First post, Temp control

[Teletrout]

Hi everyone. I just became a member so I thought it was time to post. Love the site and all of the great info on it.

I do have one question. I am curious on how you guys control fermentation temps for ales. I have read that if you keep your fermentation at room temp it can be up to 10 degrees higher inside the fermentor. So if I where fermenting at 68 air temp it could be as high 78 inside the fermentor and then drop bach to 68 after primary was finished? Is that temp swing going to cause off flavors even though the yeast are creating it?

I only ask this because I herd recently that temp control is almost as important as sanitation. Any insight or techniques would be appreciated.

Thanks, Jeff.

 

[Edcculus]

Welcome to HBT!!

There are many different ways. The cheapest way is the Son of a Fermentation Chamber. Its a 2 chamber foam box with a thermostat and computer fan. Add ice bottles to one side. The fan blows cold air to the side your beer is on. The thermostat can control the temp. The biggest advantage is that its cheap.

Others will rig up fridges and freezers. You can visit the equipment section to get an idea of what people have done.

Now, you are specifically asking about the actual temperature of the fermenting beer. For that you will probably need a stopper thermowell. The stopper fits a carboy and a tube goes into the beer. You thread the bulb of a digital temperature controller into the well. This way, your probe is reading the temperature of the beer, not the ambient air temperature. You can see all of this here

 

[WorryWort]

+1 on the above advice.

Though, I think there are cheaper ways.

Although you wont have percise control, it is possible to drop the temp of a carboy down a few degrees just by placing a tshirt over the carboy and pouring water on it (or wetting it before you put it on). As long as it remains damp you will be below the ambient temperature in the area because the evaporation gives sucks heat from the carboy. It's the same principle that makes you cold when you get out of the shower or pool.

I have a cellar for my ales, which is usually perfect even in summer. But if I'm concerned about the temp creeping up I will place the carboy in a cooler ($20) fill it a little over half with water, and drop in a bottle or two of frozen water - I keep several in my beer fridge. Old PET bottles or soda bottles work great. One advantage of this is that even without the ice the water will buffer the ambient temp so that swings in ambient temp will not affect the fermenting beer as much, or at all.

 

[ifishsum]

I have my fermenter bucket sitting in a large rubbermaid tub of cool water, with a wet t-shirt over it. Water wicks up and keeps the t-shirt damp. If necessary, I can put a couple of frozen water bottles into the water to help drop it a couple more degrees. As long as it's not 90 degrees in the house, I can keep it fermenting below 70 this way. A stick-on fermometer on the bucket will give you a real good idea of the temperature of the beer for about $3, just make sure it's above the level of water in the outer bath. They don't hold up to being submerged.

Temp control is very important - in my experience, anything above 70 during the lag and active phase (actual beer temp) can cause undesirable flavors. I shoot for 65, at least for the first 4-5 days of primary. After that it is not as critical.

Welcome to HBT!

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

You can use the wet t-shirt method, or son of fermentation chiller and both of those work great. However, I think the cost is definitely worth it to get a fridge and a temperature controller. Now it's just my opinion, but having a temp controller hooked up to a fridge or chest freezer makes for worry-free operation. And if you decide to do a lager, or crash cool, not a problem. Just dial in your temperature and RDWHAHB. Sure it's more money, but it's just about bulletproof and for me the peace of mind is well worth it.

If you want to go a slightly cheaper route, find a free or cheap mini-fridge and build a chamber out of plywood and insulation sheathing. I was given the fridge and had the plywood laying around. Just had to buy the insulation and some silicone caulking for the seams.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/new-fermentation-chamber-build-102846/

 

[springer]

The Son of a Fermentation Chamber works well but being the cheapest ? hardly . This set up cost me 4 $ the tubs were on clearance at Lowe's 2 bucks each. low 60°'s is easy to maintain.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

This thread has a ton of ideas, from lowly and cheap, to highly advanced.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/show-us-all-your-fermentation-closets-chambers-here-118479/

 

[conpewter]

I second having a freezer/fridge with a temp control. It does cost more (my whole setup was around $100) but I can attach my temp probe to the outside of the carboy with some bubble wrap, that gets me a temp reading withing 1/2 a degree of the wort temp or better. Then the temp controller turns the freezer on or off to keep the wort at whatever temp I want. Set and forget for 3 weeks.

