Cooling Methods

[thisispants]

Any ideas on how to cool the fermenter during fermentation.

I just put my coopers sparkling ale on yesterday, and wrapped a wet sheet around it and pointed the fan on it. Seemed to kinda work....a bit. The temperature went down a degree or two.

Any other ideas?

[JaCk_SpArRoW]

You could try putting the fermenter in a plastic container large enough to fit it & some water, then throw in some ice bricks (the blue ones used with an esky)....failing that, if you have an old fridge you can use, put the fermenter in the fridge with 2 x 2L coke bottles filled with water & frozen...replace the bottles each night & morning.

[MHD]

I wrapped my ferm in a wet sheet and used a fan to blow air over it...

The sheet cools as water evaporates (latent heat of vaporisation), works very well in dry Canberra, was able to drop the temp by ~6 degrees

[Rubber.Piggy]

I wrapped my ferm in a wet sheet and used a fan to blow air over it...

The sheet cools as water evaporates (latent heat of vaporisation), works very well in dry Canberra, was able to drop the temp by ~6 degrees

How often do you find you have to rehydrate the sheet??

[501]

drape the Sheet / towel in a tub / container that the fermenter is sitting in and fill it with water. This make rehydrating easier.

If you do this, you can also do as JaCk_SpArRoW suggested and put ice in the tub as well.

cheers 501.

[MHD]

Yep what 501 said...

It only managed to wick about 1/2 way up the sheet... so every day I poured some over the top...

[Rubber.Piggy]

hmmm, of course. saves having water everywhere as well...

MHD: a towel make wick better than a sheet

[JaCk_SpArRoW]

MHD: a towel make wick better than a sheet

Less evaporation Im assuming?

[Paleman]

You could try putting the fermenter in a plastic container large enough to fit it & some water, then throw in some ice bricks (the blue ones used with an esky)....failing that, if you have an old fridge you can use, put the fermenter in the fridge with 2 x 2L coke bottles filled with water & frozen...replace the bottles each night & morning.

Works a treat, keeps my beer 18 - 20 degs.

[JaCk_SpArRoW]

You could try putting the fermenter in a plastic container large enough to fit it & some water, then throw in some ice bricks (the blue ones used with an esky)....failing that, if you have an old fridge you can use, put the fermenter in the fridge with 2 x 2L coke bottles filled with water & frozen...replace the bottles each night & morning.

Works a treat, keeps my beer 18 - 20 degs.

Glad to hear it Paleman...there are other methods that people use I am sure but the 2 suggestions I posted have been tried & tested...Im just lucky I have a big fridge I can use for fermenting & keeping the temps down...happy brewing buddy!

[Rubber.Piggy]

MHD: a towel make wick better than a sheet

Less evaporation Im assuming?

I was just wondering because towels are made to absorb water maybe it would travel further up.

[JaCk_SpArRoW]

MHD: a towel make wick better than a sheet

Less evaporation Im assuming?

I was just wondering because towels are made to absorb water maybe it would travel further up.

It may do RP which should result in a better cooling method...the sheet would dry out too quick, especially if a fan is blowing on it....other thing would be to use 2 towels for added water retention!

[da_damage_done]

I've got a simular setup at the moment -

- fermenter sitting in a huge pot, my grandfather uses for boiling tomato bottles in, full of water
- a sheet draped over the fermenter and sitting in the water
- then 4 plastic frozen bottles which i rotate with another 4 bottles before i go to work and when i get back (luckily the deep freezer is nearby!)

got it sitting at 20-22* - but not any lower

just ordered a Fan Control Model THF 0-40oC 10 Amp (fan/brew/fridge use)
$103 + $10 postage from http://www.adloheat.com.au/climate.htm

I'm gonna rig it up to a spare fridge. It should be here today or tomorrow hopefully - it'll beat the sheet and frozen bottle method!

[da_damage_done]

Just a quick question about sitting the fermenter in a body of water like i've described above

I'm gonna have it in there for about a week - its a coopers standard fermenter

There aren't any foreseeable issues with this are there?

[Paleman]

Just a quick question about sitting the fermenter in a body of water like i've described above

I'm gonna have it in there for about a week - its a coopers standard fermenter

There aren't any foreseeable issues with this are there?

There are no foreseeable issues ddd. As long as your sanitary. I make sure the water carrying vessel is sanitised. The water in which the fermenter sits in is sanitised. When it comes time to pull your fermenter out and bottle, or rack. Sanitise your fermenter tap.

[JaCk_SpArRoW]

Just a quick question about sitting the fermenter in a body of water like i've described above

I'm gonna have it in there for about a week - its a coopers standard fermenter

There aren't any foreseeable issues with this are there?

There are no foreseeable issues ddd. As long as your sanitary. I make sure the water carrying vessel is sanitised. The water in which the fermenter sits in is sanitised. When it comes time to pull your fermenter out and bottle, or rack. Sanitise your fermenter tap.

And dont forget, when moving the fermenter, to take the airlock out to avoid suck back...you could add a half cup of bleach to the water to prevent any nasty build of creepy crawlies & keep the water from becoming stagnant, but you should be ok otherwise!

[porridgewog]

And dont forget, when moving the fermenter, to take the airlock out to avoid suck back...you could add a half cup of bleach to the water to prevent any nasty build of creepy crawlies & keep the water from becoming stagnant, but you should be ok otherwise!

As Jack has suggested some bleach would not go amiss if you are worried about nasties in the water. Then just give the outside of the tap a clean/sanitise before you rack/bottle and you will be fine.


Cheers

Porridge

[Rubber.Piggy]

If you are worried about bugs, by all means put bleach in the water. However keep in mind that this bleach will be soaking up into the sheet and evaporating with the water, which could be dangerous in an enclosed space.

If it were me, I would just ensure that the tap is sealed properly, maybe run a bead of silicone around it to be sure and use clean water. If you tap is sealed properly this water won't contact you wort. If the water starts looking bad you can change it, but that's unlikely to happen in only a few days.

[Hashie]

I agree with RP, no point putting bleach in your cooling water. Really there is extremely little chance that this water will ever come into contact with the wort.

If you are concerned about the tap, just give it a good hot water rinse prior to racking/bottling.

[da_damage_done]

Thanks for all the suggestions

Cheers