Do water baths get smelly?

[brewzombie]

I just made a fermentation water bath from 165 qt cooler, an IceProbe aquarium chiller, and a ranco temp controller (and thermowell). The cooler can fit 2 plastic primaries (all I ever use) and maybe a yeast starter. I'm testing it now and it seems to work; no leaks, temp is really stable and the chiller kicks in when it should.

My question is will the water bath start to stink from mold/mildew after awhile? Should I be treating the water like you would for a hot tub or something? Maybe this never comes up unless you drip some organic crap in the water (but it seems inevitable to me).

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

I just made a fermentation water bath from 165 qt cooler, an IceProbe aquarium chiller, and a ranco temp controller (and thermowell). The cooler can fit 2 plastic primaries (all I ever use) and maybe a yeast starter. I'm testing it now and it seems to work; no leaks, temp is really stable and the chiller kicks in when it should.

My question is will the water bath start to stink from mold/mildew after awhile? Should I be treating the water like you would for a hot tub or something? Maybe this never comes up unless you drip some organic crap in the water (but it seems inevitable to me).

yes they do.. some starsan in the water will kep it fine and dandy.

 

[HerotBrewer]

Or, since you're not actually contacting your beer with the water bath, just pour a tablespoon of bleach in there. Probably far cheaper.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Summertime absolutely, less in the winter, a little splash of bleach will solve the problem...much easier to prevent it rather than kill it once started.

 

[limulus]

So the little ice probe does the job? Are the spigots still attached to your primaries? If so, I would definitely keep some sort of sanitizer in the water and then you'll need to clean them really well before use. Have you come up with a way to address this?

 

[Revvy]

I've done both starsan and bleach in my baths. Like anything, especially in summer, things that are in a sense stagnant can start to smell.

 

[brewzombie]

Summertime absolutely, less in the winter, a little splash of bleach will solve the problem...much easier to prevent it rather than kill it once started.

Will prolonged contact with dilute bleach damage the plastic of the cooler? I seem to recall bleach making plastic brittle over time...but then I guess the concentrated stuff comes in plastic so had bad could it be?
Not sure I'd like the smell either though. It's in my home office.

I do have some foaming starsan that I don't like, so maybe I'll use that to get rid of it first.

No one's tried bromine (hot tub chemical)?

 

[brewzombie]

So the little ice probe does the job?

Still haven't tested with a fermenting batch, so I'll report back when I have as far as if the iceprobe works. While it isn't engineered to cool the amount of liquid I'm using, my thinking is that the insulated cooler will handle a lot of the burden on the iceprobe to chill since there won't be much heat getting in. Once the setpoint is reached (before adding the fermenting wort), the extra heat from the fermenting yeast shouldn't be too much for the iceprobe to handle...BUT we'll see.

 

[kmat123]

Will prolonged contact with dilute bleach damage the plastic of the cooler? I seem to recall bleach making plastic brittle over time...but then I guess the concentrated stuff comes in plastic so had bad could it be?
Not sure I'd like the smell either though. It's in my home office.

I do have some foaming starsan that I don't like, so maybe I'll use that to get rid of it first.

No one's tried bromine (hot tub chemical)?

Bleach diluted to a proper concentration shouldn't do any damage to plastic and will keep the water from getting nasty.

 

[brewzombie]

Are the spigots still attached to your primaries? If so, I would definitely keep some sort of sanitizer in the water and then you'll need to clean them really well before use. Have you come up with a way to address this?

There's no spigots on my buckets. I use an autosiphon to transfer. So there's no issue with contaminating spigots.

 

[Nova5]

Simple solution to the stagnent nature of a bath, a recirculating pump. just get a simple tiny pond pump from Slowes or Home Despot. doesn't need much lift or speed capactity. hell 1gpm would more more than sufficent to keep a nice flow.

 

[brewzombie]

I've done both starsan and bleach in my baths. Like anything, especially in summer, things that are in a sense stagnant can start to smell.

How much starsan do you use for this application? 1.6 mL per L (standard for sanitizing equipment) seems like overkill (and expensive) for keeping the water bath from smelling. My bath probably has 80 L of water in it.

 

[theredben]

That is why bleach has been reccomended. 80L would only need like 2-4L which runs like 4$.

 

[brewzombie]

That is why bleach has been reccomended. 80L would only need like 2-4L which runs like 4$.

