SSBrewtech ferment temp control

[FastDogBrewing]

Anyone else see this? I knew they were working on it but just found out they have the final information on their site. Really cool setup.

http://www.ssbrewtech.com/collections/ftss

I don't need the ice chest setup since I have a glycol chiller but do think that is very clever. I know you can build a setup cheaper but you gotta admire their drive to design and build something like this. Very innovative.




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[MesterBrygger]

Anyone else see this? I knew they were working on it but just found out they have the final information on their site. Really cool setup.

http://www.ssbrewtech.com/collections/ftss

I don't need the ice chest setup since I have a glycol chiller but do think that is very clever. I know you can build a setup cheaper but you gotta admire their drive to design and build something like this. Very innovative.




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I just wanna buy a house with a basement and get three of those Chronicals (Really CHRONICAL?) in there. Really nice setup with the insulation and temp. controls.

Sad that they're already sold out. ;-)

 

[FastDogBrewing]

Watching the orders of the buckets it seems to me their system is either "in stock" or "sold out". I haven't heard of anyone with this yet. I am sure they are on their way.


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[FastDogBrewing]

Got an email that these are now available.


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[dmcman73]

I bought the temp controller for the 7 gal chronical last week the second that they were available on their site, within 15 minutes they were sold out of them.

I just received an email from them today stating that the temp controller was just shipped, hopefully i will get it by the end of this week, I'll let everyone know how it is once i get it.

 

[dmcman73]

I just received my ssbrewtech temp ferm controller yesterday for my 7 inch Chronical. I have to say, it's a quality product, even the box they are packed in is pretty nice too. The neoprene insulation jacket is fitted precisely, it takes some wiggling to get it on but everything lines up perfect. The stainless steel coil that goes into the fermenter is excellent and the coils are spaced slightly making it easy to clean in between. The electronic controller is nothing to write home about, it does feel a bit "cheap" but it's easy to use and works. The submersible pump is nice and it's not loud and pretty strong.

I was worried about how I was going to cool the fermenter in the summer months, when I had my glass carboy I had a cooler bag I placed it into with ice packs. This takes the worry out of it.

I would definitely recommend it if anyone was looking to get it, so far I am extremely happy with it. I brew tomorrow which is when I'll put this to the real "test".

 

[FastDogBrewing]

I'm still waiting to get mine, too busy with my Masters. This is a good write up. Gotta say, very cool and clever solution.

http://bierkast.com/2014/10/16/ss-brew-tech-ftss/


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[dmcman73]

I've been using my setup, with the ftss, and it has been amazing. This setup works awesome and keeps everything within temps I specify. My only complaint about the ftss system is that, it doesn't have a hole large enough for a blow off tube, only a small hole for a stopper that will fit an air lock. I would love to see them install a 1.5" triclover fitting on the lid instead of the tiny hole, much like what comes on the stock lid that the fermenter came with which you can see here: http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0239/5187/products/7_1024x1024.jpg?v=1412650400 . I already had a clogged air lock once.

It shouldn't be too hard to make up a new lid with a tri clover fitting, that way you can attach a blow off tube and then be able to switch to an air lock when needed.

Also, you do go through a lot of ice. I've been using frozed water jugs in my cooler. I just bought a used aqua chiller that is usually used in aquariums, this is the exact model: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0048IVBT4/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20. Since my ice cooler holds a lot of water, I can get this thing to chill the water to the low 60's and there would be plenty of cold water to cool the fermenting wort. Once the wort is cooled, obviously the water would be warmed and the chiller can do it's thing to bring the water temps down again before the next cycle. At least, that's the plan. Kind of like a poor mans glycol chiller.

 

[Vanryzin]

That's an interesting idea. I've been using frozen one gallon milk containers. 2 at a time seem to last 24-36 hours.


