(Total newbie) Fermentation chamber / ice cooler to avoid bugs?

[El Nino]

Hi guys, I can't really say I'm new at this yet, because I'm still waiting for my starter equipment in the mail

However, my biggest concern with starting is attracting cockroaches. I live in an apartment complex that is literally right in the middle of the jungle, so no matter how clean I keep my place, there's going to be the occasional visitor passing through.

Now, I finally decided to take the plunge and get into brewing, but I'm worried that my place is going to attract a lot of roaches. To put it into perspective, I once left a couple of empty beer bottles out in the kitchen after a night of drinking, and found 3 roaches there (I'm sure attracted to the smell of that craft brew I was drinking).

If I'm fermenting beer for 2-3 weeks, I could only imagine how many would show up. Nevertheless, I've been researching a lot of ways to possibly contain it so that it wouldn't attract any bugs.

So a possible solution that interested me was a fermentation chamber. I only need something really small-scale because I'm only brewing a gallon batch. I was wondering if an ice chest with a couple of frozen water bottles would work? And do I have to worry about the CO2 building up in the ice chest and blowing up if it's totally covering the carboy / airlock?

I figure an upside of a fermentation chamber would be already making better beer, but my main concern is not attracting the bugs to my place. Would this work?

 

[Rob2010SS]

Gotta ask first, where are you from that your apartment is in the middle of the jungle???

On to your questions. I'm not positive, but I'm not sure you'll have an issue with bugs. When you're fermenting, the beer is in a sealed container. Not much there to attract bugs with. I don't know necessarily that you'd attract bugs. Your beer bottle example, there was open containers that had beer in there. That makes sense.

Assuming you'd rather not take the chance and you want to go with the fermentation chamber idea, your ice chest idea would probably work. Not sure how you'd make sure that it doesn't get too cold in there being such a small space. You could throw a small thermometer in there to monitor what the ambient temp is around the beer and adjust your water bottles based on that.

In regards to the CO2, you don't need to worry about blowing up the ice chest. People ferment in closed chambers all the time with no problems.

 

[El Nino]

Hey, thanks for the response. I live in Hawaii, in an area where it rains a lot. The building is right near an area with tall grass / trees everywhere. With perfect weather, also means that bugs like it there also

Ok that makes me feel a bit better. I would have thought the smell from the CO2 escaping the airlock would also have the smell of what's brewing inside, which would attract those bugs. I've seen other posts about fruit flies entering the airlocks so I was a bit concerned since the building I live in has roaches. I've done a good job of keeping them out of my place by hiring an exterminator shortly after moving in, keeping the place clean, and putting out bait traps. Though I never tried brewing before.

I'll try experimenting with the temperature in a couple coolers I have. I heard the ambient temperature is around -10 degrees the actual temperature of the beer, right? My apartment is usually around 70-75 degrees depending on the day, which would probably be a bit hot for brewing an IPA.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Rob2010SS]

Jealous of the sweet location you call home!

The CO2 coming out of the airlock can have a pretty good smell coming from it. I'm an airlock sniffer, I always put my nose right up to it and smell hahaha. I just don't know if the aroma coming out of the airlock is enough to get roaches, but like I said, I have no idea. The important thing is they can't get in your beer, LOL.

The actual temp of the beer during fermentation can vary from batch to batch. Assuming that the beer is 10 degrees warmer than ambient temp is a good starting point. For a TYPICAL IPA, yes, 70 to 75 is too warm. There are some beers that ferment at higher temps though, where that wouldnt' be an issue at all.

 

[El Nino]

Awesome, thanks for the help, much appreciated.

And Hawaii is a sweet location! I joined the military at 18 to get off the island and see other places, only to realize that was a mistake Moved back after doing my time, and have never regretted that!

Can't wait to try my hand at brewing, it's been something I wanted to try for many years, but never pulled the trigger until now.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Good luck. It's a blast. I started back in July of last year, just bottled my 13th batch, and I'm hooked. It's a great hobby and people here are awesome. You should almost have to pay for the advice you get from some of the members here, lol.

Don't be shy to ask questions on the forum should you run into anything.

 

[C-Rider]

Awesome, thanks for the help, much appreciated.

And Hawaii is a sweet location! I joined the military at 18 to get off the island and see other places, only to realize that was a mistake Moved back after doing my time, and have never regretted that!

Can't wait to try my hand at brewing, it's been something I wanted to try for many years, but never pulled the trigger until now.

Where in Hawai`i? I'm on the dry Wai`anae Coast of O`ahu and have no problem w/roaches here.

 

[El Nino]

Where in Hawai`i? I'm on the dry Wai`anae Coast of O`ahu and have no problem w/roaches here.

Nice! I live in Kaneohe. Maybe I'm worrying about things too much then.

