Should I buy a jacket for 5GAL carboy sitting in a temp. controlled kegerator? Located outside

[Kornssj]

Hi All,

I'm having issues with keeping my temperature from dropping below suggested 68 Degrees F.

I have a 5GAL carboy inside of my kegerator. It is currently located outside and its my first time placing the thing outside for fermentation purposes. Temperature at night drops to 47-50 degress and probably going to get colder. I woke up this mornign and the temperature was reading 63.5 degrees F as shown in the picture.

What should i do to help resolve the issue???
Here are a couple ideas i had.

1. Buy a Carboy Jacket, although I'm not sure if it will keep the temp exactly at 68.
2. Buy a smaller fridge, place it inside, relocate the carboy into that.
3. Move the entire kegerator inside but my wife hates that idea because we live in a townhouse and got another kid on the way.

Your help is greatly appreciated. Love this forum by the way, just donated to help keep the website alive!!!

 

[whoaru99]

I use a dual output temp controller that turns on the cooler or a heater as necessary to maintain the target temp.

The cooling aspect is provided by the fridge or freezer, the heat by either a light bulb in a can or a small heater (250 or 500W... don't recall which).

 

[Kornssj]

I use a dual output temp controller that turns on the cooler or a heater as necessary to maintain the target temp.

The cooling aspect is provided by the fridge or freezer, the heat by either a light bulb in a can or a small heater (250 or 500W... don't recall which).

So I should be able to install a light bulb and place a jacket around my carboy to block the light coming into the carboy?

And this is okay to have inside the kegerator?

 

[mac_1103]

So I should be able to install a light bulb and place a jacket around my carboy to block the light coming into the carboy?

That's what the can is for.

BTW, what yeast are you using, where is the probe that's reading 63.5F, and where does the 68F suggestion come from?

 

[Kornssj]

That's what the can is for.

BTW, what yeast are you using, where is the probe that's reading 63.5F, and where does the 68F suggestion come from?

I believe the probe is down there far enough, but i can check when i get home and push it down a bit further.

Using Wyeast 1056 American Ale. Suggestion comes from the recipe kit.

what do you mean by "What the can is for"??

 

[mac_1103]

I believe the probe is down there far enough, but i can check when i get home and push it down a bit further.

"In the fermenter" would have been an acceptable answer. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't measuring the air inside the kegerator.

Using Wyeast 1056 American Ale. Suggestion comes from the recipe kit.

Manufacturer recommends 60 - 72. Fermenting on the cooler side of the range shouldn't hurt your beer.

 

[Kornssj]

Perhaps i can use a flex wrap heater?? The FermWrap™ Heater | Fermentation Heater | 40 watts | 115V | MoreBeer

Has anyone used this before? does it work well inside of a kegerator?

 

[dustinstriplin]

Seems like that heater would do the trick. It's made for doing what you want to do. I like to use seedling matts because they are inexpensive. If using a seedling matt, tape it to the outside of the carboy with duct tape. It does a great job at heating.

During the winter, when it's pretty cold out, I wrap the carboy up in a blanket to provide an extra layer of insulation around the matts and the carboy. The blanket really works best when you know you won't need to chill anything. Recommend turning off the cooling functionality in winter, as long as ambient temp is at least 10 degrees below where you want to ferment at, you don't want your cooling to try to fight through the blankets.

 

[dustinstriplin]

I should also mention, it's best to tape the probe directly to the side of the carboy. Use a few layers of paper towel or bubble wrap to insulate the probe from ambient (probe should be touching the glass/plastic of the fermenter). This will give you a pretty good reading. If you want a better reading, then a thermowell is needed. IME, taping the probe to the side with a little insulation has always yielded a well controlled fermentation. I have thermowells also, and they don't improve accuracy much.

 

[Closet Fermenter]

Perhaps i can use a flex wrap heater?? The FermWrap™ Heater | Fermentation Heater | 40 watts | 115V | MoreBeer

Has anyone used this before? does it work well inside of a kegerator?

I use these on two fermenters and have had good success. As stated above, tape the probe to the outside of the carboy, (but not under the heating wrap) and insulate with a layer of bubble wrap. I then bubble wrap around the whole fermenter. I use either bubble wrap or a towel on top. Works very well.

 

[Jonakr]

I use a dual output temp controller that turns on the cooler or a heater as necessary to maintain the target temp.

The cooling aspect is provided by the fridge or freezer, the heat by either a light bulb in a can or a small heater (250 or 500W... don't recall which).

My heater is for reptile tanks. It reaches most of the bottom of my chamber.

 

[mac_1103]

OP has a thermowell (see photo in #5). He doesn't need to tape the probe to the outside of the fermenter.