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[FastDogBrewing]

My only complaint about the ftss system is that, it doesn't have a hole large enough for a blow off tube, only a small hole for a stopper that will fit an air lock. I would love to see them install a 1.5" triclover fitting on the lid instead of the tiny hole, much like what comes on the stock lid that the fermenter came with which you can see here:

What are you looking for in a blowoff tube? When I got mine a friend who had them said 1/2" Silcone tubing would fit in the hole in the lid. I use a lot of the silicone tubing on my system so I grabbed a spare piece and tried it. Sure enough, works great.

 

[FastDogBrewing]

Anyone else got of these these FTS setups?

 

[dmcman73]

What are you looking for in a blowoff tube? When I got mine a friend who had them said 1/2" Silcone tubing would fit in the hole in the lid. I use a lot of the silicone tubing on my system so I grabbed a spare piece and tried it. Sure enough, works great.

Didn't even think of using a 1/2 inch silicone hose. I usually use the 1 inch tubes coming off my Carboy's.

 

[FastDogBrewing]

Didn't even think of using a 1/2 inch silicone hose. I usually use the 1 inch tubes coming off my Carboy's.

Nice things about the Silicone tubing is how flexible it is and easy to use. I love that stuff.

 

[PJoyce85]

I'm running my first beer through it right now. I have 5 gallon igloo cooler with 3 gallons of water. I rotate a 1.5 liter frozen water bottle twice a day. I rotate them once in the morning and once in the evening. The room temp is about 65 ambient and the pump will turn on about once every 2-3 hours for about 5 minutes and shuts off. I'm sure if I put in more frozen bottles, I could easily get this thing down to lager temps. Best part is, when it gets too cold in the house, just buy a simple aquarium heater and stick that inside the cooler. That way if your basements are too cool, you can keep the temp up. I'm really happy with is so far, but I guess the resultant beer will be a better indicator.

 

[FastDogBrewing]

I'm running my first beer through it right now. I have 5 gallon igloo cooler with 3 gallons of water. I rotate a 1.5 liter frozen water bottle twice a day. I rotate them once in the morning and once in the evening. The room temp is about 65 ambient and the pump will turn on about once every 2-3 hours for about 5 minutes and shuts off. I'm sure if I put in more frozen bottles, I could easily get this thing down to lager temps. Best part is, when it gets too cold in the house, just buy a simple aquarium heater and stick that inside the cooler. That way if your basements are too cool, you can keep the temp up. I'm really happy with is so far, but I guess the resultant beer will be a better indicator.

View attachment 230685

I'm a test engineer, and have worked on very complex systems for most of my career. The simplicity and effectiveness of this setup makes me feel all funny.

 

[TrickyDick]

This setup is just asking to have a glycol chilled reservoir mod!


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[dmcman73]

I'm saying good bye to frozen water bottles in a cooler for my setup! The white box under the fermenter is a water chiller used in aquariums. Picked mine up cheap off Craigslist, new they are around $250.

I just installed it last night, I'll see how it works. The fan inside of it is a bit loud though but luckily only goes on when the compressor kicks in.

 

[SavoryChef]

Keep us posted on the chiller

 

[dmcman73]

Keep us posted on the chiller

Just ran a test, dropped the temp in my fermenter from 72.6 to 71 degrees in 10 minutes time.

The way I have it setup:

The submersible pump that came with the SSBrewtech ferm temp controller is inside the cooler filled with water. The output of that pump comes out of the cooler lid and into the Input tide of the water chiller. The water chiller's output side goes into one side of the chillers coil. The other side of the chiller's coil goes back into the cooler through the coolers lid.

The pro's of this setup:
1. Only one pump needed
2. Pump will only go on when it's needed
3. The water chiller won't cycle as much
4. Won't use as much electricity

The con's:
1. Handle one only one fermenter
2. Will take a few minutes longer to cool (~3-5 min longer)

The water chiller has a small reservoir built into it. I have the water chiller set to keep the water at 65 degrees (I keep the fermenting wort at 72 degrees for my Ale's). When the temp controller kicks in, the pump will go on and push whatever water is in the reservoir that is at 65 degrees out and into the coils located inside the femrenter. The water chiller will then automatically kick in once it senses the temperature of the water in it's reservoir starting to go up. Watching the thing work I noticed the the reservoir temp will hover at 67 degrees as the whole thing is pumping through the system.