However, Waianae is probably a lot hotter than the east side, what do you do for lowering fermentation temps?

 

[deks77]

I spray the bottom of my fridge with a borax water mix and on the floor around. Mines in the garage and does attract roaches. Its not the food value, but its a great source of water for them. Haven't see many but the occasional large one around since I started doing that.

edit** im sure it'd be fine in the house cause I spray around the doors and baseboard every so often.

 

[C-Rider]

Nice! I live in Kaneohe. Maybe I'm worrying about things too much then.

However, Waianae is probably a lot hotter than the east side, what do you do for lowering fermentation temps?

I have a 2.7 cu ft freezer that I ferment in. I do 2 gallon batches and depending what's on the shelf I can due up to 5 batches at a time. But now I"m ageing a case of and Imperial Stout on the shelf so I can only do 3 gallons. If I get dangerous I might fit a 4th. If you are on FB there is a brew club over on your side call HOPS Home Brew Club of Oahu. Glad to give advise any time.

 

[El Nino]

I spray the bottom of my fridge with a borax water mix and on the floor around. Mines in the garage and does attract roaches. Its not the food value, but its a great source of water for them. Haven't see many but the occasional large one around since I started doing that.

edit** im sure it'd be fine in the house cause I spray around the doors and baseboard every so often.

Good info, thanks. It's challenging for me since I live in an apartment, and can only spray / lay traps in my area. Though honestly I haven't had anything worse than the occasional visitor ever since I called in the exterminator a year ago. Want to keep it that way But I still put out traps so those visitors don't get any funny ideas of setting up shop in my house

 

[El Nino]

I have a 2.7 cu ft freezer that I ferment in. I do 2 gallon batches and depending what's on the shelf I can due up to 5 batches at a time. But now I"m ageing a case of and Imperial Stout on the shelf so I can only do 3 gallons. If I get dangerous I might fit a 4th. If you are on FB there is a brew club over on your side call HOPS Home Brew Club of Oahu. Glad to give advise any time.

Thanks I'll check it out! Awesome, tbh I was looking to eventually do 2.5 gallon batches and go all grain (been reading up on BIAB methods a lot lately). I think though I'll stick with kits for the first 2 or 3 batches just to get the hang of things.

I did some searching on small batch DIY fermentation chambers, and someone had a cool set up using an igloo thermoelectric cooler and inkbird controller. Problem with that was it could only fit a single 1 gallon batch at a time. And thermoelectric coolers aren't sold in Hawaii for some reason, and shipping to here would cost $110 or more. Sears last weekend had a sale on chest freezers and I picked up a 5 cu ft kenmore. Can't wait to get this thing started. I guess I have no choice but to do this since I already made a pretty decent investment haha.

I'll check out the brew club. Thanks man!

 

[C-Rider]

Thanks I'll check it out! Awesome, tbh I was looking to eventually do 2.5 gallon batches and go all grain (been reading up on BIAB methods a lot lately). I think though I'll stick with kits for the first 2 or 3 batches just to get the hang of things.

I did some searching on small batch DIY fermentation chambers, and someone had a cool set up using an igloo thermoelectric cooler and inkbird controller. Problem with that was it could only fit a single 1 gallon batch at a time. And thermoelectric coolers aren't sold in Hawaii for some reason, and shipping to here would cost $110 or more. Sears last weekend had a sale on chest freezers and I picked up a 5 cu ft kenmore. Can't wait to get this thing started. I guess I have no choice but to do this since I already made a pretty decent investment haha.

I'll check out the brew club. Thanks man!

Here is a video of me brewing a 2 gal batch. It's a few years old and I've made some improvements. BIAB is the way to go.

 

[El Nino]

Where's the link? Haha

 

[C-Rider]

Where's the link? Haha

OOPS

 

[El Nino]

Thanks dude! I'll watch that soon

 

[El Nino]

Well today was brew day, and I'm glad I started with an extract kit. I could tell the whole process was a little dumbed down but I appreciated that!

Didn't start off too well, I ended up spilling easy clean all over my kitchen floor because I expected it to have some kind of safety seal that products usually have. Nope. At least my kitchen floor is the cleanest in the neighborhood now lol.

I thought everything went well, I might have been overly paranoid when it came to sanitation. Cleaned everything in easy clean and star san (hey it's important right?).

The starter kit was good overall (go pro small batch from northern brewer), but my main gripe was the tube they gave me for the siphon was too damn short. I was siphoning from a kitchen counter top to a chair and it barely reached. If I raised the pump too far, it'd be out of the carboy. I had to really be careful or i'd be spilling beer all over the floor. First thing I'm gonna do is buy a longer hose, cause the one they sent me wasn't cutting it.

