Summer fermentor cooling monsta, meet Frankie

[DannyBoy408]

It gets hot in the summer and I have noticed off taste from high temps during fermentation. I Frankensteined my fermentor to cool in these high temps. Just started this so I want to see what people have to say.

Starting fermentor temp 97.5 f.
Water cooler temp 58 f.
Room temp 88 f.

It's a 6.5 Big Mouth Bubbler
Ss brew tech thermowell
Inkbird temp controller
Super pump 1/4 hp submersible water pump ( slight overkill I know, dual use though with wart chiller)
Coleman party stacker 18 quart

ss 304 5/16 tubing bent with tool, highly recommended.
10' 5/16 tubing.

I'll post the temps and times soon. I don't expect to be over the top but keep my wart within a sweet range. I added hot water ( almost 100f) to just test it out first. I plan to set the monitor to start much lower so this should be easier on the system when actually in use.

Let me know what you think and some constructive criticism. I finished this kinda buzzin off some hair of the dog barely wine. Hope I didn't mess it up. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1464480863.786140.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1464480901.003294.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1464480955.241806.jpg

 

[dshepard]

Looks "cool". How did the temps come out?

 

[kh54s10]

IDK, it looks really complicated. I made a fermentation chamber out of 2x4's plywood, foam, a mini fridge and a temperature controller. I can do 3 five gallon fermenters at a time.

But, if it works that is the main thing.

 

[thunderwagn]

Wort :hs:

 

[DannyBoy408]

In summary it works well and will probably only turn on once a day. That's with a 80 to 90 hot day.

The temp at the top and the bottom of the container ended up around 16 degrees difference. The probe is set at the top so it stays on too long and the bottom gets very cold.

Starting from 97 was too hot and unrealistic but I wanted to see what happens. The pump overheated and heated the water up to 100 after 4 hours of running. Last reading was 82.5 at the top, 65.5 bottom.

Second test at a realistic temp.

Fermentor 76.1 this was from the cold night
Room temp 86
Cooling water temp 40

It hit 73 in 39 min. Top was 73 and the bottom was 55. I could stop this much sooner. The bottom was so cold it had a chill haze.

After three hours it hasn't gone back up high enough to start the cooling again. The room temp is dropping and it won't start again tonight.

I agree a fridge would be much easier, I just can't do that right now. Wish I had a basement and I wouldn't have to worry about this. A box is another project I don't want. I seen this on some ss fermenters and thought it should work for plastic ones too.

 

[mongoose33]

I'm going to wonder what effect this will have on the yeast if it keeps cycling the temp up and down. If you're going to use it only once a day, then my thinking is you'll be stressing the yeast.

Further, if I read this right, you're cycling the wort through it. What's going to happen to any yeast that goes from a comfortable whatever temperature in the fermentor down to whatever cold temperature you're going to have in your jockey box, and then right back into a comfortably warm fermentor?

Maybe I have this all wrong; if so, please set me straight.

 

[tracyk]

I was assuming that he would have the wort in the fermentor and have the cold water running through the ss tubing. I do agree with a temperature problem and stressing the yeast being that there is almost a 20 degree difference between the top and bottom.

I think it would be easier to put the whole big mouth bubbler in a rubber mate tote or cooler then throw in some frozen bottles to keep it cool. Just my opinion being that you are having such temperature swings between the top and bottom. It looks like a neat idea if you could find some way to have the temp semi even throughout the whole fermentor.

 

[Michigan_Wolfman]

Is that a fermentation chiller, or the Walter White Junior Meth Lab Starter Kit? I can't tell....

 

[GQT]

a) Temp difference between top and bottom - forget it. When active fermentation in the carboy is under way everything will mix up naturally anyway. When fermentation slows down temp control will stop being critically important, too.
b) Talking efficiency, your carboy needs decent insulation. You might want to wrap it in at least one, better two or three layers of 1-1.5 cm (or about 1/2 inch) thermal insulating material - or, at least a blanket or sleeping bag. This alone will make huge difference.

Happy brewing

 

[DannyBoy408]

Im going to bring the coil up higher and see what that will do. I want it to run for short periods of time and send the cool water down through it all. I think it will work well with some adjustment. I wish I had made the thermowell hole a bit lower.

I need to keep testing this thing out before I place fermenting wart in.

It circulates cold water through the coil not the wart.

It does look kinda meth like haha good one. It's so crazy it looks like I was on meth when I made it.

 

[DannyBoy408]

Last test went well. Raised the cooling coil near the monitor but not touching it. Filled water to 5.5 gallons and a constant room temp of 81 for the test. Set the monitor to 71 with a 2 degree difference to start for heat and cool. Cooling starts at 73, heat at 68.

Started first cool high at 82.5 at the top and 80 at the bottom. Time 2137.
2042, 79.4 top, 75 bottom
2048, 74.3 top, 70 bottom
2055, 71 top, 65 bottom. Cooled in18 min

Started manual heat to raise it to 73.
Start at 2117, 70.6 top
2122, 71.2 top, 66 bottom
2130, 72 top, 67 bottom
2138, 73 top, 69 bottom. Warm in 21 min
Heat belt sucks but it works ok

Cooling again started at 2141 73.3 top temp
2144, 71.7 top 67 bottom.
2145, 71 top 65 bottom. Cooled in 4 min.

The monitor did well. I'll have to leave it on this weekend and see what happens. My garage temp ranged from 95 to 67 over the day today. This weekend will be 91 to 57 Sat and 86 to 57 Sun. As you can see the temps here are crazy and my garage stays hot. I live in northern Cali and just want to make my hop ales. HahaView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1465017618.390689.jpg