Temperature Control

[tshori]

Hey Folks,

I have started brewing recently, and I am just beggining doing some all-grain recipes. Anyhow, I started using the spare room in my house, to have some kind of temperature control, but now my wife and I have an addition to the family and so I have been relegated to the basement!

I was looking for tips on bulding a chepish DIY for temeprature control!

Thanks!

T.

 

[saeroner]

A square cooler that a carboy can fit into works great. Just add water around the sides of the carboy (inside the cooler) and add a few ice pack until you get your desired temp. I used a small piece of styrofoam insulation cut out to fit on the top of the cooler (cut around the carboy) held steady temp for days... the temp will rise after a few days but youu want that anyways after krazen starts to fall.

Or buy a cheap mini fridge on craigslist and get a temp controller (stc-1000) that's what i have... 3 of them

 

[RM-MN]

How cheap do you need to go. About the cheapest is a wet cloth wrapped around the fermenter. No control of the temperature but it will be lower than the room. Next would be a tub of cool water to set the fermenter into. Keep the water cool by adding ice or frozen water bottles.

How much space do you have and how handy are you with building things? http://threegodsbrewing.com/2013/04/14/son-of-fermentation-chamber-build-and-photos/

 

[flars]

Warming the fermentor can be done with a tub of water and an adjustable aquarium heater. Add a temperature controller for more precision.

 

[maffewl]

Swamp cooler is the cheapest method. You can search for many methods of doing this but essentially a large bucket (to hold a carboy) filled with water and frozen bottles (usually 20 oz. or 2 liter) intermittently swapped throughout the day as the ice melts.

Or if you have a spare fridge or freezer and are up for a cheap build, look into the STC-1000. See my signature below for more information.

There are plenty more options and a son of fermentation chamber is another good option I see mentioned in earlier posts.

 

[tshori]

Thanks for the suggestios.

I have tons of space, but I am not the most handy person, but I am willing to learn. How would rate the difficulty of the project you posted? Looks pretty cool.

T.

 

[oogaboogachiefwalkingdeer]

I did a lot of lagers with the cooler and ice water bath. Works very good.

 

[maurtis]

I built a fermentation chamber using a $25 Craigslist 8 gallon chest freezer and a $15 STC-1000 temp controller, with a small space heater inside for a heat source. Very easy to do. There are tons of videos online on how to wire the STC-1000, the one in maffewl's sig looks to be a good one. Since I used such a small chest freezer, it only holds one fermenter at a time, so I definitely want to make two more when we move into our new house in a couple months.

Basically, the STC-1000 will connect to two power outlets, one for cooling that you plug the freezer into and the other outlet to plug your heat source into. So every couple minutes the controller provides power to either of those outlets to adjust the temperature up or down. My temp sensor (it comes with the STC) is just bungied to the side of my fermentation bucket under a layer of insulation.

 

[tshori]

How cheap do you need to go. About the cheapest is a wet cloth wrapped around the fermenter. No control of the temperature but it will be lower than the room. Next would be a tub of cool water to set the fermenter into. Keep the water cool by adding ice or frozen water bottles.

How much space do you have and how handy are you with building things? http://threegodsbrewing.com/2013/04/14/son-of-fermentation-chamber-build-and-photos/

Do you still have the PDF with the instructions that you linked in your post? The link does not exist anymore.

 

[RM-MN]

Do you still have the PDF with the instructions that you linked in your post? The link does not exist anymore.

I should have posted this link instead as it does contain the PDF. http://www.ihomebrewsolutions.com/son-of-fermentation-chiller/

 

[tshori]

I should have posted this link instead as it does contain the PDF. http://www.ihomebrewsolutions.com/son-of-fermentation-chiller/

Thanks!