Freezer Temperature Question

[CheemsAF]

I'm currently fermenting a kolsch in the warm summer months here in CO. It's in my upright freezer that has an analog temperature controller operating the temperature. I thought I remember reading somewhere that you want to put the thermometer into a glass of water inside the freezer and then adjust the analog thermostat. I did this and the freezer will remain off for about 24-36 hours at a time. I have a thermometer inside the freezer and it reads around 70 degrees after the freezer has been off for quite sometime, but the water still feels about 55-60 degrees, definitely colder than the 80 degree garage. When the freezer does kick on, the inside air temps drop to about 35 degrees until it can cool that water down again.
I'm worried that the freezer is staying too cold at times driving the water and beer temps below about 55 degrees.
Any thoughts?

 

[Catt22]

I'm currently fermenting a kolsch in the warm summer months here in CO. It's in my upright freezer that has an analog temperature controller operating the temperature. I thought I remember reading somewhere that you want to put the thermometer into a glass of water inside the freezer and then adjust the analog thermostat. I did this and the freezer will remain off for about 24-36 hours at a time. I have a thermometer inside the freezer and it reads around 70 degrees after the freezer has been off for quite sometime, but the water still feels about 55-60 degrees, definitely colder than the 80 degree garage. When the freezer does kick on, the inside air temps drop to about 35 degrees until it can cool that water down again.
I'm worried that the freezer is staying too cold at times driving the water and beer temps below about 55 degrees.
Any thoughts?

Yes, get rid of the water bottle and position the probe in the air near the fermenter. The probe in the water is causing a severe lag in the controller response time and this causes wide temperature swings. I use a separate indoor/outdoor type digital thermometer to monitor the fermenter temperature. I cover the thermometer probe with some bubble foil insulation and bungee it to the side of the fermenter. This gives me a fair approximation of the beer temperature. I let the thermometer govern and adjust the controller accordingly. The air temperature in the freezer will fluctuate some, but the beer will be much more stable due to it's very large thermal mass. You will inevitably get all kinds of differing opinions on this. The topic comes up fairly often. I tried the water bottle approach and abandoned that method long ago. It did not work very well at all for me. Good luck with your Kolsch. That's one of my favorite styles and I brew it fairly often.

 

[JakeTheHopDog]

Yes, get rid of the water bottle and position the probe in the air near the fermenter. The probe in the water is causing a severe lag in the controller response time and this causes wide temperature swings. I use a separate indoor/outdoor type digital thermometer to monitor the fermenter temperature. I cover the thermometer probe with some bubble foil insulation and bungee it to the side of the fermenter. This gives me a fair approximation of the beer temperature. I let the thermometer govern and adjust the controller accordingly. The air temperature in the freezer will fluctuate some, but the beer will be much more stable due to it's very large thermal mass. You will inevitably get all kinds of differing opinions on this. The topic comes up fairly often. I tried the water bottle approach and abandoned that method long ago. It did not work very well at all for me. Good luck with your Kolsch. That's one of my favorite styles and I brew it fairly often.

+1 on this. I keep my air temp at 60* and my fermenter stays at 64*.

 

[CheemsAF]

Alright, thanks guys...I'm going to get rid of the water approach & try the bubble foil.

 

[maida7]

I have a digital controller so that may make a difference, but here is what I do.

I tape the probe to the side of the fermenter. This gets the fermentation temps within 1 degree of whatever I set it to. Works perfectly!