Cheap/DIY Fermentation Temp. Control

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Evan La Marr

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hey all,

I’ve been wanting to brew beers for years, and finally bit the bullet and bought a kit, and I’m way stoked.

I just brewed a saison, and, while a fun experience, I’m thinking I’m having temp control problems, since the beer taste especially yeasty and kind of strange.

I’d love to be able to control my fermentation temperature, but since I live in South Florida where the cost of living is expensive and the temperatures are nearly always hot, I have to keep my a/c between 77°-80° to maintain my electric bill.

What are some cheap ways you’ve controlled your temp with a minimal amount of space?
 
Can't say it's minimal amount of space by any means, but it doesn't take up a lot.

I bought a chest freezer at a garage sale for $35. Brought that home and bought an Inkbird temp controller for $40ish and have been controlling temps ever since.

It's not a big chest freezer. It only holds one fermenter at a time but that's usually all I have going at one time that needs temp control.

In my opinion, $75 for complete temp control isn't bad.
 
Evan, welcome to brewing! What part of South Florida? I'm in Jupiter and have the same weather to deal with, so I feel your pain!

I have the same setup that Rob has in a small chest freezer with a Johnson Controller to maintain the temperature. Mine can fit two fermenters since my pal and I often split 10 gal batches. Just keep an eye on craigslist for a freezer and pick up a controller from some brewsupply shop (www.homebrewfinds.com has inkbirds weekly). The added benefit of the freezer is that you can use it to ferment ale yeast now and adjust the temperature controller to do lagers in the future.
 
Can't say it's minimal amount of space by any means, but it doesn't take up a lot.

I bought a chest freezer at a garage sale for $35. Brought that home and bought an Inkbird temp controller for $40ish and have been controlling temps ever since.

It's not a big chest freezer. It only holds one fermenter at a time but that's usually all I have going at one time that needs temp control.

In my opinion, $75 for complete temp control isn't bad.
Thanks! That sounds great! I’m usually adverse to garage sales (one man’s junk is usually another man’s junk, too), but maybe I could go easier on them! If it’s only big enough for one fermenter, I definitely can’t be that large.
 
I got a wine fridge off craigslist ($75), and built a temp controller based on the Inkbird ITC-1000 ($15).

Cider1.jpg
 
@Elcid01 I live in Pompano Beach! Nice to meet someone local.

All these suggestions are great! I already see a freezer on CL for $75, so I’ll get that bad boy, or keep looking if I have to. Thanks for the tips on temp controllers, too!
I really appreciate all the love as a noobie. Thanks! Beer really does bring together the best.
 
Might not be quite what you're interested in, as it's not automated, but I use a Coolbrewing fermentation cooler to keep my temps under control.

I cool it with frozen frozen bottles of various sizes, switch put the bottles once or twice a day, and it holds temps pretty steady.

When not in use I fold it up and store it in a closet.
 
Great ideas I am in florida also I added a cheap clamp on fan to the chest freezer and the temp control proformance went up freezer ran less
 
added a cheap clamp on fan to the chest freezer and the temp control proformance went up freezer ran less


I agree, and yes inside the freezer. A little fan will help distribute the hot/cold air inside the chamber to make temps more stable and consistent. I use a brewpi setup which uses PID to keep the beer temp within 0.1F, and I saw a noticeable difference in temp swings when I unplugged my fan to see what would happen.
 
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