Gatorade fermentation chamber?

[collinsDPT]

What are your thoughts on placing my primary bucket inside one of these which I already own, assuming it fits? Was thinking I could better regulate temperature changes (without getting a true chamber and temp controller) . Am I crazy?

 

[Germelli1]

If it fits, it would work great for a "swamp Cooler"! I highly doubt you would be able to seal it up if you include an airlock on the fermenter, but it would be a good insulator when used as a swamp cooler!

I personally like bigger containers...more water to hold the temps. But the insulation from that guy might make up for the lack of space for water!

 

[FoundersBrew]

Bucket and ice bottles is the best bet if you don't have a controlled chamber. Before I built my chamber, I used a big cooler filled with water and added frozen bottles once in the morning and once in the evening.

 

[hardmike]

My thought it that you might be hindering your fermenters ability to lose heat. You've got a fermentation creating heat and a bunch of dead airspace trapping that heat, i think your fermentation would get too hot. if your looking for a quick cheap way to control temp swing put your fermenter in a bath tub full of water. you could get an aquarium pump to circulate the water around it for maximum effect but you dont have to.

 

[collinsDPT]

Thanks for the comments. I wasnt planning on using the lid, so I dont think I would have a problem with losing heat.

I have a friend who basically just puts a wet tshirt around the bucket and blows a fan on it 24/7 as his swamp cooler. I was just wondering if using this gatorade container would be a better idea than that.

Or perhaps I could do something like this (since I dont have a spare bathtub available to use)...

 

[Germelli1]

You want to use the insulating abilities of the cooler to keep the beer cold. To do so you would have to keep it filled with ice water, and I fear that there is not enough space to hold enough water to even buffer the temp changes much.

As pointed out, fermentation is an EXOTHERMIC chemical reaction meaning heat is generated. If you toss a fermenter in the cooler with nothing else, all that will happen is that the cooler will insulate the heat...causing temps to be ramped up which would be very detrimental for your beer!

 

[collinsDPT]

You want to use the insulating abilities of the cooler to keep the beer cold. To do so you would have to keep it filled with ice water, and I fear that there is not enough space to hold enough water to even buffer the temp changes much.

As pointed out, fermentation is an EXOTHERMIC chemical reaction meaning heat is generated. If you toss a fermenter in the cooler with nothing else, all that will happen is that the cooler will insulate the heat...causing temps to be ramped up which would be very detrimental for your beer!

Makes sense, thanks for the "ah-ha" moment! Maybe I will try just a wet-shirt and frozen water bottles first

 

[Germelli1]

Makes sense, thanks for the "ah-ha" moment! Maybe I will try just a wet-shirt and frozen water bottles first

No problem! I just didn't want to see a thread in a few months about a beer filled with tons of esters/phenols/and all that other bad stuff!

But If you can figure out a way to keep cool water, then this would be a great ferm chamber!

 

[weirdboy]

I think the blue tub with some ice bottles should work fine. Not quite as good as a cooler for holding temps, but good enough, especially now that fall is coming soon and temps will be generally lower.

 

[cfrazier77]

I think the blue tub with some ice bottles should work fine. Not quite as good as a cooler for holding temps, but good enough, especially now that fall is coming soon and temps will be generally lower.

I used to use one of these buckets with putting in frozen 2 quart water bottles and I got a lot of temperature fluctuation. I went to a cooler that I removed the lid and covered with an old sleeping bag. Now just one frozen bottle a day keeps temps within one degree.

 

[collinsDPT]

I used to use one of these buckets with putting in frozen 2 quart water bottles and I got a lot of temperature fluctuation. I went to a cooler that I removed the lid and covered with an old sleeping bag. Now just one frozen bottle a day keeps temps within one degree.

Great, thanks

 

[cfrazier77]

After reading my earlier post I should have said more. I now use two different coolers. One is big and can hold up to 3 carboys. It is a marine cooler with good insulation. I only need 1 2 quart water bottle to chill it, regardless of if it is 2 or 3 carboys in it. My other cooler is a good one as well, but only holds one car boy. In this I only put in a 16 ounce frozen water bottle. During the first three days of fermentation more ice is needed as heat is being produced. What I do to keep track of the temperature is that I have 2 wired digital thermometers. One is taped on a carboy and covered with insulation, the other is in the water bath. When the water bath gets to 2 or 3 degrees of the carboy, I add the frozen bottles. This drops it down to 5 below the carboy temp. Also, my basement temp averages between 71 and 73. Hope this helps.

 

[horseinmay]

I think this is actually a good idea. If you drop your carboy into the cooler and add some ice, you could keep it relatively cool with less ice than using most other methods. It beats the wet T-shirt method if you ask me. Once the ice melts, you can drain out the water through the valve. Good thinking. Let me know how this works out.

 

[Germelli1]

I think this is actually a good idea. If you drop your carboy into the cooler and add some ice, you could keep it relatively cool with less ice than using most other methods. It beats the wet T-shirt method if you ask me. Once the ice melts, you can drain out the water through the valve. Good thinking. Let me know how this works out.

There just isnt enough space. The ice would melt within a hour and you would have to keep draining the water some how and replenishing the ice every few hours. If you have a badass ice maker then it may be worth it, but to me it just is not viable.

The only way I could this working is if you put a frozen jug in the bottom of the cooler then put your fermenter on it. But even that would be a lot of unnecessary lifting to replace the frozen jug.

 

[Revvy]

An igloo cube is quite popular....with some pink foam board.

 

[Germelli1]

An igloo cube is quite popular....with some pink foam board.

Ok, this changes my outlook a bit. That is an awesome idea that I havn't seen before!

 

[Revvy]

Yeah, plenty of room for the bath itself in this one.

I've also seen the bigger ones holding 2 carboys with a similar setup. Cut holes out on the lid to accomodate 2 airlocks and then replace the space with pink foam stuff.

 

[collinsDPT]

Great info. Thanks