cheap way to control fermentation temp?

[EFSbrew]

Hi all. I'm on my second brew and I was wondering if any of you knew of a cheap way to keep a steady temp. I live in a cold snowy area of Arizona and I had troulbe keeping my last brew at the proper temp. I don't have the funds to buy a cheap fridge and add a controller to it but I really want to keep it as steady as possible since this will be my Christmas beer and I spent a lot on ingredients. Thanks.

 

[dcarter]

Why not just keep it in your house? I fermented at 75 deg for years until I rigged my fermenterator and my beer was always good.

 

[Erroneous]

Look into a swamp cooler. Large bucket, water, ice that you change out.

 

[oakbarn]

Put in a closet. If too cold, put in a ligh with the old bulb. You may need to change the wattage to get to the temp. Mid sixties for ales.

 

[beertastic]

Put the fermenter in a large tub of water, and put an aquarium heater in the tub as well.

 

[carsonwarstler]

I second the swamp cooler method. If you keep your house around 68 you don't really even need to put ice in the bucket. Just fill a bucket with some water, sit your fermenter down in it, get a towel wet and wrap the fermenter. The ambient air temp around 68 should keep the fermentation below 80, but the wet towel around the fermenter will aid in keeping it cool in case that temp starts to rise because of the reactions occurring in the fermenter.

But always remember, things are different with every house. I've got a neighbor who just leaves his fermenter in his house with the air temp at 75 and his beers never produce off flavors associated with high fermentation temps, but if do the same, my beer turns out pretty badly.

Just experiment around w everything... And eventually get a ranco dual controller... Best investment I've made.

 

[Phunhog]

Put the fermenter in a large tub of water, and put an aquarium heater in the tub as well.

+1....I would add to place the fermenter somewhere that is colder by at least 10 degrees from your fermentation temp. That way you will never overshoot your temps. Let the aquarium heater do its' job.

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

Look into a swamp cooler. Large bucket, water, ice that you change out.

this is what I do too,,plastic tub from Wal-Mart 7 bucks. frozen water bottles,free......as cheap as you can get

 

[EFSbrew]

Hey thanks for the quick replies. I don't want to wait until I have the fridge/controller setup cause I'm impatient, Haha. I think I'll try the bucket and aquarium heater method and I do have a spare room I can put it in thats a few degrees cooler. I want to keep it pretty steady since the beer I'm fermenting is big (old rasputin) and figured fusel alcohol production would ruin it.

 

[BrewerBear]

I really like Old Rasputin and not trying to burst your bubble,but it would not be at its prime by this Christmas. I had one last nite that I bottled over a year ago and it was great.Also use a blowoff tube with it.

 

[carsonwarstler]

I really like Old Rasputin and not trying to burst your bubble,but it would not be at its prime by this Christmas. I had one last nite that I bottled over a year ago and it was great.Also use a blowoff tube with it.

The beer won't be fantastic, but its about enjoying the fruits of your labor, so have the Christmas celebration but save a few bottles and test them over the next year and you'll see how the flavor progresses. It's a good way to fine tune your process for this beer and next time you'll know how long to start it in advance.

 

[alestateyall]

How about one of these?

https://www.cool-brewing.com/

Lots of positive feedback on HBT. I have one and like it.

 

[EFSbrew]

If its not I can always buy more beer the winters are long Here anyway.! I do have my other stout ready and I will save a few bottles. It'll be interesting to see what they'll taste like next winter.

 

[johngault007]

My basement stays around 66-68 in the winter and not much higher in the summer. It works very well since the basement doesn't fluctuate very much. It's quick, easy, and no additional equipment is needed to keep the temps controlled.

 

[Lushife]

I got a batch fermenting and I'm in the same boat so I stuck in a large cooler bag with water and frozen bottles of water. You just have to remember to switch out the ice and keep extras in your freeze.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

If the swamp cooler works for you all the better but I just could not get stable temperatures out of it. It's too humid here for swamp coolers to work. I broke down and bought a used fridge and hooked up a temperature controller. Some of the best money spent towards brewing.

 

[meadmazer]

Many people feel that a temp controller is one of the single best investments they have made to help beer quality. The STC1000 gets good reviews, about 20 bucks.