Fermentation Temp Control: What do you use?

[maida7]

What do you use for fermentation temp control and how do you like it?

I'm toying with the idea of geting a cheap used fridge and Ranco digital two stage temp controler from more beer. Currently I just use ambient house & basement temps and I'm able to keep it steady between 64 and 68F. But summer is harder and there are some Belgians that would be better if I could do a steady 72F

 

[IrregularPulse]

I use a Love for my keezer, a generic home one for my fermenting fridge and have aranoc to be used on an electric HLT. The generic home thermostat's advantage was it's price tag. Love's advantage is small foot print for keezer build. The Ranco's advantage I think will be it portability and self containment.
I tihnk your DIY level and final desired outcome will tell you which is good for your application. Love and Ranco and Johnson are all going to keep constant temps.

 

[david_42]

I've got a Ranco for my kegger and one for my fermenting fridge. They've been working fine for 5 and 7 years respectively.

 

[OMJ]

I use a chest freezer and a ranco controller. My basement never gets cold enough to have to worry about applying heat and if it did I would just add a lightbulb that stays on all the time to the mix

 

[schristian619]

same. Chest freezer and a ranco. I also have a sanyo 4912 witha johnson controls for fermenting, and another one for cold crashing. I don;t have to worry about applying heat in my apt. either, so all is good.

 

[Brew-boy]

I use a fridge with a two stage ranco controller and a fermwrap, this way I can cool and heat at the same time. Largers and Ales anytime of the year for me.

 

[maida7]

I use a fridge with a two stage ranco controller and a fermwrap, this way I can cool and heat at the same time. Largers and Ales anytime of the year for me.

This is exactly what I'm looking at getting.

Did you get your two stage ranco from morebeer?
How percise is the control? Do you set it and forget it or do you watch it constantly and adjusted it? Any tips?

 

[rcrabb22]

Low tech for me right now

27 gal Rubbermaid tub, $9 pond pump to keep water circulating

$12, 1500 watt aquarium heater to heat water, ambient temp of tub in winter is 61F. I bought a Ranco temp controller to regulate the aquarium heater since the lowest I could set it was 69F.

I can set the water level about an inch below the wort level. Any higher and the Better Bottles want to float.

 

[mummasan]

I have a small fridge with a love control that keeps perfect temps for fermenting. Having a dedicated fermenting fridge made a big difference in the quality of my finished beer.

 

[Whut]

Someone please post a pic of how you're using a light bulb as I just can't seem to wrap my head around this. The DIY portion of my brain tells me you're embedding a light socket in the side of your fermenter, sealing the opening, and then screwing a bulb in to it. I could do this but surely there's an easier way.

 

[allanmac00]

Low tech for me right now

27 gal Rubbermaid tub, $9 pond pump to keep water circulating

$12, 1500 watt aquarium heater to heat water, ambient temp of tub in winter is 61F. I bought a Ranco temp controller to regulate the aquarium heater since the lowest I could set it was 69F.

I can set the water level about an inch below the wort level. Any higher and the Better Bottles want to float.

How is this setup working for you? I want to brew some ales in my relatively cool basement. Can you maintain temps, say, a constant 68?

 

[Brew-boy]

This is exactly what I'm looking at getting.

Did you get your two stage ranco from morebeer?
How percise is the control? Do you set it and forget it or do you watch it constantly and adjusted it? Any tips?

I did get mine from Morebeer. I can control the heating to cooling with in 1 degree. Works perfect for me, set it and forget type of setup.

 

[Paddle_Head]

How is this setup working for you? I want to brew some ales in my relatively cool basement. Can you maintain temps, say, a constant 68?

I have something similar, although more ghetto overall. I'm keeping my water in the mid 60's despite the air in the basement hitting the 40's sometime.

I went with a smaller tub for one carboy to minimize the load on the heater (2000w). I also got the tub off the cement floor and onto some rubber mats to limit heat transfer. I may make an insulated lid to help keep the heat from radiating out of the water.

 

[EvilGnome6]

I have a Haier NuCool 2.8 with a Love controller (two of them, actually). They work great for controlling fermentation temperatures. The only thing they don't do very well is crash cooling.

 

[Banjoman76]

My Michigan basement is the Twilight Zone for temps.
Too warm for a true lager and a tad cool for ales.
So I use a heating pad set on low beneath my bucket.

 

[Beavdowg]

I have a Haier NuCool 2.8 with a Love controller (two of them, actually). They work great for controlling fermentation temperatures. The only thing they don't do very well is crash cooling.

Where do you get this Haier fridge?

 

[EvilGnome6]

Where do you get this Haier fridge?

Target is the only store that carries them. Check out this thread for some details on what modifications are needed and how they perform.

