The Lager Jacket

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$400 is way too much.
I'd rather have a $180 new freezer, 10-20 year known lifespan and a $100 yearly power bill and be able to truly lager, use more than one fermentor, store kegs, dispense, and in a pinch turn it down and freeze things.
 
If it was triclamp I would have an interest. With the brewhemoth megachiller going for $190, without counting the costs to get the coolant through it, I don't think this outrageously priced
 
I think this thing is going to be seriously underpowered. It sounds like a Peltier device, and they are notoriously inefficient, on the order of 10-15%. 90 watts is just not enough. The only hope it has of actually working is if the insulation is like a Thermos jug. Even then, I don’t see how it could handle the fermentation heat.

Too much money for something marginal at best.
 
This is what I thought would be possible but never seemed to find. $399 though is pretty steep. I just bought a mini fridge for $200 and it is dual purpose, both keg and fermentation, whereas this is fermentation only.
 
zacster said:
This is what I thought would be possible but never seemed to find. $399 though is pretty steep. I just bought a mini fridge for $200 and it is dual purpose, both keg and fermentation, whereas this is fermentation only.
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I think $399 is a good deal. IF IT REALLY WORKS!and will cool 10-12gallons. You guys that think you're going to buy a good "quality" product and expect to pay <$99 are living in a fantacy world. Check out the price difference of the Blichmann hot/cold and the standard - it is $1000.00 diff. I know its apples and oranges but still; simple is better.

My hats off to these guys but I think if it was that simple, it would have been done by now. I hope they prove me wrong and will ship to Canada. LOL
 
Wynne-R said:
I think this thing is going to be seriously underpowered. It sounds like a Peltier device, and they are notoriously inefficient, on the order of 10-15%. 90 watts is just not enough. The only hope it has of actually working is if the insulation is like a Thermos jug. Even then, I don’t see how it could handle the fermentation heat.

Too much money for something marginal at best.
Click to expand...

It is peltier-driven, and as such you are correct that the chips do not produce as many BTU/hrs per watt as a compressor system. The system does however consume 90 W, and it does indeed get your fermenting beer to 35F below ambient. Here is how:

1. We're cooling just the beer, not the air surrounding the beer. This system would simply not be possible if we cooled air like compressor systems do.

2. We're heavily insulated, far more so than a thermos. The r-value of the jacket is around to 15, comparable to refrigerators and freezers.

This isn't a device for everyone. If you don't have space for a chest freezer or need precision with your temps, this is for you. Or if you're concerned with the energy consumption associated with alternate cooling methods, The LagerJacket consumes just $24 per year if run 24/7, so its worth investigating if you're on the fence about long term energy consumption.

Our plan isn't to convert people who use and love chest freezers to this device, it's simply to offer an alternative for people who were physically unable or unwilling to go that route but wanted to brew lagers or have additional control over their ferment in an all in one package.
 
Quick update: we've announced a $299 model that uses hard anodized heat transfer rods instead of stainless steel.

We've been experimenting with hard anodized rods for a while now and they hold up very well over a lot of ferments (so far +/- 30 over 2 years). They require a bit more care than stainless, such as only iodine based sanitizers. Check out our updated kickstarter!
 
Looked at the kickstarter, and right now still kind of pricey for my blood and I would use something like this, for ales and lagers. 150-199 is what I would be willing to part with....
 
This is a brilliant concept and I'm a perfect candidate for it - I have a small 1 bedroom apartment. In fact, I think most people here in DC are in the same boat.

Aaron - how close are these to getting into full production? Also, curious as to why you've gone with a square heat sink - seems a circular one would have played off the shape of a fermenting vessel better and allowed a larger amount of heat transfer and better balance on the carboy.
 
Gonzo said:
This is a brilliant concept and I'm a perfect candidate for it - I have a small 1 bedroom apartment. In fact, I think most people here in DC are in the same boat.

Aaron - how close are these to getting into full production? Also, curious as to why you've gone with a square heat sink - seems a circular one would have played off the shape of a fermenting vessel better and allowed a larger amount of heat transfer and better balance on the carboy.
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Cool zone claims they can cool carboys down to 39 in a 100 degree environment. They are also vendors on this site.
http://gotta-brew.com/
 
Gonzo said:
This is a brilliant concept and I'm a perfect candidate for it - I have a small 1 bedroom apartment. In fact, I think most people here in DC are in the same boat.

Aaron - how close are these to getting into full production? Also, curious as to why you've gone with a square heat sink - seems a circular one would have played off the shape of a fermenting vessel better and allowed a larger amount of heat transfer and better balance on the carboy.
Click to expand...

Very close - be on the lookout for big news from us by next week.
 
Awesome! I'm on the list. I'll keep my club in DC informed on Facebook. I think there will be some serious interest.
 
mr_samsonite said:
Perhaps I'm ignorant of lager fermentations but how does this handle blow-off?
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We are handling co2 release through a bulkhead connector mounts into the neck of the Better Bottle. You can either drill a 1/2” hole into the neck or pick up a pre-drilled better bottle from us to mount the bulkhead connector. We are also including blowoff tubing and a one way co2 release valve that is removable for extra vigorous fermentations.
 
aaronwalls said:
We are handling co2 release through a bulkhead connector mounts into the neck of the Better Bottle. You can either drill a 1/2” hole into the neck or pick up a pre-drilled better bottle from us to mount the bulkhead connector. We are also including blowoff tubing and a one way co2 release valve that is removable for extra vigorous fermentations.
Click to expand...

So no way to use this on glass fermentors?
 
michaelzero said:
Can this warm as well for cold weather brewing? Can thermoelectrics do both?

Also, shipping costs to NZ please? Cheers.
Click to expand...

We are working on heating right now as the technology is capable of it, but there are many engineering issues we need to work through to ensure it works properly. That said, all of our units are upgradable. When we are ready with heating, it will be as simple as unscrewing the top panel and plugging in the new one.

We do ship internationally for a flat $75 fee.
 

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