New Brewer!

[RedlegEd]

To The Top! I actually have my old mini fridge from college in storage and was trying to figure out how to turn that into a fermenter.

Hi. Welcome to the obsession and HBT! If you continue to do 1 gal batches, your mini-fridge might be the perfect fermentation chamber. There are basically two ways to go about this. One is a little more DIY where you get an STC-1000 and build your own temp controller, the other is more turn-key (but more $) where you buy a controller from inkBird (one of the sponsors on HBT.) In either case, it's fairly easy and gives great results. BTW, Inkbird is having a give-away for one, so get in on it! If you decide to go the DIY route, there are a ton of threads on how to build it (usually <$20.) Good luck. Oh, and your beer looks fine, you may want to cover it so it doesn't get light-struck. Ed


ETA: Good luck on the buck!

 

[max384]

If you can give me a few hours I'll plug my recipe in the program. Trying to get that monster buck!

However, while I'm sitting here I would love to learn about that equation you were trying to give me earlier.

That's an equation for pitching rate. It's honestly WAY easier to just use the Mr. Malty pitching calculator.

 

[SouthernMissPKT]

Hi. Welcome to the obsession and HBT! If you continue to do 1 gal batches, your mini-fridge might be the perfect fermentation chamber. There are basically two ways to go about this. One is a little more DIY where you get an STC-1000 and build your own temp controller, the other is more turn-key (but more $) where you buy a controller from inkBird (one of the sponsors on HBT.) In either case, it's fairly easy and gives great results. BTW, Inkbird is having a give-away for one, so get in on it! If you decide to go the DIY route, there are a ton of threads on how to build it (usually <$20.) Good luck. Oh, and your beer looks fine, you may want to cover it so it doesn't get light-struck. Ed


ETA: Good luck on the buck!

Yea, I only uncovered long enough to change the blow-off for the airlock aND take the picture. It's in a box covered.

Does the inkBird controller not tax the compressor? Just seems like that type of controlING would be strenuous.

 

[RedlegEd]

Does the inkBird controller not tax the compressor? Just seems like that type of controlING would be strenuous.

No, it's not a continuously short-term cycling on/off. Your carboy will have some thermal mass, so it will take a little while for it to warm/cool to the desired temp. Once it reaches that temp, the mini-fridge is insulated, so it will help slow the process of change even more. I think your biggest challenge will be to your ferm temps cool, rather than warm. So once it cools the wort down to your desired temp (say 66°F,) and the fridge cuts off, it'll take a while for the wort to free rise up to the point where the fridge comes back on. Most folks tape the sensor to the side of the carboy / fermentor then cover that with insulation so the sensor is measuring the temperature of the wort/beer, not the ambient temperature of the fermentation chamber. Hope this helps explain things a little better. Ed

 

[SouthernMissPKT]

No, it's not a continuously short-term cycling on/off. Your carboy will have some thermal mass, so it will take a little while for it to warm/cool to the desired temp. Once it reaches that temp, the mini-fridge is insulated, so it will help slow the process of change even more. I think your biggest challenge will be to your ferm temps cool, rather than warm. So once it cools the wort down to your desired temp (say 66°F,) and the fridge cuts off, it'll take a while for the wort to free rise up to the point where the fridge comes back on. Most folks tape the sensor to the side of the carboy / fermentor then cover that with insulation so the sensor is measuring the temperature of the wort/beer, not the ambient temperature of the fermentation chamber. Hope this helps explain things a little better. Ed

Explains it perfectly! I did register for the contest but at ~$30 that's, IMO, a cheap investment for this hobby.

 

[SouthernMissPKT]

Oh okay, I see. It looks like you have a smack pack that is 125 cc. When new those have approximately 100 billion yeast cells, which depending upon the yeast age and your OG, may actually be okay to pitch in one gallon.

When you make a starter, generally the smallest size you would make would be 1 liter, which would be appropriate for most 5 gallon batches. For a one gallon batch, you won't need a starter.

Do you know what the OG of your next planned brew is going to be?

Sorry it took so long to get back to you. The OG according to brewerfriend is going to be around 1.055

 

[max384]

Sorry it took so long to get back to you. The OG according to brewerfriend is going to be around 1.055

If you're doing a one gallon batch, about half of the smack pack would be an appropriate pitch, assuming the yeast is somewhat fresh. If I were you, I'd make two batches or a two gallon batch... Because I'd hate to throw out half a smack pack.

 

[Zamboni_man_78]

welcome, enjoy the abundance of info on the forum, I do. and I just started before Christmas so I'm still learning too!