Fermentaton Cooling Concept

[hatrickwah]

Looking for some thoughts for others. I'm hoping someone has tried this. I'm in the process of moving to Texas where I plan to build a Glycol unit from an old A/C unit. I plan to use the glycol unit as a prechiller on a plate chiller with the tap water that then will chill my wort in my trusty CFC. The ultimate plan is for a pair of 20gal conical fermenters jacketed in copper coil but that is probably not going to happen until late this year, early next. In the meanwhile I'm looking for a way to keep control on my fermentation temperatures in the carboys I have.

I have two ideas on the how to approach this, but I want to feel one out over the other. My ideas are either to make a clone of this guys setup, smaller boxes, more batch specific, here.
My other idea is to take 1/2" or 3/8" aluminum or copper coil tubing, maybe 25 feet long and wrap individual fermenters in the coils, then put an insulated blanket over the carboys.
Either way I plan to use Fermtroller as my valve control software as my glycol will run continuously on a closed 3/4" or 1/2" insulated pvc loop. I am borrowing some ideas on my glycol system from the big micro setups. I have 1/2" 12v solenoid valves picked out on ebay for the controlled release of glycol to the fermentation chamber/coils. I just would like to know if anyone has had any success with the coil on the outside of the carboys, especially in the south? My thought is that this could save me a few inches of space and allow me to more precisely control my fermenters.
I should also note that I was hoping to cold crash my batches with either methodology. I suspect with the box method I can do this, but I don't think the coil could, or it could result in ice build up, and potentially broken carboys.
Thoughts? Thanks.

 

[djsethall]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, I like the idea, but could see some improvements made to it. For starters, I would like to see a unit tall enough to accomodate a racking cane w/o disturbing the yeast cake. I would also like to see a closed system so it doesnt leak anywhere. I noticed he has his hops in his freezer. A titmouse would suffocate within 30 seconds of being in my freezer due to the hop bags literally have to be punched in to just close the door. Another size factor would be a footprint large enough to accomodate 3 carboys for larger 15 gallon batches of lager. Other than that besides a wooden frame with semi airtight seals on hinges, its a go and is now on my project list. How many carboys will sit inside a standard over/under fridge?

 

[Double_D]

umm..why not just use a refrigerator with a temperature controler on it? A ranco ETC works very well.

 

[hatrickwah]

My plan at the moment is to have individual boxes (with lid on top for racking) and have the boxes fit one 10gal batch each. I can't brew any bigger now, so no point in building bigger in my book. I'm aiming to get it so the system can cold crash the beer once fermentation is up because the clarity that results is worth the extra effort.
As for using a fridge with a controller, I have thought of that, but my big issue with it is that I would have to pull the carboys out to rack, therefore disturbing the yeast cake on bottom. I will have the glycol unit, no doubts there, I have most of the pieces already, so why not take advantage of a system that could be very efficient and add more uses for it. Ultimately, these boxes should be a stepping stone to bigger and better things (ss conical) but for today I need a solution that is cost effective.