Internal coils vs external blanket vs chamber

Hello everyone,
Got to say first - I'm new to this forum and I can't believe the wealth of knowledge and expertise being shared here! It is an awesome resource.

So, I've been brewing for about 2 years now and have quickly discovered I'm ready to step up my game. I've built a keezer (thanks to all the posts in the DIY Keezer area!) and I'm now thinking about stepping up my fermentation abilities. A glass carboy sitting in my bath tub is pretty bare bones and temp control is impossible.

I been digging through the various threads and I've come to the conclusion that a stainless steel conical is probably the best way to go. I'm planning on eventually building a Kal Electric Clone. I current brew in 5 gal batches but I want to step up to all-grain in 10 gal batches. Having said that, I have serval questions.

Which is best for maintaining temperature control and cold crashing at the end - internal coils, external blankets (like http://www.gotta-brew.com/products/cool-zone-cooling-jacket.html), or big fridge or chamber? Obviously they all need a brain like brew-pi so I'll do that as a part of the build.

Does it really depend on how much I want to spend or what I can find cheap on craigslist?

The set up with the internal coils (like this http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=625990) looks awesome but I'm worried that the coils will be a total PITA to clean - any insights here? And if I'm doing a 10-11 gallon batch in a 17 gallon fermenter, won't half the coils be out of the beer? What about a 5 gallon batch? And is the cone heater effective at keeping up with the heating needs? Like in a 40 degree garage in the winter?

I'm interested in the blankets - easy to operate, easy to remove for cleaning, no chance of glycol in my beer, cheaper than coils, etc. - but I haven't seen a whole lot of posts on them? I tried emailing Gotta-brew directly and no response. So any insights would be much appreciated.

And then there's the chamber set up. I love the look of this one by Chris Allen https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/pimp-my-system/brew-pi-the-future-of-homebrew-fermentation/

So before I go investing a ton of money and effort in any particular direction, I would love to hear some opinions. Glycol chiller connected to internal coils, to an external blanket, or chamber?

Thanks guys and gals!
Matt

 

"Does it really depend on how much I want to spend or what I can find cheap on craigslist?"

Yes. Obviously, there is a ton of equipment modeled after professional breweries. It obviously works and ranks pretty high in the "cool toy" category. If you have unlimited funds and want a toy, go for it.

Realistically though, we are talking about controlling the temperature. 62 degrees is 62 degrees whether you get there with a craigslist fridge/freezer or a $5,000 conical. If you are storing this in a garage, I'd probably stick with the fridge/freeze. Not a fancy glass door fridge either. Glass is a poor insulator, so you'll use way more energy to maintain a temp. Or course, I'm inclined towards the practical solution and don't really care how fancy it looks.

 

I got my stand up freezer for 100 bucks i can heat and cool in there. But the glycol sytems are very nice and expensive.

 

Thanks. Makes sense. I guess you can put any type of fermenter in there - plastic bucket, glass carboy, or a stainless conical. So do you have any trouble with cold crashing in a fridge? Seems to me an upright freezer is probably a better way to go so that it can get down there in 20-23 degree range. What about heat? Does a light bulb do the trick or is there a better solution?

 

Light bulb heating. Pad. Small heater.

 

The major benefit imho of glycol systems is the ability to maintain independent temp control on multiple fermenters easily. Not that you can't do it with a fridge or freezer, but i believe it's easier with glycol.

Personally i went with external coils on my fermenters due to simplicity. I just got one of those cool brew jackets and haven't tried it yet. I'm hopeful that it works as advertised because i can use it on my sanke fermenters or on a standard brew bucket or anything in between.

Internal coils are cool but hard to clean.. again imho.

 

I finally set up the brew jacket on one of my sanke fermenters. I'm doing an October fest. Currently the brew jacket is keeping 12 gallons in the sanke at 54f +-1f with out issue. (Glycol set to 23f)

So far I'm very pleased. Can't wait to try lagering down to 34f

 

Thanks all. I decided to go with BrewPi and a fermentation chamber (nice 10 cf fridge with a glass door that I got for free!). My plan is to start with my carboys, then step up to the ss conical. Both should fit nicely. Once again - this is an awesome resource! Thank you homebrewtalk.com!

 

I've got two 7 gallon SS Brewtech conical with FTS temperature control systems. The FTS uses coils to cool or heat inside the fermented. They are NOT hard to clean at all even with dried Krause caked on them. I just rinse them with hot water then soak in PBW for a few hours and they are as good as new.

 

I have three fermenters I use (not counting my fastfermenter that I consider too small to use) two are 13 gal. poly carboys and my third a 40 gal poly conical that I use for my single barrel batches. The 13 gal. Fermenters barely fit into my fermenting freezer. For my larger fermenter I use a coil to control the temp. Not because it's cool but because it's more reasonable than trying to build a chamber. My coil is made from 60' of spiraled copper tubing. Reaction time is pretty immediate. I wouldn't recommend a fabricated coil for a small fermenter unless it was designed as such especially if it's small enough to fit in a freezer.