Craft The Perfect Draft: Chest Freezer Fermentations

[ScrewyBrewer]

I'm cold crashing 10 gallons of Orange Sunshine Witbier this morning after a two week fermentation. I was surprised to see the inside of the freezer was dry too. During primary fermentation there was moisture buildup inside but it seems to have been dried up now. The inside of this freezer is all aluminum so rust won't be a problem but mold buildup still is a legitimate concern.

 

[HomeBrewer36]

My STC-100 Temp Controller hooked to my Wine Cooler was the best addition to my homebrew arsenal. Looks like you have quite the setup as well. Thanks for the article.

 

[ATXWolfBrew]

@Conman13 I can confirm that 2 Glass 6.5g carboys do not fit inside. I usually go with one glass, one PET...Solid compact chest freezer overall, though.

 

[azazel1024]

@ScrewyBrewer
Fermentation produces a fair amount of humidity in an enclosed space as some of the wort/beer is evaporating as you have the CO2 percolating through it. When CO2 production stops, you don't have that percolation increasing evaporation.
Probably why you had the moisture build up during fermentation, but not cold crashing.

 

[emyers]

@drthrob good thing my wife gave away my small dehumidifiers.... good pointer, i always have moisture in my chest freezer

 

[emyers]

Inkbird makes a much better digital contoler, Its a stc-100 but with C or f. Makes a world of difference if you think in F like me.

 

[frettfreak]

@ScrewyBrewer Go to amazon and search for Eva-dry Renewable dehumidifier. They are wireless, and last 10 years. Works GREAT!! Has a meter on it that tells you when its full (takes about a month) then you plug it in, it dries the material inside the housing, and you can use it again and again. They are only $20 - $30 too! Also, if you put a fan inside to keep the air circulating (preferably from top to bottom) that will help as well.

 

[eko]

Why place the fermwrap on the floor? It was my understanding fermwraps needed space around their outside so they didn't overheat. Is that true or an overblown concern?

 

[BrewNick]

I too have made use of a thermostatically controlled fridge controlled by the STC1000.
Purchased the fridge for less than $50. For the heating device I made use of the butter conditioner which came as a standard feature of the old fridge.
I made use by firstly removing the conditioner unit, then removing the heating wire. Made a basic heating pad by arranging the wire in a spiral pattern using hot glue gun sandwiched it between thick paper/ thin plastic coated cardboard.
Carried out a 'load test' by filling fermenter to 23L noting the start temp. Then powering up the make shift heater. Saw that the rate of heat increase was something around 0.5deg C/Hr. Not fast I know, but its does - that was the main goal!
As this is a refrigerator, it is by design, pretty much immune from excessive condensation build up, as the evaporator has a drain underneath it.
So far so good.
Cheers.

 

[BrewNick]

@eko wrapping a fermwrap snugly against the fermenter will ENSURE no hot spots occur. This is because the fermenter absorbs the heat generated.

 

[ScrewyBrewer]

@eko The simple answer is heat rises. I've been using the FermWrap under the fermentors for six months and haven't had any problems with over heating at all.

 

[ScrewyBrewer]

@emyers the STC-1000+ I use has a ton of useful features Centigrade or Fahrenheit, displaying the temperature and programming the controller in either are among the most basic.
The controller already had its firmware updated to v1.06 of the @Alphaomega software which let's me set it up to read the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit, which made my life a lot easier. STC-1000+ firmware also supports separate adjustable delays and allowable temperature swings for both the heating and cooling outlets.
It has a tricolor LED that lights up red when the heat outlet is energized, blue when the cooling outlet is energized and the LED turns off when neither one is energized. For the serious brewer the STC-1000+ adds support for six individually programmed fermentation profiles each having ten set points for over the top control of the most complex fermentations.

 

[ScrewyBrewer]

@frettfreak thank you for sharing the information on the Eva-dry Renewable Dehumidifier I believe it will be my next brewroom purchase!
I bought a fragrance free DampRid disposable moisture absorber to try, I'm using it in the freezer now with my fermenting Hiphopapocalypse IPA. It wasn't expensive but the absorbent packet is disposable and I like the idea of reusing the Eva-dry in it's place.

 

[Mtoth]

I have a speidel fermenting vessel with a large airlock . I notice that the airlock float will sink when
I crash cool. Should I be removing the airlock when crash cooling?