 

[Ramjet]

Instead of bubble wrap you can use reflectix wich is like foil covered bubble wrap

 

[Closet Fermenter]

Instead of bubble wrap you can use reflectix wich is like foil covered bubble wrap

Yes, this is a great idea, and one I plan to pursue myself. I have a roll of reflectix that I plan to use on my new fermenter that just arrived this weekend.

 

[dustinstriplin]

Not sure I'd go out of the way to buy reflectix just to insulate the probe, seems a bit overkill, unless you already have some. However, it does seem like a good idea to insulate the whole fermenter with it during cold months.

 

[Ramjet]

I did mean to wrap the whole fermenter with the reflectix

 

[Kornssj]

Seems like that heater would do the trick. It's made for doing what you want to do. I like to use seedling matts because they are inexpensive. If using a seedling matt, tape it to the outside of the carboy with duct tape. It does a great job at heating.

During the winter, when it's pretty cold out, I wrap the carboy up in a blanket to provide an extra layer of insulation around the matts and the carboy. The blanket really works best when you know you won't need to chill anything. Recommend turning off the cooling functionality in winter, as long as ambient temp is at least 10 degrees below where you want to ferment at, you don't want your cooling to try to fight through the blankets.

So I bought a seedling mat and wrapped it around my carboy. I'm using an inkbird temperature controller with both cooling and heating. I'm just not sure if its working though. I think during the night its up to 64 degrees and in the day it gets up to 66 degress.

I went to turn up the temp this morning and it looked like the damn thing wasn't even on. the inkbird should keep it running right? i think perhaps it turns off in the middle of the night when the temp reaches the target 68 degrees.

Did you experience the same??

 

[Whisky River]

So I bought a seedling mat and wrapped it around my carboy. I'm using an inkbird temperature controller with both cooling and heating. I'm just not sure if it’s working though. I think during the night it’s up to 64 degrees and in the day it gets up to 66 degress.

I went to turn up the temp this morning and it looked like the damn thing wasn't even on. the inkbird should keep it running right? i think perhaps it turns off in the middle of the night when the temp reaches the target 68 degrees.

Did you experience the same??

How cold did your garage get when the fermenter went down to 64? It seems like you just don’t have enough heat. Did you wrap the fermenter in reflex or blankets? Did you make sure the seedling mat you bought has a similar output to an actual fermenter heater?

 

[Kornssj]

Okay it does seem to be working. Got home and its about 67.5, which is very close to the 68 I'm trying to reach. My brew is sitting in a glass carboy inside of a kegerator which is being temperature controlled by the inkbird. It's located outside in the bay area. Just wrapped the seedling warmer around it. I have not wrapped anything else around the heating element.

Temperature swings outside are from 49 at night to 62 during the day.

 

[redrocker652002]

Not by any means a pro here, but if you are in the mid or low 60's I think you are ok. I repurposed my brothers old mini fridge and set my Inkbird to 66 for my fermentation. I am using Cali yeast that ranges from 59 to 72 I think. I tried to hit the middle. As far as the Inkbird, if you have plugged the heating blanket into the side of the plug that says heat, and the fridge to the side that says cool, and have a temp setting of say 68 then you should be ok. If your Inkbird is like mine, there is a swing setting too where you can say don't turn on until it get say 2 degrees above or below my set temp. I don't know what it is called, but that might be where you are seeing the different temps. For me, I have set most of my fermenting at about 66 to 68, but have gone as low as 64 and had little problems other than the start of fermentation took a bit longer.

Where in California are you? I am about 15 mins south of San Francisco, and when I was using just my closet to ferment I just wrapped my bucket with a heating blanket and that seemed to work ok. Good luck and if you are anywhere near San Francisco give me a holler. We can exchange beers and ideas.

 

[IslandLizard]

I have not wrapped anything else around the heating element.

As was already suggested, wrap some insulation (moving blanket) around the whole fermenter/heating mat setup. Also put something insulating underneath the bottom. Bottoms are big heat drains, since they have (near) full contact with the surface they're sitting on, the cold fridge (or kegerator in your case).

 

[dustinstriplin]

As was already suggested, wrap some insulation (moving blanket) around the whole fermenter/heating mat setup. Also put something insulating underneath the bottom. Bottoms are big heat drains, since they have (near) full contact with the surface they're sitting on, the cold fridge (or kegerator in your case).

I'm a big fan of the blanket around, although I've never tried insulating the bottom; not a bad idea.

I did have a bad experience when I used to put the carboy on top of the seedling mat. I cooked a saison yeast cake once and ruined the beer. Taping to side is much better than placing the fermenter on top.