The other way to do it, which is didn't want to do at this time unless I really need to, is to install a second pump inside the cooler. The ferm temp pump will be connected directly to the ferm temp coils as per the SSBrewtech instructions. The second pump in the cooler will pump all the water through the water chiller so that all the water in the cooler will be chilled.

The pro's to this setup is:
1. It will cool the fermenting wort down quicker
2. Use a larger cooler with more water in it to connect multiple fermenters to it as a "poor mans" glycol chiller. The water chiller I have is a 1/10 HP and is rated to handle 13 to 105 gallons. Of course the more water you have, the longer it takes to chill that water.

The con's:

1. The second pump will always be on pumping water through the chiller
2. The chiller will kick on more often to keep all the water inside the cooler chilled (not an issue as it's made this way to keep aquariums chilled)
3. It will use more electricity with the second pump always running and the chiller kicking on more often.

EDIT: I should also mention that the smallest tube that you can connect to the water chiller is 1/2". The barbs on the SSbretech coils along with the pump are 3/8" so you'll need two 3/8" to 1/2" barb to attach 1/2" hose to the chiller and to 3/8" hose to the colis along with 3/8" hose coming from the pump to 1/2" hose going into the chiller. If you set it up with a second pump as I described in the second half of this post, you won't need the reducing barbs as long as you get a second pump with a 1/2" inch outlet.

 

[dmcman73]

Come to think about it, if you're in an areas where you can't get your wort down to pitching temperatures after brewing, you can transfer it to the fermenter after cooling it as low as you can with tap water, kick on the water chiller and let it bring it down to temps you need it at then pour the yeast through the air lock hole on the lid, pop the airlock on and your ready to roll.

 

[Vanryzin]

Come to think about it, if you're in an areas where you can't get your wort down to pitching temperatures after brewing, you can transfer it to the fermenter after cooling it as low as you can with tap water, kick on the water chiller and let it bring it down to temps you need it at then pour the yeast through the air lock hole on the lid, pop the airlock on and your ready to roll.

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[Vanryzin]

I do this all the time. I transfer the wort at about 110 and let it do the job of getting it to 68 while I clean up. Works great.


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[benm1024]

Has anyone setup a second temp controller to manage heat? It looks like a sweet setup, but my problem is usually too warm during the day then too cold at night. I wouldn't want to be switching out hot and cold water constantly.

 

[TrickyDick]

I'm sure it would be a relatively easy affair to install a second thermocouple or tape a probe to the conical, connect to a STC controller and wrap the conical with a heat wrap, lizard cord, or brew belt type heater for instance...

 

[pvpeacock]

Just got mine yesterday (conical + temp controller) Can't wait to try it out this weekend. It's technically my Christmas present, but my wife says it's okay to open it (and use it) early this year. I'll post my thoughts/comments once I open it up and put it to the test.

 

[pvpeacock]

Great products. I cleaned and set up my 7 gallon conical and temperature controller on Saturday and brewed 5 gallons of Zombie Dust Clone yesterday. The quality of the conical is great. I particularly like the 90 degree elbow for the bottom/dump valve. The handles on the sides and snaps for the lid are also a great addition. Setting up the temperature controller was easy and the neoprene sleeve fits the conical like a glove. I was surprised at how small the submersible pump is, but it works just fine. After chilling the wort with my IC down to 62 degrees, I transferred the wort to the conical, aerated with O2 and pitched the yeast. Then I set the temperature controller to 60 degrees and let it do its thing. This morning, I went out to the garage to swap out the two frozen 1 liter water bottles I put in the cooler and the wort temperature was a perfect 59.9 degrees. The airlock was just starting to bubble so fermentation has begun. I am used to using clear carboys so it is a little disconcerting that I can't see what's going on inside the fermenter. How high is the krausen? Do I need a blow off tube or will the airlock be enough? However, the ability to drop the trub out of the bottom, the ability to harvest yeast and the ability to transfer to a keg without using a siphon outweigh the ability to see inside the fermenter. Overall, great products at a great price.

