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I won’t go back with using freezers anymore after going glycol is the way to go! I went through two used freezers over a 2 yr period. The dyi glycol chiller has worked flawlessly.
+1 on the glycol system. Scratch and dent 5000 BTU ac unit, inkbird, Coleman extreme cooler and some elbow grease and it is working great. I planned to encase my cooler in some extra insulation to help hold temperature, but it seems to be doing well without it. Runs a couple times a day at most and maintains 40degF in the chiller. I’ll bump it down further when I go to cold crash (1st time using it).
Now that I know how efficiently it is working and how easy it actually was- I’d never consider a chamber.
I do know of one advantage of using a chamber: you can actually get the beer down to 32 degrees or even colder when you crash. I have the CF10 and use a Penguin chiller set at 28 degrees and about the lowest I can get my beer when crashing is about 38 degrees.
But that said, the logistical difficulties of finding and using a chamber that fits...especially with the larger fermenters....meant I was going to the chiller as the source of cooling.
Jury is out for cold crashing my CF10 with my setup. Should be doing that in the next week or so. I’m hoping everything goes well for it, but no clue how low I’ll be able to get it.
There's a thread on here somewhere that details my journey in trying to get my CF10 to crash to 32. I tried insulating the fermenter, covered it with a moving blanket....even built a "closet" to surround it into which I directed cold air from an adjacent window air conditioner. None could get me down there. The fermenter just has too many things poking out of it that act as reverse radiators, taking in ambient temp and preventing the chiller from taking it down any lower than about 10 degrees above the temp of the glycol solution.
I have one more thing to try--I want to create a "closet" to surround my CF10 made out of 2" foamboard. Only thing preventing me from trying that is I have to figure out a way to cut such foamboard squarely on the edges so it all matches up. Not that easy to do with a 4x8 piece of 2" foamboard....
There's a thread on here somewhere that details my journey in trying to get my CF10 to crash to 32. I tried insulating the fermenter, covered it with a moving blanket....even built a "closet" to surround it into which I directed cold air from an adjacent window air conditioner. None could get me down there. The fermenter just has too many things poking out of it that act as reverse radiators, taking in ambient temp and preventing the chiller from taking it down any lower than about 10 degrees above the temp of the glycol solution.
I have one more thing to try--I want to create a "closet" to surround my CF10 made out of 2" foamboard. Only thing preventing me from trying that is I have to figure out a way to cut such foamboard squarely on the edges so it all matches up. Not that easy to do with a 4x8 piece of 2" foamboard....
There's a thread on here somewhere that details my journey in trying to get my CF10 to crash to 32. I tried insulating the fermenter, covered it with a moving blanket....even built a "closet" to surround it into which I directed cold air from an adjacent window air conditioner. None could get me down there. The fermenter just has too many things poking out of it that act as reverse radiators, taking in ambient temp and preventing the chiller from taking it down any lower than about 10 degrees above the temp of the glycol solution.
I have one more thing to try--I want to create a "closet" to surround my CF10 made out of 2" foamboard. Only thing preventing me from trying that is I have to figure out a way to cut such foamboard squarely on the edges so it all matches up. Not that easy to do with a 4x8 piece of 2" foamboard....
I've been thinking about doing this kind of insulated chamber too. I would love to have you try it and see if it works!
If you use the higher density foam, the kind that is usually some sort of color, you can do a pretty good job of cutting it with a utility knife. If you score it about half way through it will break relatively cleanly on the second half. The circular saw or jig saw options are also good. I would use a circular saw to get square straight cuts. Just be aware that it will make a HUGE mess. It also creates a lot of static charge, so the granules stick to everything. You will want a shop vac close by to suck it off of the floor, the walls, the board, and yourself!
Also, when sticking it all together, I would suggest that "Great Stuff" foam would be a good product to get it sealed up. It expands too, so the edges not being square would not be a big deal. The only down side is that it is also a big sticky mess to clean up.
What, were you Tom Sawyer in a previous life, getting people to paint your fence for you?
I use the cf15 in a 50$ used standup freezer that's readily available on Craigslist. It's the same size as a regular fridge just one compartment and It fits great. Cold crashes and heats perfectly. No need to reinvent the wheel. We're just cooling liquid afterall. If your going bigger then the cf15 or plan to have multiple conicals then glycol is the way to go. Cheers
Do you guys have links to your builds or which did you follow?
If it works better for your setup you made the correct choice. CheersYep I thought about this route as it is a simple option, but as you said doing the glycol unit affords me the ability to do multiple conicals in the future.
I also know there is always a debate on space (which one takes up more room). In my case the CF10 has a place in the garage and the glycol unit has a nice home under my workbench. It isn’t so much the footprint being too big or too large for me, but more about what works in my space.
Yep I thought about this route as it is a simple option, but as you said doing the glycol unit affords me the ability to do multiple conicals in the future.
I also know there is always a debate on space (which one takes up more room). In my case the CF10 has a place in the garage and the glycol unit has a nice home under my workbench. It isn’t so much the footprint being too big or too large for me, but more about what works in my space.
I know I sound like a broken record here. If space is tight get a cf5-15. They all fit in a regular sized stand up freezer and will take up less/same sqf then a diy glycol chiller (unless of course you're brewarea is less than 6ft tall). Plus you can just plug it. CheersYeah, this is really my issue. I could get an upright freezer and put it in my basement but I am currently brewing in my garage. I'd then have to carry the fermenter downstairs which I do currently with a brew bucket. But that's much lighter. So for me I'd likely have to keep the fermenter in the garage and there isn't enough room for a freezer. This has me leaning glycol as well.
