Conical chiller

[roots4thought]

Just in case anyone out there is looking at a cooling jacket from gotta brew for their stout conical, I have a little project that I put together.

I used a current 1/15 hp aquarium chiller. ($50 used at a fish store)
A 400 ish gallon per hour pond pump from lowes ($20)
Hose from lowes ($1.50 a foot-10 feet)
Cool zone cooling jacket ($70 from gotta brew)
And my conical from stout.

Basically I just plumbed everything together and plugged it in. The cool thing is, the aquarium chiller had a digital thermostat built it so I didn't have to use my single stage controller (it's on my keezer anyways) or my 2 stage one that's on my freezer fermentation chamber.

This thing works great and is a good solution for me since my conical doesn't fit in my freezer. It cools at about 3-5 degrees f/hour and can get a fermenting beer down below 50f. Only thing is, here in San Antonio, it's really humid so it sweats below 58f. I'll eventually insulate it (maybe, I think it looks cool) but for now it works great for 10 gallon ales.

Anyways, thanks for looking. Nobody I know would appreciate this except people on this forum.

For some reason the picture is loaded sideways. Sorry.

 

[Islandboy85]

Nice. I've been trying o figure out a better way to keep my ales in temp controlled state. My hurdles being it can't look like I live in a junk yard because I like a happy wife. That looks pretty nice. I currently ferment in a Sanke keg. I'm having a hard time justifying the conical cost. Maybe some day when I'm rich. I like your setup though.

 

[roots4thought]

I don't think this jacket that I bought would fit all the way around a 15.5 gallon sanke keg but I do think you could get it around a 1/6 bbl or 1/4 slim bbl.

 

[Islandboy85]

I don't think this jacket that I bought would fit all the way around a 15.5 gallon sanke keg but I do think you could get it around a 1/6 bbl or 1/4 slim bbl.

I figured I'd either buy the extension or just live with cooling most of the circumference of the kegmenter. It would still be better than no temp control.

 

[JB_Brewing2]

I don't think this jacket that I bought would fit all the way around a 15.5 gallon sanke keg but I do think you could get it around a 1/6 bbl or 1/4 slim bbl.

Can you tell me please what is the diameter of your conical? Thanks!

 

[Spellman]

I have been using these jackets for a few years and they are absolutely awesome. I mainly ferment in sanke kegs as well for my 10g batches and the expansion panel makes that possible. For my 5g batches in carboys I just remove the panel and that works wonderfully. I love how modular they can be. Since I have gotten mine they have released more sizes, but for what I do I would still go with what I got. Don't be afraid to contact Steve the owner with any questions. He is very helpful in determining the right size for you.

That aquarium chiller looks like a pretty cool little device that would take minimal mods to get going. Good find! I use a 5,000 btu window ac that I turned into a glycol chiller that I absolutely adore. I would highly recommend insulation around the fermenter and even the lines. It really does make a difference in holding temps as well as keeping condensation down.