redneck temperature control

[Maylar]

Cider season is here and in a couple weeks I'll be starting my 2018 batch. My temperature control is zero - I'm at the mercy of whatever Mother Nature gets my unheated basement to. For this year's batch I'd like to get it into the low 60's which is possible in January but not in November.

I'll be starting in a plastic bucket then racking to a big 6.5 gal glass carboy. I don't have anything big enough to put either of those into that I could fill with water and ice packs if the temp is too high. I'm looking for suggestions for what can be done on the cheap for crude cooling of a fermentor.

TIA

 

[IslandLizard]

For fermentation fridge "overflow" I use a large Igloo (~30 gallon) cooler that fits two 6.5 gallon brew buckets side by side. It's filled with cold water (and a touch of non-chlorine Bleach to prevent mold and nasties growing) forming a water jacket, that's being doped with a few frozen water bottles 1x or 2x a day. I drape a thick sleeping bag around the whole system which lives in my lower level bathroom, which is around 65-72F year round, depending on season.

A 19 gallon storage tote as a water jacket can hold one bucket. These "swamp coolers" don't take up all that much more room than the bucket(s) themselves.

You only need to control the temps tightly during the first week (or 2) until the majority of fermentation is done.

 

[kh54s10]

Cider season is here and in a couple weeks I'll be starting my 2018 batch. My temperature control is zero - I'm at the mercy of whatever Mother Nature gets my unheated basement to. For this year's batch I'd like to get it into the low 60's which is possible in January but not in November.

I'll be starting in a plastic bucket then racking to a big 6.5 gal glass carboy. I don't have anything big enough to put either of those into that I could fill with water and ice packs if the temp is too high. I'm looking for suggestions for what can be done on the cheap for crude cooling of a fermentor.

TIA

This one will hold 2 carboys. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Sterili...Storage-Tote-in-Lapis-Blue-19481004/202097689

 

[Maylar]

Thanks. Great idea - a big azz tote. What's the best ice packs for this job? The ones I get from Googling are little things for lunch boxes.

 

[Novacor]

Thanks. Great idea - a big azz tote. What's the best ice packs for this job? The ones I get from Googling are little things for lunch boxes.

I use frozen 1 or 2 liter soda bottles, depending on how much I need to drop the temperature.

 

[blubrewbbq]

I use frozen 1 or 2 liter soda bottles, depending on how much I need to drop the temperature.

+1 on this. Save old soda bottles, juice bottles or milk jugs when they are empty. I tend to keep about 5 or 6 in the freezer. That way in the summer months I can rotate 2 to 3 bottles twice a day in the summer months down here in Atlanta. Assuming I'm fermenting in the garage.