I know I sound like a broken record here. If space is tight get a cf5-15. They all fit in a regular sized stand up freezer and will take up less/same sqf then a diy glycol chiller (unless of course you're brewarea is less than 6ft tall). Plus you can just plug it. Cheers
Just a thought, but instead of a gazillion ideas on how insulate a vessel to get so close to freezing, why not just rack in to a keg(s) and put them in to a craigslist freezer with a temp controller, and free up the CF 5,10,15,30 to ferment another batch, which is what it is designed for?
The cf5/10/15 requires cooling to use the unitank features as designed. You would be correct if it was just a standard conical. CheersJust a thought, but instead of a gazillion ideas on how insulate a vessel to get so close to freezing, why not just rack in to a keg(s) and put them in to a craigslist freezer with a temp controller, and free up the CF 5,10,15,30 to ferment another batch, which is what it is designed for?
Just a thought, but instead of a gazillion ideas on how insulate a vessel to get so close to freezing, why not just rack in to a keg(s) and put them in to a craigslist freezer with a temp controller, and free up the CF 5,10,15,30 to ferment another batch, which is what it is designed for?
Just a thought, but instead of a gazillion ideas on how insulate a vessel to get so close to freezing, why not just rack in to a keg(s) and put them in to a craigslist freezer with a temp controller, and free up the CF 5,10,15,30 to ferment another batch, which is what it is designed for?
I have a CF10 and have worked it hard for over a year (never empty). Awesome piece of hardware for fermentation, exceptionally so with the ability to control temps with their chiller, (I have mine hooked up to an inkbird that cycles a glycol chiller and the nifty warmer that fits inside their neoprene jacket), cold crashing, harvesting/ dumping, and pressure transfer. At $7 bills each, I only have one, and use it for primary, initial crashing, and harvesting yeast. From there, a $50 keg with 1/2" cut off the dip tube works great for conditioning, and the yeast/proteins that settle on the bottom isn't really much of an issue as it is a pretty tight layer by the time it's served.Actually, a unitank by definition is designed to combine the functions of primary fermentation vessel and maturation/lagering vessel, so racking the beer to a keg as soon as primary is done kind of negates this.
Two downsides of premature racking would be:
- lots of yeast that will settle in the keg and remain in contact with the beer
- oxydation will start sooner as even with the best closed transfer system the beer will pick up some O2
If you give up these advantages then IMHO you might as well buy much cheaper SS buckets.
Actually, serving straight out of an unitank is as O2 free as you can get at any scale. I try and serve as much as I can straight out of the tank before transferring the rest to kegs and I must tell you it was an eye-opener the first time as far as tasting oxydation is concerned. You really cannot get fresher beer than that.As far as transfer, pre-charge your keg w/ CO2 and pressure transfer in via the liquid side, and that is probably as 02 free as you can get in the homebrew scale.
Forgive me, but the very first thing I thought of when I saw your pic was....Yasser Arafat. Honest to God!
How could a Spike Conical be an eyesore?!?!?!? I think it adds character to room.Really does seem to help even though the wife says it’s an eye sore
Why buy a unitank if your not gonna use it as intended? The whole point of it is to transfer finished beer into the kegs. Might as well just buy a brew bucket if you're just fermenting in it and getting all the sediment in your serving kegs. CheersI have a CF10 and have worked it hard for over a year (never empty). Awesome piece of hardware for fermentation, exceptionally so with the ability to control temps with their chiller, (I have mine hooked up to an inkbird that cycles a glycol chiller and the nifty warmer that fits inside their neoprene jacket), cold crashing, harvesting/ dumping, and pressure transfer. At $7 bills each, I only have one, and use it for primary, initial crashing, and harvesting yeast. From there, a $50 keg with 1/2" cut off the dip tube works great for conditioning, and the yeast/proteins that settle on the bottom isn't really much of an issue as it is a pretty tight layer by the time it's served.
As far as transfer, pre-charge your keg w/ CO2 and pressure transfer in via the liquid side, and that is probably as 02 free as you can get in the homebrew scale.
10 kegs, a freezer, and an inkbird is less than a CF 10.
Unless you can afford, and have space for 3-4 small conicals, and the ability to keep each one at the appropriate temp, my 2 cents is use the conical to ferment, and store/ condition/ lager your beer in corny's. A $50 freezer once a year is way cheaper over 5 years than a conical. I can store 10 kegs (50 gallons) in one chest freezer.
I'm not comparing the bucket to the unitank. It's the exact opposite actually. What I'm saying is what makes the cf5-30 so great is that it allows you to rack clean finished beer into kegs similar to what professionals do in there bright tanks. If your not using proper cooling you can't actually fully use the unitank features. Remember it's primarily a fermentation vessel *AND* bright tank. If all your using it for is fermentation why bother getting it in the first place? CheersI hear your point, but to compare a brew bucket to a CF10 is a bit of a stretch. It is primarily a fermentation vessel, and the latest versions are pressure rated, so, yes, they can be used as a conditioning/ carbonation vessel. My point is that after fermentation, a rest, and cold crashing, you can still get great results letting your beer condition/ carbonate, for as long as it needs to get to that "perfect" age, in kegs. It frees up the pricier vessel to make more beer.
Agreed. CheersAmazed
Looking to purchase a CF10 and was thinking of getting their heating and cooling kit. Aside from the pain of swapping out ICE will it perform "cool" enough to cold crash, or is it just a waste to get their kit and try something like this? (or a freezer)
For those of you with the temp coil, how do you manage taking the lid on/off for filling, dry hopping, cleaning etc.?
I was thinking of a pulley system to raise it straight up over the tank. It seems a bit excessive, but could be fun/helpful. Thoughts?
Ended up getting a CF15 but without the cooling. Going to just purchase a stand up freezer to cool it down. Didn't want to have to purchase a glycol chiller and will give this a shot.
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