Brewjacket feedback

[jfrode]

I really like mine. Done a lager and several ales. I have had great customer support from them. I have done a lager and several ales. I am about to see how far I can push it to the upper limits brewing a PA with Kveik. This will ferment (ideally) in the 95-100F region. For ales, I find that I don't even need the jacket (i screwed up the insulation on mine and haven't got around to fix it yet). I just put an old duvet around it, or toss the fermenter into a sleeping bag. It as worked as a charm. It is much more expensive than a cheap fridge with a temp controller, but wife would go ballistic if a got one more for my brewing. Get the sleeves if you can. No I am sanitizing with boiling hot water just before I put the unit inside the fermenter (no one sells Iodophor in Norway).

 

[doogster]

I really like mine. Done a lager and several ales. I have had great customer support from them. I have done a lager and several ales. I am about to see how far I can push it to the upper limits brewing a PA with Kveik. This will ferment (ideally) in the 95-100F region. For ales, I find that I don't even need the jacket (i screwed up the insulation on mine and haven't got around to fix it yet). I just put an old duvet around it, or toss the fermenter into a sleeping bag. It as worked as a charm. It is much more expensive than a cheap fridge with a temp controller, but wife would go ballistic if a got one more for my brewing. Get the sleeves if you can. No I am sanitizing with boiling hot water just before I put the unit inside the fermenter (no one sells Iodophor in Norway).

How did the fermentation with Kviek go? How high were you able to get the temp?

 

[jfrode]

Yeah, but no need for it though because this was the hottest summer ever in Norway, and I ferment in the room where my oil burner that heats tap water sits. It was at 35 degrees already. Actually the unit at some point started to cool because I was going above the set temp at 40 degrees C. Crazy.

 

[Richard Van Eck]

I have brewed one batch with the immersion pro and LOVE IT! For those questioning the need to heat, I would say only that the key is actually to maintain fermenting temperatures, and that temperature varies with different parts of the fermenting process. In the beginning phases, temperature rises due to yeast activity--the cooling would keep the temperature consistent through cooling in that case. Later on, the temperature may cool, potentially to lower than your target rate--heating would prevent this. Finally, for those (like me) who raise fermentation temps during the last three-four days of primary fermentation in order to help the tired yeast chew up more sugars, the heating is a great feature--just come out and set the temperature up by 5-8 degrees (depending on your initial fermentation rate).

So for me, the key is consistent control of fermentation temperature (within .3 degrees), the ability to start low and jump up near end of primary while still staying under 70 degrees, and the fact that I brew in my garage and can keep the heat lower during winter without impacting the beer temp. Set it and forget it.

FYI--I use IO San and just have a second bottle mixed up and ready to go. My calculations suggest 1 ml to 21 ounces of water, so either get a 24 ounce spray bottle or, as I do, mix up a batch of 21 ounces and dump the 4 ounces that don't fit in your 16 ounce bottle. I use a graduated cylinder to get 1 ml (plus or minus .5ml is not going to make a big difference, IMO).

I'd welcome any other thoughts on this or a check of my math--I was an English major, after all!

My initial 2 cents-

I ordered 3 immersion pros in late June or early July 2017 as well as some fermenter lids- 2 fermonster lids and 1 bucket lid. Buying 3 priced the units at about 200$ a pop so it defrayed the cost a bit. The estimated delivery date was late August. All 3 units arrived mid August ahead of expected delivery by a week or so and in excellent condition.

I use the immersion pros with new ported 7 gallon fermonsters from morebeer. Prior to this I was using plastic buckets that I shuttled up and down stairs based on temp and then in a temp controlled spare fridge that has since been reclaimed by SWMBO. I was initially concerned about 3 things with my new setup- 1. the smallish blowoff tube, 2. the amount of rod submerged in the beer not being adequate for heat exchange, and 3. the port getting caught up in the brewjackets and causing a leak.

None of my fears have been realized...
1. The 7 gallon fermonsters provide ample head space so that krausen has not even come close to the lid despite pitching over 200 billion cells from a yeast starter per fermenter and very healthy fermentations;
2. Temps can adjusted and maintained without issue despite about 1/3 of the rod being above liquid level; and
3. I just make sure to press out a little pocket of space in the brewjacket where the port faces before inserting the fermenters, slide them in carefully, and slip my hand in after to feel that the ports have a little room.

One minor thing I don't love is that the head units rest on the blowoff elbows and tip the head unit a bit. This wouldn't be an issue if using plastic carboys with the blowoff in the neck or buckets. Regardless, it hasn't yet caused any issue as far as I can tell. Out of curiosity, on my last batch I left one unit a little higher in the bung collar so that it sits above the elbow and a little rod (~1/4") is exposed. That unit displays a 0.1 degree difference in temp compared to unit with it pushed all the way in and resting on the elbow. The temp differential may or may not be related and it could be causing the unit to cycle the fan more often but I haven't noticed it.

All told I have fermented 33 gallons of NEIPA with them in my basement; three 11 gallon batches split between 2 fermenters. I live in central Massachusetts and my brew dates were in late August, early October and mid November (November batch is on day 9 now in the fermenters).

Overall, so far I have to say that they have performed as well as expected and I am very pleased with my purchase. That being said, my basement has been in the 50 to 65 degree range so I am not asking a lot of the units. I have been fermenting at around 66 and then ramping up to the mid 70s after primary winds down. The units have been responding well and I find their simplicity of use to be great. I bumped temp from 68 to 74 in the morning just yesterday and they had hit 74 by the time I got home from work about 9 hours later. I cold crash in kegs in a kegerator so I cannot comment on how they would handle that function and cooling demand.

The only other thing I don't love so far is the fact that you can't use starsan directly on the rods. The first time I used the rods I made 5 gallons of IO and hated dumping it after because it seemed wasteful. The last 2 brew days I made a gallon of IO (easier to measure by the gallon) then filled a spray bottle and dumped the rest but it still seems wasteful. I see on the brewjacket website that they sell a 10-pack of baggies that slip over the rods so you can sanitize the baggies with starsan so I like that they responded to that consumer demand.

Compared to other more expensive or complicated options, I am very pleased with my set up so far. My brew buddy covets them whenever he sees them and wants to buy the 3rd unit from me. I am going to try a lager in the summer and see how they hold up to those demands but until then I dig them and have had no issues other have complained about on other posts.

 

[Richard Van Eck]

But does your Inkbird plug into the immersion controller? The nice thing about the probe they have is that is controls the temp automatically as it fluctuates during early and late stages of primary fermentation...

Alright just ordered mine. I got the unit without the thermowell. I’ll just insulate an Inkbird temp probe to the side of my fermenter. I’m thinking it will be nice to have the built in blow off tube.

 

[lablover]

But does your Inkbird plug into the immersion controller? The nice thing about the probe they have is that is controls the temp automatically as it fluctuates during early and late stages of primary fermentation...

My submersible pump plugs into the inkbird controller. The probe reads the fermenter temp and starts and stops the pump to hold within one degree of the setpoint. I've done one lager and two ales. All in all I'm very happy with the Ballandkeg unit. It works as advertised.