Equipment needed for cold fermentation

[stone1ipa]

My current setup is BIAB five gallon batches and ferment in glass carboys. Like many others here, the summer months get warm and I am looking for a way to have temperature controlled equipment. I am all about convenience so Im looking to upgrade from the Plastic Ice bath methods many use here. That being said I'm trying to get the best bang for my buck. I'm currently looking at the "Brewjacket" (300 dollars). But if I'm spending that much I have a voice in the back of my head saying just invest in a conical stainless temp control fermenter. The pro's is I could do closed transfers into my keg, yeast capture, etc etc. The con is the price tag in addition to most of those conical's are 7 or 15 gallons. (If i go that route do I need to worry about all the head space in the fermenter?).

Does anyone have any personal recommendations based on owning either device and are there any folks out there that have alternative (but hands free) solutions to cold fermenation. I know a lot of folks buy old refers and freezers and rig them to temp control but electricity is very expensive in CA and I'm not sure it would be more cost effective than just buying a brew jacket.

Thoughts?

 

[Jag75]

I was in the same boat with my fastferment . Had to hang ice bottles around it and zip it up in a jacket. It worked but only to a point. You could do the swamp cooler route. I just got tired of switching out bottles .
I then went to using an inkbird and a small chest freezer. Worked great but it was at my daughters house and I got tired of lugging carboys back and forth even though it was across the street.
I made a decision to go the spike cf5 with temp control , did the diy ac glycol chiller . I have the solution set at 60 and it hardly comes on . The igloo holds temp pretty dang good.

I decided on the spike and it I am happy with it. They have zero interest for 1yr so that's the route i took . The fermenter is really nice and I'm looking at doing my first batch in it soon.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

The brew jacket works, i use it for lagers, and it doesn’t take up a lot of room, you can use many different types of fermenters.
On the down side, it is not built to cool hot wort, condensation happens causing a minor mildew problem in the insulating cover, which is easy to wipe down and put in the sunlight. If the sound of a fan troubles you, you cannot hide it in a closet with the door shut.