 

[rcrabb22]

How is this setup working for you? I want to brew some ales in my relatively cool basement. Can you maintain temps, say, a constant 68?

sorry for the delayed response. Its working fine for me as is. I can maintain any temp from 61F to 72F for as long as I want in dead of winter. As spring progresses my low temps go up. By July, forget it as I can't keep the water below 70 without ice and then my temps fluctuate. Last summer I didn't brew in July, August and Sept..

 

[Proetus]

Johnson A419. Can be found multiple places online. Works like a champ.

 

[xinunix]

Haier chest freezer and one of these Johnson Controls controllers

The peace of mind it brings to know your temps are OK is worth the investment alone.

 

[commonlaw]

Chest freezer off of craigslist, dual stage Ranco, and one of those heater pads that you use for the bottom of a reptile cage. The heater is stuck to the inside side of the freezer. I was worried it wouldn't heat things up enough, but I haven been getting really stable temps with this setup. Perfect for dialing in fermentation temps for ales and lagers.

 

[addis29]

Someone please post a pic of how you're using a light bulb as I just can't seem to wrap my head around this. The DIY portion of my brain tells me you're embedding a light socket in the side of your fermenter, sealing the opening, and then screwing a bulb in to it. I could do this but surely there's an easier way.

Just wire the light bulb socket to a baseboard heating thermostat, Set the thermostat at desired temp and the bulb will turn on when temp gets to low. I bought the cheapest analog thermostat at lowes for about 20 bucks.

 

[RichBenn]

My temperature controller is me and a bathtub of water with a towel around the carboy in the summer. Our well water is always around 55 degrees, so I just check the temperature each day during active fermentation. Drain a little and then add more cold, if necessary.

I the winter, I put an electric heater in the bathroom that has a temperature gauge and a thermostat. The carboy is wrapped in a towel to dampen changes. But typically I don't need to use it except when doing wines at 68-70 degrees.

An extra indoor/outdoor temperature indicator's probe goes under the towel, next to (not in) the wort. I always do ales, and always keep it around 62 degrees +/- 2 degrees. Maybe 59 degrees during the most active ferment, as the wort temp will probably be higher. Works great with minimal effort and energy use.

 

[boredatwork]

I have a Haier NuCool 2.8 with a Love controller (two of them, actually). They work great for controlling fermentation temperatures. The only thing they don't do very well is crash cooling.

Will this work for fermenting a lager? Will it be able to get down to 50F? I read reviews online (unrelated to beer sites) and a lot of people were not happy with this fridge.

 

[EvilGnome6]

Will this work for fermenting a lager? Will it be able to get down to 50F? I read reviews online (unrelated to beer sites) and a lot of people were not happy with this fridge.

It should work fine for lagers. I had a batch in the fermenter at 78F and set the controller to 35F. It got down to 52F in 24 hours and 40F 24 hours after that. It wouldn't go any lower than that. This was in a 78F room. Maintaining the temperature, even at 40F, wasn't an issue.

When my room was 68F, I was able to get down to 35F and maintain it.

In general, it performs well at maintaining temperatures but if you're looking to quickly crash cool a batch, it isn't the fridge for you.

It's going to struggle if you're looking for ice cold temperatures in a really warm room and are constantly opening the door. That's probably why a lot of people aren't terribly pleased with it.

 

[krugulitis]

I love the red bull fridge I have. I have that and a johnson temp control device and they work perfectly together. The fridge is shaped like an actual red bull can and a 6.5 gallon carboy fits in it perfectly. I can get temps to freezing within an hour or so. Got it for free on craigslist. Takes up waaaay less room than a normal fridge.

 

[Hoofer]

I picked up a new Fridgidaire 7.2cuft chest freezer at sears outlet for 150 bucks and a inkbird itc 306 on amazon for 40 bucks. I still have to decide how to run heat. Thinking of rigging a small hair dryer and set it on low. It will be a great set up for right about 2 hundred for all new stuff.

 

[DurtyChemist]

I picked up a new Fridgidaire 7.2cuft chest freezer at sears outlet for 150 bucks and a inkbird itc 306 on amazon for 40 bucks. I still have to decide how to run heat. Thinking of rigging a small hair dryer and set it on low. It will be a great set up for right about 2 hundred for all new stuff.

Did you realize this thread was almost 6 years old before commenting?

 

[day_trippr]

I'm ok with it. There's something to be said for avoiding thread proliferation

As to the question, you need a surprisingly small amount of heat to warm a fridge or freezer.
I use a 40W lightbulb "heater" in a 17cf top-freezer fridge for cold-season fermentation
(brewery is in unheated space and the ambient gets down to ~58°F in the dead of January)...

Cheers!

 

[user 141939]

I prefer water bath.