Fermentation Chamber and Keezer

[thejuanald]

So I decided to try kegging. I have my fermentation chamber in my apartment and can't get another chest freezer. I was wondering if it would be feasible to use my fermentation chamber do double duty as a kegerator with just a picnic tap. My main concern is if it would be bad for the beer in the keg to bring it up to 60F while I'm fermenting another batch of beer?

 

[Roadliner]

Could add a second temp controller for the fermenting vessel.. use a heat wrap and use that to maintain the ferment at a higher temperature than the drinking beer.

?

 

[thejuanald]

Yeah maybe I could do that

 

[muels]

From what I've read and heard in podcasts temp fluctuation is less of an issue. It shouldn't hurt to let it warm up, Co2 will come out of solution when it warms up though so you will have to let come back to equilibrium when you decrease the temp again and let it "recarb". The longer it is cold the longer the shelf life too. But unless you plan on changing the temp all the time and not finishing it within a year you shouldn't have issues.


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[richlong8020]

Could add a second temp controller for the fermenting vessel.. use a heat wrap and use that to maintain the ferment at a higher temperature than the drinking beer.



?

I like this idea. As long as the temp probe for the cooling aspect was as far from the heat element as possible. Even better yet place the chilling probe into a bucket of water and you would be great.

 

[PrinceOfThePoint]

I do this all the time. It's fine. You'll just have a not-very-cold keg, and CO2 will come out as it warms up, but the beer's flavor won't be adversely affected.

 

[thejuanald]

great, thanks for the info. I may just start doing this soon and then eventually get another temp controller. If I ferment for like a week with temp control and then move the carboy out of the fermentation chamber, that should be fine, right?

 

[Roadliner]

depends on what stage the fermentation is in. For best results, you're going to want to maintain the temperature control for the entire time the yeast is doing it's work. Once it's done fermenting it would be fine.

 

[thejuanald]

My understanding is that accurate temp control is most important in the first 5 or so days (give or take a few days for each particular yeast) during initial fermentation. Once it's reached FG and is doing cleanup, the temperature isn't as important.

 

[muels]

My understanding is that accurate temp control is most important in the first 5 or so days (give or take a few days for each particular yeast) during initial fermentation. Once it's reached FG and is doing cleanup, the temperature isn't as important.

^this

Mine get rotated out of the fridge after about 7 days so the next batch can go in. They then sit in the house at around 70-72. The heat from all the work the yeast are doing is released while they are highly active. That's why ferm temp control is critical, it's difficult to keep optimal temp in the fermentor when most people keep their house around 70. With active yeast it can be as much as 5-10 degrees warmer in the fermentor.


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[thejuanald]

Awesome, thanks! I could just fill a growler or two from the keg before I start fermentation and just leave the keg in and let it sit at the fermentation temp of the carboy for a week before moving it to a closet or somewhere else. Hopefully we will be able to buy a house soon and get out of apartment living so I can finally just get a second chest freezer.

 

[Smellyglove]

My understanding is that accurate temp control is most important in the first 5 or so days (give or take a few days for each particular yeast) during initial fermentation. Once it's reached FG and is doing cleanup, the temperature isn't as important.

It's most important during those five days, but imho the rest of the run is important too. You don't wan't the temp to drop after this, unless you really know what you're doing. I've been through several setups, from the fermenting in a closet with a heat source to taking beers out of the ferm fridge to free up space after primary fermentation to just keep it there for at least two weeks. You'll certainly see pro brewers pulling the beer from ferm temp earlier than a homebrewer, but they know what they are doing and they got the stuff to do so.

But, my beers have gotten a whole lot better if left within a temperature-controlled environment for the full two weeks (or whatever it takes), comparing to pulling them out early.

Not a single "huh, this tastes kinda weird, and why is the FG some points higher than I expected?" after i started to be able to do the whole run with temperature control.