Building my Fermentor today

[Allergic2hops]

Well I finally got all the pieces together and am going to build my fermentor. I got an STC-1000 from E Bay and found one that read in F, unfortunately it only has one relay instead of two. My mistake, didn't read all the way through. Its okay though summer is coming and I only need cooling now. I am modifying a studio fridge and am building a structure around it with 1" foam board to expand my cooling area. I will post pictures of the project and possibly write and article if anyone is interested. I don't want a second fridge in my basement (don't want to have to move it in the future). So this seemed like the way to go. I notice most people attach the sensor to their carboy, is that the preferred method or should I just control the ambient temperature in the chamber? I have brewed enough to see that the temp usually only rises 4 to maybe 6 degrees while in active fermentation. Any thoughts here?

 

[Allergic2hops]

Here are some pics. Any questions?

 

[grathan]

Can you cold crash to 38*F. How much does the compressor thingee cost?


*edit, oh I see you ripped a fridge apart. Nice job. Was it fairly simple? I've been forbidden from buying anymore fridges/freezers, but could probably sneak something like this by...

 

[Allergic2hops]

Can you cold crash to 38*F. How much does the compressor thingee cost?


*edit, oh I see you ripped a fridge apart. Nice job. Was it fairly simple? I've been forbidden from buying anymore fridges/freezers, but could probably sneak something like this by...

This job was very simple and I had a lot of the stuff laying around including the little fridge. Understanding the convoluted instructions that came with the temp control unit was a challenge but once I compared them to the STC-1000 it was easy to figure out. I am hoping to cold crash once I get done with this fermentation, right now I am holding at 65 degrees the bottom end of the range for 1098 British Ale yeast.

As far as construction I bough a cheap furniture dolly and made a platform for the fridge to sit on and then the rest is just cutting the insulation board and taping it together. The whole unit sits 30" tall inside so I have enough head space to put my carboy in there. The aluminum tape is the key here and the Velcro does a nice job holding it closed with a good seal. I wish I made my cuts a little straighter but everything seems to seal well.

I need to mention, that I was concerned that increasing the volume (essentially almost tripling the volume) that the unit would not handle it well. So far so good once up to temp the unit cycles on for 5 minutes and then shuts off for the next 20 minutes. It cooled the empty volume down really quick also, think I hit 64 degrees from room temp in about 7 minutes. Not bad, hope it holds out for a long time.

 

[grathan]

The best part is you can easily still triple the volume if you ever wanted.

 

[WayFrae]

Nice work. I have a fridge almost identical to that one. I might have to give this a shot! When it is time to cold crash be sure to let us know how it fared. I am in dire need of a fermentation chamber.

 

[jeffxmck]

nice work. I have a fridge almost identical to that one. I might have to give this a shot! When it is time to cold crash be sure to let us know how it fared. I am in dire need of a fermentation chamber.

+1

 

[Allergic2hops]

Well two weeks into my Fermentation I decided to rack to secondary. I have always had good luck with the secondary. Nice clear beers! Anyway I pulled the fermentor from the new chamber and the temp of the beer was 65 degrees. It maintained that temp constantly for the entire two weeks. The control unit cycled was 5 min run time for every 45 min of off time. Pretty happy with this little unit. I was aiming for the bottom of the yeast temp and it was a mild fermentation. Now that I have racked to secondary I raised the temp up two degrees. The first taste was not disappointing at all. Very smooth and no off flavors that I could detect. Going to let this settle for one week and then going to bottle it. OG = 1.068 and after primary 1.024. Hoping to get closer to 1.018 but I am happy with it as it is.

 

[MindenMan]

How many hydrometer checks have you made? Did the fridge have an internal fan, or did you add one?

 

[Allergic2hops]

How many hydrometer checks have you made? Did the fridge have an internal fan, or did you add one?

Just the one I took today. Just read about the multiple checks today, will try that on the next batch though. No fan, its well sealed, also I dont have the probe affixed to the carboy like some do. I believe that controlling the ambient temp controls the wort temp. With the bucket sitting directly in front of the cooling unit, the wort temp actually gets lower than the ambient temp. I had to make an adjustment for that on the first day. My temp strip is on the opposite side of the bucket from the cooling unit. The strip was equal to my digital thermometer so that was a good calibration in my mind.

 

[Allergic2hops]

Well I have now successfully fermented three batches through my fermentor. I have to say it was worth the effort. On all three batches I have kept the temp within 2-3 degrees of the specified range on the Wyeast site. I don't detect any off flavors and the clarity has been spectacular! So much so I haven't even needed to cold crash. The blonde I just brewed I used German Ale 1007 and held the temp at 58 degrees. The beer was crystal clear when I racked it. I encourage anyone to do this project it is the best decision I've made yet.