Fermentation jacket/cooler....your thoughts

[jcojr72]

Here is the scenario, I have recently moved to an apartment in the city and have much less space than I used to, although I did manage to make space for a kegerator. For the first couple brews here I have cleared out the kegerator to use as a fermentation chamber, but it it's a huge PITA and I do not have draft beer while I am fermenting. So here is the idea.

I am thinking of buying one of the Cool Brewing cooler bags. When fermenting I will place it next to my kegerator. I will dedicate 1 of my 3 kegs to be filled with water in the kegerator. I will run vinyl tubing out of the kegerator and wrap the fermenter with it and then back into to the corney. I will install my march pump inline, and control it with a ranco and probe into the carboy. I figure that the 5 gallons of water in the corney should have no problem holding the carboy to ale fermentation temps. I might not be able to cold crash or lager, but I can live with that.

One concern I have is using the vinyl tubing. Ideally it would be copper wrapping the carboy, but I have a ton of vinyl, and thinking it should be sufficient to hold an ale fermentation temperature. The other concern is keeping the march pump primed between cycles. It is a closed loop, so hopefully it won't be an issue.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[jabba11]

I use the cooler bags seems..your idea seems like a lot of work but may hold temps more steady if you can manage to dial it in. I just use Ice in bottles in mine. The temps can fluctuate a couple of degrees but ive never NOT been able to keep my ales fermenting just fine in them with just the "ice bottles". Not sure about the cold tranfer of the vinyl tubing but Im sure its less than the copper. Still you may get enough cold transfer for it to work.

 

[Saboral]

I've used a similar setup to try and cool my draft tower; unfortunately, the temperature gradient is such that between the vinyl tubing and the heat generated by pumping you'll never really get it cold enough.

You might be able to make it work if you:
Use copper tubing to wrap the fermenter
Use an inline put in lieu of a submersible
Consider using a bucket with glycol instead of water. When I used water I found it eventually turned to sludge and I think it also cultured some nasty bacteria.

 

[NeoBrew]

I use a pretty similar system. I think this link will take you to the part of the thread when I did what you are talking about. Otherwise it's post #35

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/fermentation-temp-control-cheap-432191/index4.html#post5563542

Since I posted that I've gone through a few different cold syncs. When my keezer is empty enough I use a 5 gallon bucket. I have tried using a 1 gallon paint jug, but it doesn't seem to have the thermal mass to do the job.

I'm currently using a corny as you described. I've also built an arduino based two stage controller to run it. I use a heat panel underneath my carboy for the heating side.

I've been very happy with the way it works. As I got into summer here I had to through an extra blanket around it to let it keep up. I'm fermenting at ale temps. It's typically 5-10 degrees below ambient.

 

[jcojr72]

Thanks fora the replies. Aplikowski, what do you use for a pump now that you are using a corney as your reservoir? Also, since you are only using a blanket to insulate, do you have any condensation issues?

 

[NeoBrew]

I've got a cheap sump pump from Harbor Freight. It is the +/-264 gym model. I put it right in the keg. It gives a nice slow flow rate with my setup.

I've not had any condensation issues with my fermenter. I've been within a few degrees of ambient so far. That doesn't seem to be enough to condense. I do however run my dehumidifier in my basement all the time. I'm sure that helps too.

When I was using an open bucket in my keezer I did get some condensation in there. The open corny doesn't seem to be a problem.


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