Next upgrade?

[rklinck]

I guess my question is what happens if the chamber, for whatever reason, drops below the desired temperature on the controller? There's no "warming" mechanism is there?

Well, that would only happen in one of two circumstances: the room temperature is below your desired temp for an extended period of time or the controller malfunctions and fails to turn off the freezer. We will ignore the second situation because in that case you are just screwed. If your room temperature is likely to be too low, you would need to install a heating mechanism. I think people will just put lights (seriously) into the freezer using another controller because these will produce enough heat to warm the chamber if necessary. I tend to think this would only be necessary if the chamber is in a garage or outdoor space in the winter. There is not too much harm if your fermenting chamber ends up a couple of degrees too cool.

 

[TheBS19]

Well, that would only happen in one of two circumstances: the room temperature is below your desired temp for an extended period of time or the controller malfunctions and fails to turn off the freezer. We will ignore the second situation because in that case you are just screwed. If your room temperature is likely to be too low, you would need to install a heating mechanism. I think people will just put lights (seriously) into the freezer using another controller because these will produce enough heat to warm the chamber if necessary. I tend to think this would only be necessary if the chamber is in a garage or outdoor space in the winter. There is not too much harm if your fermenting chamber ends up a couple of degrees too cool.

Yeah, like I said, I have a dedicated space in a finished basement so I can be pretty certain that won't be an issue.

So its basically just a defense for warming month fermentation where sunlight into rooms could warm room temperature faster than AC units/fans cool it AND a defense for the yeast/fermentation warming up the wort above its initial temperature and bringing it too high when there is no stabilizing mechanism present?


Thanks again!

 

[rklinck]

Yeah, like I said, I have a dedicated space in a finished basement so I can be pretty certain that won't be an issue.

So its basically just a defense for warming month fermentation where sunlight into rooms could warm room temperature faster than AC units/fans cool it AND a defense for the yeast/fermentation warming up the wort above its initial temperature and bringing it too high when there is no stabilizing mechanism present?


Thanks again!

You are correct. It will also allow you to brew lagers long term because you will have the ability to ferment at 50 degrees.

 

[Marc77]

I too am only a few brews in and my next project is temp control. I got the stc-1000 off of ebay for $16.50 and that included shipping. People have figured this out and they're getting more expensive.

If you're banned to the garage as I have been you might need a heating source depending on your climate. There are plenty of helpful threads around here and I'm simply going to get a tiny little heater that's $10 to $15 bucks. I'll end up using 2 inches of rigid insulation covered by plywood and then spray foam the insides to make sure there aren't any leaks. Then put a fan inside the fridge and run the wire out (sealed that hole too) and using a heating pad from a reptile store. They're fairly cheap. For me this will cover the 10 to 20 degree difference I need.

The other thing will be a good burner. I'm going to go with the Blichmann since at some point I'll be upgrading to 10 gallon batches and at that point I'll start kegging. I too am having to do things on the cheap.

Oh someone pointed out aeration of your beer. There's a great "how to" on here that shows how to aerate your beer simply using the venturi effect. I've seen several ideas on here that are cheap and easy. The simplest one I've seen is taking two hose clamps and putting them about a foot apart. Then use a hot piece of metal to burn a hole in the foot long section that's got clamps on either side. At that point work a hose into the hole. When you're running your beer out of your racking cane put the hose on it. As the wort flows into your carboy the hose in the middle will pull oxygen into the flow of your wort oxygenating it.

No point in buying expensive toys when you can do it cheap and easy. Cause I'm allllll about cheap and easy.

 

[mosquitocontrol]

My easy aeration solution:
Power drill and a paint mixer. Also works wonders to mix the mash and prevent dough balls. And use to stir the brew (on low) while the wort chiller is going.

In my opinion there's plenty of other things you can upgrade before aeration equipment. But others have different priorities.

 

[berger]

noob here. Does the paint mixer work ok? I know this will not work as well as an o2 tank. How long do you use the paint mixer in the cooled wort?

 

[BigFloyd]

Think of the STC-1000 as a fancy electronic switch that is wired into a standard household outlet that's all mounted in a "project box" of some sort. It senses the temperature with a probe (I tape mine to the bucket and cover with some bubble wrap) and powers on just one of the two outlets as needed. The freezer is plugged into the "cold" outlet. I have a DIY fermenter heater (light bulb socket in a paint can) plugged into the "warm" socket and placed inside the freezer.

I have my tolerance set at +/- 5*C. Let's say I set the target temp at 18*C (64.4*F). If the temp gets up to 18.5*C, the outlet for the freezer activates. Once the sensor says it's back down to 18*C, it turns that outlet off. It works the same way for the heater outlet if it gets down to 17.5*C.

It's a beautiful thing.

No point in buying expensive toys when you can do it cheap and easy. Cause I'm allllll about cheap and easy.

Right on brother.

 

[chickypad]

I guess my question is what happens if the chamber, for whatever reason, drops below the desired temperature on the controller? There's no "warming" mechanism is there?

I'm in a pretty mild climate so even with the chamber in the garage over 90% of the time I only need the cooling. When I do need the heating I use this hooked up to a dual controller. It works well for 1 or 2 buckets or carboys (I snake it between if I have 2). The reptile warming pads are similar, or as was also mentioned some use lights.

 

[Scuba_Stan]

I'm here in Los Angeles, and my biggest problem is always my beer room is too warm to ferment in, so I have to use a Chest freezer to keep a constant temperature.

But its interesting to see no one mentioned using an aquarium heater to keep your fermentation warm. I usually only have to use this method for Janurary and Feburary. But I have 35 Gallon storage bin with its sides reinforced. I fill it to about 3/4 full with water for 1 fermentation bucket or 1/2 full for 2. I then have a 100 watt aquarium heater and a small fountain (40gph) pump inside. The pump helps circulate the the water so its a more even temperature all around the bucket. My temp controller is set to the desired temp and thats all there is to it. I like this method better because the extra thermal mass buffers temperature changes.

This will also work for keeping beer cool by sticking the entire tub/fermentor in the fridge or chest freezer. The extra thermal mass acts as a nice buffer. The problem is fitting the tub in the freezer.