 

[blaster_54738]

Got my FTSS on Friday and put it to use yesterday and I can already tell this is going to help significantly in maintaining my fermentation temps. I use 2 liter bottles and noticed I'll be replacing them daily to maintain a cold enough temp. They are usually melted in about 12 hours but the water is still cold enough to get the job done. Expensive yes but it works so well! My only issues is the new lid didn't isn't sealing very well, I've fixed it by folding up paper and putting on the clamps but have an email into SS Brew Tech to see if my lid is defective or what's going on.

ETA: SS Brew Tech got back to me and said it's a common issue? They sent me a link to bend the clamps to make the fit tighter, said to add spacer (which is what I did), or said some guys flip the gasket upside down and it seals. I guess I'll stick with my paper spacers until my double chocolate stout is done fermenting then try bending the clamps.

 

[arborman]

Tagged


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[mjc999]

I guess it's a matter of how cold your circulating fluid is, but are you folks considering cold crashing using the FTSS?
Any reason it shouldn't work?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[PJoyce85]

I guess it's a matter of how cold your circulating fluid is, but are you folks considering cold crashing using the FTSS?
Any reason it shouldn't work?

Thanks,
Mark

I would think it should work ok. I'm a couple days away from crashing a Baltic Porter. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[pvpeacock]

I guess the only risk of cold crashing with it would be that you plug up the dump valve and the trub/yeast on the bottom is higher than the racking arm. To avoid this, periodic dumping of trub/yeast prior to cold crashing should be done.

 

[mjc999]

I would think it should work ok. I'm a couple days away from crashing a Baltic Porter. I'll let you know how it goes.

Ever get a chance to try this?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[PJoyce85]

Oh yea, sorry. I did. I added an extra frozen water bottle to my cooler and I was able to go from 62 to 50 with an ambient of around 67 in about an hour or so. I dropped the temp 2 degrees at a time, let it rest for 5 minutes and then dropped it another 2 degrees. Worked great. Just keep an eye on the airlock so it doesn't suck the liquid back through. I kept it there for a couple days rotating the 2 water bottles twice a day to see how easy it is to keep it a lager temps before I moved it outside where it's cooler.

 

[mjc999]

Oh yea, sorry. I did. I added an extra frozen water bottle to my cooler and I was able to go from 62 to 50 with an ambient of around 67 in about an hour or so. I dropped the temp 2 degrees at a time, let it rest for 5 minutes and then dropped it another 2 degrees. Worked great. Just keep an eye on the airlock so it doesn't suck the liquid back through. I kept it there for a couple days rotating the 2 water bottles twice a day to see how easy it is to keep it a lager temps before I moved it outside where it's cooler.

Great report.
Thank you,
Mark

 

[soonerpike1748]

Looking forward to the half barrel review. the website says they are shipping in December, but there are no pics for it. Anybody on order for one?

 

[blaster_54738]

I think I'm going to start using my keezer for my chill water. I plan on putting ball lock posts on the outside and a bucket of water on the inside with the pump. I'll be able to easily unhook everything from the outside with the ball lock fittings when it's not in use. Not that changing out bottles twice a day is a big deal but it'd be nice to not have to worry about it if I'm going to be gone for a day or two

 

[dmcman73]

I think I'm going to start using my keezer for my chill water. I plan on putting ball lock posts on the outside and a bucket of water on the inside with the pump. I'll be able to easily unhook everything from the outside with the ball lock fittings when it's not in use. Not that changing out bottles twice a day is a big deal but it'd be nice to not have to worry about it if I'm going to be gone for a day or two

The only problem with using a keezer to chill the water is that it will take a lot longer to chill it (how fast does a can of warm soda get cold after its placed in a fridge). I was going to do the same thing as you by using my kegerator but then I found out about aquarium chillers. Small refrigerator units where the cold coils are submerged into the water in its holding tank. Warm water goes in, cold water comes out and it works awesome.

