Cool brewing bag review, is it worth the money?

[YOpassDAmike]

For those with experience using the cool brewing bag, does it work great? My current approach to fermentation temperature control is a wet towel, ice packs and a fan, this method takes some maintenance but it works; however, in the summer the lowest I could get my fermenter temperature down was only 70 degrees.

 

[yourfriendmikem]

I've never used it so I can't judge, but I wonder why someone would choose that over a standard mini fridge fermentation chamber, which would likely be cheaper even with a temp controller.

 

[YOpassDAmike]

Lack of space

 

[mxstar21]

Get about 5-6, 1.5 liter water bottles and freeze them. Rotate them out every 8-12 hours to maintain your desired temperature. Probably will only take 1-2 frozen bottles at a time.

 

[jmos]

I have one and it works pretty well and seems well made. I second the suggestion of making some ice packs from plastic bottles, you can adjust the number of bottles to provide the amount of cooling you want. I found the bottles lasted about 12 hours.

Having said that, I got tired of having to watch my fermentations so closely and got a mini-fridge and a 2 stage temperature controller, so now my bag sits unused.

I'd think hard about it, if you can swing it, the mini-fridge is a better solution, but the bag does work.

One plus with the bag is that the top zips and it is water tight, so it will contain any mess if you have an unfortunate 'loss of containment.' Cleans up pretty easily inside.

 

[TonyKZ1]

I've also got one and it works fine for me. I use a 2L or 3L frozen water bottle depending on how much colder than ambient temperature I need it.

 

[edgarmsmith]

Before I got a chest freezer I used the cool brewing bag in a closet. It worked great. I froze several jugs and would rotate them. Two jugs would keep my fermometer steady at 62 in my older south Georgia house with an ambient temperature of 75.

 

[decoleur]

cool brewing +1

I also use mine at serving events, it can hold 4 corny kegs with ice to keep them nice and cold.

 

[Tapout]

I have two and they worked just fine. I've only done ales that needed a range between 62 and 72, and was able to maintain it pretty close. When I first put the carboy in, I would use 3 and sometimes 4 two liter bottles of ice, just to get through the high activity period. Then, one bottle every 24 hours would keep the bag at 62ish degrees (house temp was 78 degrees). Since they're cloth, you can put the bubbler on top of the carboy with no problems.

If you want to get higher than 62, you could use a few of the standard size 12(?) ounce water bottles to dial in the correct temp.

Another nice thing about the bags is that they are waterproof. You'll find that every now and then an ice bottle will have split...if you use soda bottles...(I recommend plastic bottles with a bit more heft, like a cranberry juice bottle) and you'd have 1/2 an inch of water in the bag. I'd just take the carboy out, dump the water in the sink, dry it as well as I could with a towel and put the carboy back in.

I've done probably 30 or so brews using them. They're really nice and convenient if you don't have a fermentation chamber.

 

[Legume]

I use one regularly, they work as advertised.

 

[specharka]

I've never used it so I can't judge, but I wonder why someone would choose that over a standard mini fridge fermentation chamber, which would likely be cheaper even with a temp controller.

I'm confused about this math. You can get a mini fridge capable of fermenting a 6.5G carboy and temperature controller for under $55? Sign me up.

I'm a proponent of this simple technology, it works as advertised. I wouldn't try lagering in the brew bag but it is nevertheless miles ahead of a keg tub. The waterproof container is especially useful for controlling blowoffs.

 

[decoleur]

So, met the designer/owner at NHC and he was a nice guy. They have an add on coated plastic insert that protects the bottom. Totally worth it and only available from the manufacturer for $4. I would order it direct and add that on.