DuraChiller

[Oldyote]

I've been thinking about building a son of fermentation chiller but have not wanted to add one more item to my brew room. I found this Rubbermaid 75 quart cooler (DuraChill) at my local home improvement store. The cooler was $50.00 and the foam cost me $18.00. I let me beer ferment in my workshop/brewshop and the temps can run between 68 and 75. I'm not able to dial in the temp exactly but have been able to stay well within my comfort zone. With the double lid I can just lift the one side without disturbing the carboy. When I need to replace ice (frozen jugs of water) all I need to do is open the lid. Nice thing is that I can still use it as a big cooler when I need to as I didn't have to make any cuts or remove anything.

In the bottom picture the larger thermometer is showing the room temp (71.8), the smaller thermomemter is showing the temp inside the chiller (61).

 

[buzzkill]

looks like 2 carboys would fit in that thing.

 

[Oldyote]

Two would fit, just not sure if there would be much room left for ice.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Nice simple cold box, I like it. That being said, I never really had an appreciation for the "son of fermentation chiller". With the parts and labor involved, I figured one could source a used freezer and temp controller and not be changing ice.

 

[Oldyote]

Someday a temperature controlled freezer is in my future. Right now we are getting ready for a move so simple and easy to move is best

 

[vegas20s]

how often do you have to change the ice?

 

[Oldyote]

I've been trying different frozen bottles ranging from frozen pop bottles to gallon jugs. This has been mostly to see how different sizes would impact temperature. A full gallon jug will last 24 to 48 hours.

 

[vegas20s]

Is there water in the cooler too, or just the I gallon jug of ice? If water, how deep?

 

[Oldyote]

No water just a jug of ice. The most I've put in it is a one gallon jug and that took the temp down to 59. I've not tried more than that as 57 was the lowest I wanted to go. I'm sure it would hold up to 4 gallons of ice.

 

[vegas20s]

I've been using the evap method to get my fermenter down from 78 to 68-70.
Having to water my beer every morning is kinda of a pain. But the sealed ice box method looks like it might be a bit simpler.