Another glycol chiller fermentor

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helterscelter

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Hey, I'm so exited right now that I just had to share. I just turned on my glycol chiller loop for the first time! Woot!

I've been collecting parts and working on this thing for close to 2 years off and on now.


I'm just running a cooling test now using water. Checking leaks and such. But as far as I can tell it's working as it should.

It still needs a lot more insulation and some buttoning up. I just couldn't wait.

I got the chiller of Craig's list a couple years ago. It's a retired draft line chiller. Had to learn how to diagnose and recharge the refrigerant to get it to cool.

The loop is made of 1/2inch stainless and brass pipe with 1/4inch 110v ac solenoids.

I'm intending to do mostly 10g batches in Sankey kegs (maybe try pressurized fermentation) , but also plan to get some cool zone brew jackets (if I'm remembering the name correctly) do I can hook up buckets or my fast ferment conicals.

I can't wait to try a lager. This has been a long time coming!!!

(The compressor just turned off since it reached the coolant set point.. damn jazzed.)

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Interesting set up. I would get some blankets or something wrapped around those coils and keg for added insulation.
 
Interesting set up. I would get some blankets or something wrapped around those coils and keg for added insulation.

Working on that. I actually plan to wrap a heat wrap around it and cover the whole thing in Rockwool.. top bottom and all around.

I also covered all gaps between the keg and coils with thermally conductive silicone adhesive.

Lots of gaps in my solder job due to condition of the retired keg and lack of patience on my part.

I'll add some new pics in a while after I finish..

(Here is a pic I took when I wrapped the coil..)

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Well it's been quite a while since my last post. I finally got a brew in the fermenter! Woot!!

I brewed my Veda's amber ale on Easter (Its becoming somewhat of a tradition at this point) and put it into the glycol controlled system.

I've got the glycol bath set at -3c +/- 10c with a 10min compressor delay. The fermenter is set to 66f +/- 1f. It's working like a freaking champ.

I don't have any insulation on the fermenter yet so the system is working a little harder than it technically needs to. The rock wool idea turned out to be a bigger pain than its worth. Stuff is to brittle and stiff for wrapping a keg. I'm considering using ab foam to wrap the fermenter or possibly getting some neoprene fabric to make a coozy-like cover.

I'm also planning on adding my 2nd and 3rd fermenters. This time i think I'll try using a coolzone jacket (http://www.gotta-brew.com/products/cool-zone-cooling-jacket.html) rather than soldering copper tube on.
 
I finished my first two batches through the glycol controlled system. not without troubles unfortunately.

First off I have to give props to the coolzone brew jacket. That thing works like a champ! it's easy to put on, easy to hook up, easy to take off.. just easy overall. a word of warning however.. They state quite explicitly that the thing is only rated to about 8psi, and that exceeding that will cause it to rupture. don't ignore their warning. as I said before my system is built around a repurposed long-haul draft line chiller. it uses a 1hp rotary vain pump, due to the long distance and potentially high head pressure it needs to overcome, it puts out WAY more than 8psi. I'm not sure what it's rated to, but while I was adjusting my flow valve on the manifold, when I cranked it down too far, I could feel the lines begin to swell.

consequently, I never took a psi measurement on the sysetem and unfortunately this lead to me rupturing my cool-zone jacket approximately 12 days into a 14 day ferment. up until that point, the system was keeping my lager at 54f +/- 0.5f and my amber ale at 65f +/- .5f ... once it ruptured, I ended up with 72f ambient and approx 3 to 4 gallons of glycol mix on my floor :mad:


a 1hp rotary vain pump is way overkill for what I'm doing anyway (and quite loud too) so I replaced the pump with a Chugger Stainless-steel head pump. The flow through the system is still excellent but the pump is incapable of such high pressures so should be much nicer to my new cool-zone jackets. (I ordered two more)


The second thing I did during this ferment, is to get some Keg Jackets to insulate my fermentors. I spent a lot of time thinking about how to insulate -- everything from rock-wool, to reflectix, to A/B Foam.. I even bought materials for each of these methods.. in the end, a $30 to $50 keg jacket does exactly what I want and is also "EASY" to deal with -- especially as compared to those other options. they may not be quite as high in R value as the other options.. but they do what they need to do well enough. I'll really give them a go next brew when I try to cold-crash.. I did attempt a cold-crash this round on the amber ale before I got the jackets, but without insulation there was too much heat introduced from the surrounding air and lots of condensation.. the fermeter dropped to 40f but wouldn't go any lower -- and my chiller was running pretty much non-stop.