 

[MBasile]

I went with the fridge route because the temps where I am are kind of high, and I had an empty mini fridge sitting in the garage. I got the johnsons analog temp controller for about $60 after taxes. Eventually I'll build a chamber to extend the size of the fridge, but for now thats my reason for not brewing multiple batches and having tons of beer sitting around.

 

[artyusmc]

The Son of a Fermentation Chamber works well but being the cheapest ? hardly . This set up cost me 4 $ the tubs were on clearance at Lowe's 2 bucks each. low 60°'s is easy to maintain.

springer
what are your tempatures at this way. I am doing a blond ale tomorrow then leaving for two weeks and i'am going this route so your advice is welcomed.
thanxs

 

[springer]

The Son of a Fermentation Chamber works well but being the cheapest ? hardly . This set up cost me 4 $ the tubs were on clearance at Lowe's 2 bucks each. low 60°'s is easy to maintain.

springer
what are your tempatures at this way. I am doing a blond ale tomorrow then leaving for two weeks and i'am going this route so your advice is welcomed.
thanxs

If you just have water in it the temp will eventually stabilize to the ambient air temp. I add frozen 1 liter water bottles to keep the temps in the 63° -68° range for most beers when the air temp is high . My basement the temps hover around 68° without the central air on . With it on the temps are in the low 60's and in winter high 80s as the wood stove is there. The water will take the heat away from the fermentor much more efficiently than air does.

 

[springer]

Also if you place a towel or t shirt over the fermentor and place a fan nearby it will cool a few degrees below the ambient air temps.

 

[Yooper]

I think that there are two things that can vastly improve the quality of your beer: temperature control and pitching the proper amount of healthy yeast.

I use an Igloo cooler, and I made a "new" lid out of foam for it. I cut a hole in the top for the airlock to poke out. I put water in it, and then a couple of frozen water bottles. I float a floating thermometer in the water, because the water is very close to the temperature inside the carboy.

I also use this sort of reverse in the winter- I use the same set up with an aquarium heater to warm the water to raise the fermentation temperature to the mid 60s (my house is COLD!)

There are pictures of this set up in my gallery, if you're interested. It was very cheap, and when I want to use it as a cooler, I take off the foam lid and put the original lid back on.

 

[Teletrout]

Thanks for all the great info. I think I am going to take the cheap route with a cooler, if I can find one big enough. Now all I need is a 10 gallon pot, propane burner, all grain setup..........

 

[WorryWort]

Brew Your Own: The How-To Homebrew Beer Magazine - Techniques - Controlling Fermentation Temperature: Techniques

Here is a great article I just found on the topic. This might help anyone else that stumbles on this thread.

 

[boredatwork]

I love how you can tell what season it is by the types of posts on HBT.

One comment about some of the fermentation coolers. It is my experience that passive coolers (ones not using refrigeration) have limitations. I was using something similar to a son of fermentation cooler. The air temperature was close to 90F and I was trying to get down to 64F. That was just not happening. I was refilling ice 4 times a day and it was still not able to keep temperatures consistently under 69F. But as soon as the air temperatures dropped to low 80's, and I raised the controller temperature to 70F, I have been able to keep the cooler at 69F with less than one ice refill per day.

My point is that while these methods are a very cost effective they do have limitations.

 

[Blender]

I always loved this idea. >> Another use for an Ice Cube Cooler (60 qt) - BrewBoard

 

[knappster]

I have my 2nd brew fermenting in my Son of Fermentation Chiller. As boredatwork said, it has its limitations, but it has worked fairly well for me so far. My garage has been in the mid-90s most of the week and I had the thermostat at 60 degrees. The temperature in the chiller would reach 72 when I replaced it 24 hours later.

Last time I brewed the thermostat was set at 65 and the temperatures were in the upper 80s and I just replaced the ice every 48+ hours. I have only been using 2 gallons of ice at a time. You can see my posts on it with some photos here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/son-fermentation-chiller-question-s-117095/index2.html