I just finished testing my new Brewhemoth with the stainless steel chiller option. I couldn't be happier with it! I'm currently warming about six gallons of beer to 15ºF above ambient with a 100w fish tank heater set to about 40%.
The "Extreme" cooler keeps my water nice and warm, and when the the fermenter needs heat, my BCS 460 cycles the pump and my beer warms up. Originally, I was worried about temperature stratification, but the temps are pretty uniform - probably from natural convection cycles. Or the stratification effect will be more noticeable with larger batches.
I'm really happy with the energy efficiency of this system. I had concerns that it would be much less efficient than keeping my fermenter in a fridge, but now I feel pretty good about it. I may even insulate the fermenter at some point.
I'm hoping in the summer to just replace the fishtank heater with 2L bottles of ice.
Also, I've decided to try my first batch sans the airlock. I simply loosened the tri-clamp fitting that holds the temperature probe in place and moved it around until the gas vented. We'll see how this works; I'm assuming that the positive pressure will help keep bacteria out, and a few squirts of alcohol will help as well. When positive pressure starts to fade, I'll seal the fermenter.
Sorry about the lousy photos (they were taken with my iPhone which doesn't know what to make of the cool fluorescent light, the shiny fermenter, and the warm yellow walls of the lab).
The "Extreme" cooler keeps my water nice and warm, and when the the fermenter needs heat, my BCS 460 cycles the pump and my beer warms up. Originally, I was worried about temperature stratification, but the temps are pretty uniform - probably from natural convection cycles. Or the stratification effect will be more noticeable with larger batches.
I'm really happy with the energy efficiency of this system. I had concerns that it would be much less efficient than keeping my fermenter in a fridge, but now I feel pretty good about it. I may even insulate the fermenter at some point.
I'm hoping in the summer to just replace the fishtank heater with 2L bottles of ice.
Also, I've decided to try my first batch sans the airlock. I simply loosened the tri-clamp fitting that holds the temperature probe in place and moved it around until the gas vented. We'll see how this works; I'm assuming that the positive pressure will help keep bacteria out, and a few squirts of alcohol will help as well. When positive pressure starts to fade, I'll seal the fermenter.
Sorry about the lousy photos (they were taken with my iPhone which doesn't know what to make of the cool fluorescent light, the shiny fermenter, and the warm yellow walls of the lab).