 

[timmay1966]

I've been using my setup, with the ftss, and it has been amazing. This setup works awesome and keeps everything within temps I specify. My only complaint about the ftss system is that, it doesn't have a hole large enough for a blow off tube, only a small hole for a stopper that will fit an air lock. I would love to see them install a 1.5" triclover fitting on the lid instead of the tiny hole, much like what comes on the stock lid that the fermenter came with which you can see here: http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0239/5187/products/7_1024x1024.jpg?v=1412650400 . I already had a clogged air lock once.

It shouldn't be too hard to make up a new lid with a tri clover fitting, that way you can attach a blow off tube and then be able to switch to an air lock when needed.

Also, you do go through a lot of ice. I've been using frozed water jugs in my cooler. I just bought a used aqua chiller that is usually used in aquariums, this is the exact model: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0048IVBT4/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20. Since my ice cooler holds a lot of water, I can get this thing to chill the water to the low 60's and there would be plenty of cold water to cool the fermenting wort. Once the wort is cooled, obviously the water would be warmed and the chiller can do it's thing to bring the water temps down again before the next cycle. At least, that's the plan. Kind of like a poor mans glycol chiller.

Hello my name is Tim and I purchased the 7gal conical and the Brewmaster Bucket with the Ftss systems . I found this aquarium cooler that I think will work pretty good in cooling down your wort to pitching temps pretty quick. It may be out of the budget for some but if you have the cash I think it is a viable option. I have not tried it yet as I am on the way home from Afghanistan as we speak and will let you know how it works in a week or 2 .

Here is the link http://www.chillsolutions.com/products/csxc-1-aquarium-chiller

 

[FastDogBrewing]

Hello my name is Tim and I purchased the 7gal conical and the Brewmaster Bucket with the Ftss systems . I found this aquarium cooler that I think will work pretty good in cooling down your wort to pitching temps pretty quick. It may be out of the budget for some but if you have the cash I think it is a viable option. I have not tried it yet as I am on the way home from Afghanistan as we speak and will let you know how it works in a week or 2 .

Here is the link http://www.chillsolutions.com/products/csxc-1-aquarium-chiller

For $219 that is really expensive for a Peltier and temp controller. The unit linked above looks to be an actual refrigeration unit. Peltier devices tend to be quite a bit less efficient than a compressor type refrigeration unit, and they only deliver a delta temperature dropof 10-20 degrees(unless the device is HUGE) so if it is 100 degrees, you are only going to see a delta of maybe 10 degrees.

For the price the refrigeration cooler is a much better option.

 

[FastDogBrewing]

Just ran a test, dropped the temp in my fermenter from 72.6 to 71 degrees in 10 minutes time.

The way I have it setup:

.......


inch outlet.

Not to degrade your post, but I didn't want to make this one too long.


Here is another idea for two stage control. Find an inline pump for the cooling using your chiller. Then add a submersible pump in the ice chest with a heater. Put one-way check valves on the output of both pumps. You will need to split the line from the fermentor to both the chiller and the ice chest.

You will need another stage of temp control that turns on the heat circuit. If the cooling circuit is off, and the heat circuit is on the pressure from the pump associated with the heater should force the cooling one-way valve closed and providing heating water. If the heating circuit is off and the cooling circuit is on the cooling pump should force the heating one-way valve closed and proved cooling.

I have seen simple systems like this before that work well. They are not high in accuracy but sometime simplicity is the best. You might have to play with tubing length and column pressure to balance the system.

On the other hand I have been studying accounting and Quality Statistics for a couple weeks and my brain may be fried.