Coolship pictures and ideas

[Hop_Hero]

Im interested in doing an actual lambic using a coolship and wild yeast. What works best for a 5 gal batch? I was thinking maybe a plastic container used for storing clothes under a bed. I need examples, pictures, and advice!


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[statseeker]

I was thinking the exact same thing for a coolship. It would probably be a pain to get all the beer into your carboy. But worth a try.

 

[JoppaFarms]

Personally, I would want to make sure that whatever vessel I used was food grade plastic, if not stainless steel. Putting hot (~150F) liquid in it to cool may leech some nasties from non-food grade material. Probably not leech as much as if you were to put near-boiling liquid in it, but why take the chance. Will it kill you? No. Will it taint the flavor of the beer? Possibly (ever put tap water in a plastic bottle and left it in the car...know that plastic-y flavor?). Personal preference. I'd skip the Walmart Clothes tub $1.99 special if I were you .

As far as suggestions go, what are you boiling in? I use a 44 qt Bayou Classic that's pretty wide. Not the "ideal" coolship shape (shallow and wide) but it's stainless. You could potentially just use your BK and see how that works for you.

 

[dcHokie]

Check out this thread:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f127/coolship-build-367440/

 

[BryanThompson]

I would rather use food grade plastic than metal for a coolship. I think Allagash stated that slower cooling is better for inoculation. I would think that the plastic would insulate the beer a little better.

 

[statseeker]

The other option is to make a one gallon batch and put it in a Pyrex baking dish outside to innoculate, ferment it out, check flavor profile and if it's good then use that gallon to innoculate 4 more gallons in a few months. Easy method low risk.

 

[Oldsock]

I would rather use food grade plastic than metal for a coolship. I think Allagash stated that slower cooling is better for inoculation. I would think that the plastic would insulate the beer a little better.

There is some "ideal" cooling time, maybe ~18 hours from boiling to around 66F for pitching. That is supposed to provide the right amount of time for these microbes to become established. As a result with smaller batches the risk is higher that cooling will be quicker than ideal is higher than that it will be too slow, especially this time of year.

 

[metic]

There's some good info about cooling times in the Basic Brewing Radio interview with Jean van Roy from Cantillon (direct link to mp3). He says that one concern for homebrewers is that their smaller volume of wort will cool down much more quickly, especially if spread out in a wide coolship, compared to the significantly larger volumes at a brewery like Cantillon, and that this will make a difference to what inoculates/ferments the wort.

 

[WissaBrewGuy]

I'm not sure if any of you watched that Brew Dogs show but they built a coolship from a wood barrel which they cut in half. Wood is a good insulator and with a angle grinder or similar tool it wouldn't be too hard to make.

 

[Oldsock]

I'm not sure if any of you watched that Brew Dogs show but they built a coolship from a wood barrel which they cut in half. Wood is a good insulator and with a angle grinder or similar tool it wouldn't be too hard to make.

The issue is wood can harbor mold, Acetobacter, and other unwanted microbes. Simply filling with hot wort may not be enough to kill the microbes down in the wood (for better or worse).

 

[WissaBrewGuy]

The issue is wood can harbor mold, Acetobacter, and other unwanted microbes. Simply filling with hot wort may not be enough to kill the microbes down in the wood (for better or worse).

Absolutely, I guess if I were building a coolship I would want to culture certain yeasts and the wood might help but if you are not trying to do that then wood is off limits.

 

[dwntwnbwn]

How about a food grade plastic tote bin?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000...ent from my XT1060 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[satph]

A 6" Deep, Full Size Stainless Steel Steam Table / Hotel Pan $30 delivered might work.

Earlier in that brew dogs episode they show Anchor's actual coolship, it kind of looks like a massive hotel pan.

You could put a heating pad under it to slow cooling.
You could add a valve to drain into your fermenter.

 

[dcHokie]

Going a bit down the rabbit hole here, but something else to consider beyond cooling time:

Most breweries that use coolships are also transferring wort to already inoculated barrels/foeders. Once you've got your coolship concept dialed in you may want to add some well-boiled, microbe-laden oak cubes (or cubes and dregs) to your fermenter.

 

[dwntwnbwn]

A 6" Deep, Full Size Stainless Steel Steam Table / Hotel Pan $30 delivered might work.

Awesome, didn't know that, thank you for the link.

 

[J343MY]

Here is mine. I used it for the first time last fall. I'm hoping to use it a few times this coming spring.

 

[ChugachBrewing]

Nice looking coolship there. I swear ive seen that design somewhere...

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[tugbucket]

http://www.centralrestaurant.com/Food-Storage-Box---Full-Size-8-1-2-c84p7395.html

Doing the math it will hold ~6 gallons at 3" deep. Should be pretty good surface area. The clear ones say they are good to 212 degrees.

 

[Hop_Hero]

I like the keg cut in half. Maybe I could get someone to go in on one with me.

Thanks for all the ideas. I do want to get a 6 gallon oak barrel to use as my funk barrel. I was thinking of doing a cool ship at my house but also saving dregs from some commercial sours and pithing the dregs along with the wort from my house


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[Schemy]

Here is mine. I used it for the first time last fall. I'm hoping to use it a few times this coming spring.

What is your method for draining/transfer out of this? Thinking of having a buddy of mine build me one, but not sure to go keg or fabricated rectangle route.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I'm actually planning on building one out of a keg this weekend. Instead of cutting exaclty in half as seen, I am going to cut just a portion off the side in order to hold 10 gallons. I will install a weldless ball-valve to drain via gravity into fermenters. Still trying to determine how to insulate it so that I can get an ideal cooling time.

 

[J343MY]

What is your method for draining/transfer out of this? Thinking of having a buddy of mine build me one, but not sure to go keg or fabricated rectangle route.

Weld-less bulkhead fitting with a ball valve.

 

[dcHokie]

I'm actually planning on building one out of a keg this weekend. Instead of cutting exaclty in half as seen, I am going to cut just a portion off the side in order to hold 10 gallons. I will install a weldless ball-valve to drain via gravity into fermenters. Still trying to determine how to insulate it so that I can get an ideal cooling time.

On a homebrewing scale, I wonder if open air cooling in a keggle would be just as good as a horizontal keg-coolship, given the volume/cooling time/surface area is fairly comparable.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

On a homebrewing scale, I wonder if open air cooling in a keggle would be just as good as a horizontal keg-coolship, given the volume/cooling time/surface area is fairly comparable.

You make a really good point there!! I hadn't even thought of that. I would bet dollars to donuts that the cooling time would be practically identical. The only difference being the open surface area to capture the wild yeast I would think...

 

[ChugachBrewing]

Even a 5 gallon bucket can do the trick if need be, although I like my cut in half keg for asthetics. If you're just looking to collect yeast, you can also just use mason jars to start out in small increments. That way you're not burning 5 gallons at a time, plus all the effort to store. Again, it gets back to the problem with cooling too fast - however you could insulate the container as well. I've had success with all three, thus far. Still aging at this point.

 

[Schemy]

Weld-less bulkhead fitting with a ball valve.

Where is that mounted on the keg/

 

[J343MY]

Where is that mounted on the keg/

Here is a photo that shows it a bit better.

 

[highgravitybacon]

I would rather use food grade plastic than metal for a coolship. I think Allagash stated that slower cooling is better for inoculation. I would think that the plastic would insulate the beer a little better.

5 gallon home batch vs 2,000 gallon commercial batch. Not a comparsision.

 

[TychoBrahe]

Are you guys also pitching yeast into these beers? Or only using the yeast captured during the cooling phase?