I do have another extract kit I'll probably do next week, but I do want to try all grain soon. Overall I thought it was a fun experience, and I think my 2nd go will be a lot smoother. It's one thing to read / watch videos about the process and another to actually do it.

 

[C-Rider]

Well today was brew day, and I'm glad I started with an extract kit. I could tell the whole process was a little dumbed down but I appreciated that!

Didn't start off too well, I ended up spilling easy clean all over my kitchen floor because I expected it to have some kind of safety seal that products usually have. Nope. At least my kitchen floor is the cleanest in the neighborhood now lol.

I thought everything went well, I might have been overly paranoid when it came to sanitation. Cleaned everything in easy clean and star san (hey it's important right?).

The starter kit was good overall (go pro small batch from northern brewer), but my main gripe was the tube they gave me for the siphon was too damn short. I was siphoning from a kitchen counter top to a chair and it barely reached. If I raised the pump too far, it'd be out of the carboy. I had to really be careful or i'd be spilling beer all over the floor. First thing I'm gonna do is buy a longer hose, cause the one they sent me wasn't cutting it.

I do have another extract kit I'll probably do next week, but I do want to try all grain soon. Overall I thought it was a fun experience, and I think my 2nd go will be a lot smoother. It's one thing to read / watch videos about the process and another to actually do it.

If you don't mind driving all the way to the West Side on a Sat morning you can join me for my 2 gal brew session one day. Might even have some homebrew on hand but I usually don't drink and brew like I don't drink and drive. LOL

 

[El Nino]

Yeah sounds good man, I'll send you a message. Probably late next month would be good!

 

[angry_gopher]

Thanks I'll check it out! Awesome, tbh I was looking to eventually do 2.5 gallon batches and go all grain (been reading up on BIAB methods a lot lately). I think though I'll stick with kits for the first 2 or 3 batches just to get the hang of things.

I did some searching on small batch DIY fermentation chambers, and someone had a cool set up using an igloo thermoelectric cooler and inkbird controller. Problem with that was it could only fit a single 1 gallon batch at a time. And thermoelectric coolers aren't sold in Hawaii for some reason, and shipping to here would cost $110 or more. Sears last weekend had a sale on chest freezers and I picked up a 5 cu ft kenmore. Can't wait to get this thing started. I guess I have no choice but to do this since I already made a pretty decent investment haha.

I'll check out the brew club. Thanks man!

Is it possible to order a cooler online from Costco or Walmart and get it drop shipped? (aka in-store pickup)

 

[El Nino]

Is it possible to order a cooler online from Costco or Walmart and get it drop shipped? (aka in-store pickup)

I tried, best price I could get was delivered to Walmart, but it added $20 to the cost making it slightly over $100. I figured for that cost, why not get a kenmore 5 cu ft ice freezer for $200 (on sale at the time). I can ferment multiple batches or go bigger if I want. Wouldn't have that option with the igloo.

I have my first batch fermenting in the kenmore and it's not attracting bugs or anything, so I'd say it's a success lol. Took almost 30 hours to see signs of fermentation but everything appears to be going good so far

I'd have to say though the temp control is probably extremely good to have. I have the probe taped to the side of the carboy with an insulator on the other side (just cut pieces from an old towel) and it's keeping the temp steady at 64 degrees. Varies by 1 degree up and down but overall pretty smooth sailing, I thought the temp swings would be greater than that. I'm pleased with the purchase.

 

[mullet6577]

Not really related to your brewing (good luck btw, it can definitely be fun), but reading this has made me really miss Hawaii. Dad was Navy and I lived on Ford Island and in Halsey Terrace from 85 - 90, Went to school at Pearl Harbor Kai and Aliamanu intermediate.

 

[C-Rider]

Not really related to your brewing (good luck btw, it can definitely be fun), but reading this has made me really miss Hawaii. Dad was Navy and I lived on Ford Island and in Halsey Terrace from 85 - 90, Went to school at Pearl Harbor Kai and Aliamanu intermediate.

Thank Dad for his service. I got shipped here in 1963 and NEVER LEFT.

 

[El Nino]

Not really related to your brewing (good luck btw, it can definitely be fun), but reading this has made me really miss Hawaii. Dad was Navy and I lived on Ford Island and in Halsey Terrace from 85 - 90, Went to school at Pearl Harbor Kai and Aliamanu intermediate.

Nice, I work at Ford Island right now. I was born here but moved around a lot since my dad was in the Army. I joined the military at 18 and was like why the F did I ever do that lol. Not that the time in service was bad, but I got out because I could never get stationed back in Hawaii and I realized that's where home is

 

[El Nino]

4 days into fermentation, everything seems ok so far but lately there’s been a darkening of the krausen on the outside. Is this normal or something to be worried about?