f, sweats a lot but not a big deal. Do a search for blichmann cooled conical.

Can you post some pics of the coil with swagelock bulkhead fittings in your fermenter along with the beer washer ?
Can you disconnect the coil from the lid for cleaning?

Foam factory.com sells neoprene insulation in various sizes and thickness which you could wrap your fermenter in the prevent the sweating if you're so inclined.

It seems to me that the FTSS might employ a TC ferrule welded to the tubing with an O ring perhaps to seal against the lid, though is possible the seal could be on the outside with an O ring washer and nut sort of like the weld less Blichmann boilermakers use on the valves and the thermometers.

TD

thanks, i didnt even know about this had been planning on a ss brew bucket, this definetly a gem as you said.

It is a pretty cool idea. I haven't had the chance to pull all the parts together. If/when I get the chance to get to this project I will let you guys know how it performs and post some pictures!

Thanks to everyone for your input!

MT