The copper-coil wrapped fermenter worked just as well as the cool-zone jacket; and it wasn't susceptible to over-pressure, but it is fairly difficult to deal with.. the tri-pod stand I built/attached to it made it impossible to add one of my new keg jackets mid-ferment (no problem for the cool-zone.. just pop the quick disconnects throw on the jacket and re-connect.. easy) I'm going to remove those and just set the fermenter on a wheeled cart (I got a couple garbage can roller carts for this purpose)..


doing the closed transfer went great! best thing ever! the gas-in ball lock fittings seem to leak around their internal o-rings.. I need to take those apart and make sure there isn't anything wrong there.. but other than that purged my kegs, hooked up the hoses and let it rip.. the only difficulty I had with this was figuring out when the corney kegs were full.. I need to get a scale so I can weight them as I fill them or get some of those ball-and-keg things (https://www.ballandkeg.com) for a level indicator.

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Are you still happy with the cooling jackets? I'm considering getting one instead of using an internal coil. Also, what kind of tubing are you using for the glycol lines?
 
Are you still happy with the cooling jackets? I'm considering getting one instead of using an internal coil. Also, what kind of tubing are you using for the glycol lines?

I just picked up a cooling jacket and I like that it's super simple. The one improvement I would like is stabilizing where the in/out hoses connect to the jacket. You have to feed from above and it's a very weak union that I feel could get pinched or tear easily.
 
Are you still happy with the cooling jackets? I'm considering getting one instead of using an internal coil. Also, what kind of tubing are you using for the glycol lines?

I just picked up a cooling jacket and I like that it's super simple. The one improvement I would like is stabilizing where the in/out hoses connect to the jacket. You have to feed from above and it's a very weak union that I feel could get pinched or tear easily.
 
Are you still happy with the cooling jackets? I'm considering getting one instead of using an internal coil. Also, what kind of tubing are you using for the glycol lines?

Though I've not brewed in a while, u am happy with them.

They are easy to use. Work well. The input and output lines do require some planning for house routing and support. But it isn't too bad.

What kind of fermenter are you going to be using? If I could get an internal coil for my set up I would. They will ultimately last longer and aren't subject to boneheaded mistakes. The jackets will almost certainly do what you want so don't let me dissuade you. They are arguably easier to sanitize (lol) than an internal coil, so there are some benefits of each option over the other.

I'm using ice maker line for the feed and return between the manifold and the jacket -- same thing you'd use to hook up your fridge (and the same stuff most fridges have a coil of to store cold water for the filtered water on the door). I use 1/2 inch reinforced vinyl tubing for the feed and return between the chiller and the manifold.

All the tubing I use is from home depot.
 
Though I've not brewed in a while, u am happy with them.

They are easy to use. Work well. The input and output lines do require some planning for house routing and support. But it isn't too bad.

What kind of fermenter are you going to be using? If I could get an internal coil for my set up I would. They will ultimately last longer and aren't subject to boneheaded mistakes. The jackets will almost certainly do what you want so don't let me dissuade you. They are arguably easier to sanitize (lol) than an internal coil, so there are some benefits of each option over the other.

I'm using ice maker line for the feed and return between the manifold and the jacket -- same thing you'd use to hook up your fridge (and the same stuff most fridges have a coil of to store cold water for the filtered water on the door). I use 1/2 inch reinforced vinyl tubing for the feed and return between the chiller and the manifold.

All the tubing I use is from home depot.

I use sankey kegs for fermenters so an internal coil won't work. I was going to use the 1/2bbl sankey yeast brink from ABS as a fermenter with an internal coil but the coil cost $90 plus shipping and I still need to drill and weld on it for it to work for my application. I can TIG weld but I'm not a prodessional and haited the idea of ruining a $90 part. Also, used kegs can be found on Craigslist so I can have multiple fermenters and the jackets can be used on 1/4bbl kegs as well for 5gal batches. I might use the yeast brink as a brite tank with a carb stone in the bottom 1.5" TC. It would also make a good secondary for adding fruit, wood, etc.
 
I use sankey kegs for fermenters so an internal coil won't work.

You absolutely can add an internal coil, but you'd have to cut an opening in the bottom and make that the new top and manufacture some sort of lid which isn't terribly difficult. Then you could have a bottom drain fermenter by adding a tri clover fitting.
 
You absolutely can add an internal coil, but you'd have to cut an opening in the bottom and make that the new top and manufacture some sort of lid which isn't terribly difficult. Then you could have a bottom drain fermenter by adding a tri clover fitting.
Obviously! A lot of things can be turned into a fermenter with a chilling coil with enough modification. I was implying that a sankey can't be used with a coil as is. It would require modification. I could cut and weld a 4 or 6" TC ferrel to a sankey if I wanted to but it's more work than in want to do given the relatively high possibility that I might not make a truly sanitary weld. I also transfer, and sometimes ferment under pressure so a modification with a lid will likely not work because it will be difficult to make it hold pressure.
 
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