If bleach is the popular recommendation, then I think I'll opt for bromine spa/hot-tub tablets. They're easy to use, cheap, non-smelly and long-lasting.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

[brewzombie]

Just an update:

I ended up not using any sanitizer in the water bath to see how things went. I had originally opted for a bromine tablet usually used in hot tubs, but got scared that the bromine might leach into the beer through my plastic buckets (as detailed in the link below):

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/will-bromine-chlorine-permeate-plastic-bucket-212389/

After a month at ale fermentation temperature, there is definitely an oil slick forming on top of the water, but it doesn't smell yet unless you keep the lid on the contraption closed...but a lot of that scent is from the burping air-locks. I'll probably change the water next week when I brew again and bottle my first temp-controlled beer (Brown Porter).

I'm STILL considering some kind of antiseptic in the water, but have shied away from chlorine bleach or bromine for fear of poisoning myself and have even shied away from starsan because the acidity of it will eat through my metal thermowell, which is submerged in the water. I'm wondering if I should use some kind of glass thermowell (it will be a little insulated by the glass but resistant to the starsan's acidity).

Super happy with the temperature control so far. Stable at 19 C. I'll soon be testing it at 18 C for a Scotch Ale and then 17 C for a California Common.

 

[Hang Glider]

FWIW - I use StarSan - but I certainly don't make it sanitizing solution strength - just a little splash in the water bath. I also have a tiny fountain pump dropped in there, just to keep things circulating. No problems.

 

[rcrabb22]

I have a pump circulating water and the water in my Rubbermaid tub will still start to grow algae after a spell, like said before especially in the summer. I use a bit a bleach from time to time but I also make sure I have clean outsides of my fermenters as well. When I clean the insides, I clean the outsides too. I brew in the garage and always place a clean towel on the floor before putting a fermenter down. I always change out the water once a month. I bought a harbor freight submersible pump to drain most of the water to the floor drain in basement.

 

[brewzombie]

FWIW - I use StarSan - but I certainly don't make it sanitizing solution strength - just a little splash in the water bath. I also have a tiny fountain pump dropped in there, just to keep things circulating. No problems.

Hang Glider: What approximate dilution of full-strength StarSan do you think you use? Is your pump just a small submerged pump that moves water around? Is there any kind of microbial filter in the pump to scrub the water?

rcrabb22: I like your setup. If I used glass primaries, I would probably opt for bleach or bromine too. Don't want to chance it with the plastic buckets though. They may not be resistant to Cl or Br containing molecules.

 

[LordUlrich]

Just changing out the water every once in a while should keep any issues at bay. Part of the reason chlorine is used in water supplies is it provides a disinfection residual (AKA prevents stuff from growing in the pipes and tanks and stuff. The chlorine will keep things at by for a day or two (more for those with chlorimine). Also remember basically everything grows much slower at cooler temperatures and pure water has basically no nutrients. If you don't want to deal with chemicals, just swap out some of the water (say 1/3 to 1/2) every week or so and you should be fine.

FYI i do not use water baths myself, i use my old dorm fridge, and a brew belt.

 

[rcrabb22]

Hang Glider: What approximate dilution of full-strength StarSan do you think you use? Is your pump just a small submerged pump that moves water around? Is there any kind of microbial filter in the pump to scrub the water?

rcrabb22: I like your setup. If I used glass primaries, I would probably opt for bleach or bromine too. Don't want to chance it with the plastic buckets though. They may not be resistant to Cl or Br containing molecules.

Thanks. I should note I bought another 30 gal Rubbermaid tub and nested them. If you look at the pictures the tub walls were under a lot of pressure and bowed out quite a bit. With nested tubs no worries now. You do need fill the floor gap between the nested tubs to get a solid base for carboys/buckets/Better Bottles. Three 2"x3"s laying flat lengthwise did the trick.

 

[springer]

I have used bleach in the tub but really the water bath is short term anyways I take the fermentors out after a week or so, active fermentation is over . If something needs longer than that I use a fermatation cabinet say for the lagers

 

[Hang Glider]

Hang Glider: What approximate dilution of full-strength StarSan do you think you use? Is your pump just a small submerged pump that moves water around? Is there any kind of microbial filter in the pump to scrub the water?

I don't think I've measured, but my tank holds 2-3 carboys, so it probably holds about 10-15 gallons, considering displacement. I'm guessing around a quarter ounce, maybe less.

No filter - just a small submerged pump to move the water, keep temps stable around the tank.