Fermentation chamber questions

[EMahn]

I'm considering getting a temperature control for a freezer in my garage to make a fermentation chamber.

I have a couple questions:

• Is it more effective to control the temperature in the freezer by letting the probe hang in the freezer, or to more directly control the wort temp by taping the probe to the side of the fermentor? I guess common sense says the latter, but depending on my starting wort temperature, I could imagine that the freezer will kick on really hard at first until the fermentor temp stabilizes.
  
  
• I may be unable to get cooled wort temp any lower than 77 degrees with my immersion chiller because of ground water temperature. I really don't want to do changes to chilling (pre-chiller, plate chiller, CF chiller, etc). How much is it going to affect the fermentation to pitch at 77? I imagine it will take a few hours for the chamber to bring it to where I want it. Will the damage be done by the time the wort cools down? In this case I am using WLP001 which is rated 68-73 degrees.

Thanks.

 

[Rockn_M]

You'll want to tape your probe to the outside of the fermentation chamber. This will make sure that your regulating the wort temperature instead of the air temp.

I cool my wort as much as I can with the immersion chiller then just put it in the fermentation chamber and let it cool for a few hours. Once the wort is close to pitching temps go ahead and pitch.

 

[EMahn]

I cool my wort as much as I can with the immersion chiller then just put it in the fermentation chamber and let it cool for a few hours. Once the wort is close to pitching temps go ahead and pitch.

Ok, that would be perfect. I wasn't sure if letting wort sit in the sealed fermentor without yeast for a few hours was a no-no.

 

[Rockn_M]

Ok, that would be perfect. I wasn't sure if letting wort sit in the sealed fermentor without yeast for a few hours was a no-no.

Nah. Just don't forget about it like I did overnight once. I was worried that an effection could have taken over but if your sanitation is pretty good, no need to worry.

 

[dobe12]

I try not too, but have chilled overnight on several occasions. They were lagers and I couldn't chill below about 70F. Like Rockn_M said, if your sanitation practices are good, you'll be ok.

As for the probe, most say attach it to the fermentor and wrap it in bubble wrap or foam. Personally I just hang mine inside the ferm fridge. I figured out the difference that my temp probe reads on average compared to the temperature of the wort/beer. There's about a 4-5 degree difference between the two, but I know that, so it's no big deal to simply compensate for the offset.

 

[dwDrummer]

Nah. Just don't forget about it like I did overnight once. I was worried that an effection could have taken over but if your sanitation is pretty good, no need to worry.

I've left my wort sit overnight several times with no ill effect. Good sanitation is key. When you tape your probe to the side of your fermenter, fold up a paper towel several times and place it over your probe and then duct tape over the whole thing. This will slightly insulate your probe from ambient temperatures.

You can also use a thermowell, which is what I use and have not looked back.
http://www.brewershardware.com/Straight-Wall-Thermowells/

 

[Takuie]

I used to tape mine to the bucket as well, but now with more than one going at a time I attached a small glass jar of sanitizer to the top of my fermentatorator and keep my temp probe in that instead. I set my temp 1 degree lower than what I actually want to counter the slight warming effect the wort goes through when fermentation is very active. My last 3 batches have turned out perfectly since doing this and I don't have to tape a probe to the side of my bucket. Just an idea.