With the warm temps around now, I ma having hell trying to get my beers to settle out after primary.
I saw this: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f41/new-product-cool-brewing-fermentation-cooler-296052/ (http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f41/new-product-cool-brewing-fermentation-cooler-296052/) - a US product that is basically a fancy ass coolbag that you put your fermenter in, plus frozen PET bottles or camping ica packs.
Shipping/customs is a pain, but there is anything closer to home that can take a 30L fermenter? I am thinking of the Aussie style 100-can coolbags (or bigger).
I am beer gadgeted to death will ya stop!
5 cut pieces of that thick insulation board stuck together with wooden kebab skewers through the sides, and a load of frozen HB tubs or coke bottles with water sitting on the top of your fermenting bucket or a free fridge outside the back door, or if you live in a flat on the balcony ??? with a €15 stc1000
Just checked my well water temp, 14 degrees, how the bloody hell am I going to bring my wort down with my chiller at the w/e with that!
Probably should have mentioned that I live in a 4th floor apartment with really limited balcony space. Dont think it can take a fridge large enough for a fermenter, but I will get out some tape tonight.
So I really need something that I can just wrap the fermenter in, that doesn't take much space.
wet t-shirt or sheet should work
Bless me father for I have sinned by typing homebrew wet t-shirt into google
Interesting. I too have the same problem with living in a small apartment.
I like that its small, contained, waterproof and neat.
Review on it here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFetuYkmtb4).
Quote from: delzep on August 22, 2013, 05:57:48 PM
wet t-shirt or sheet should work
I did
swamp chilling 2 weeks ago, and it dropped it by ~7 degrees C from ambient, but its a lot of work, and I want to get temps below 10 for a sustained period. Bit risk of mold in our place with that trick.
Quote from: shiny on August 22, 2013, 06:19:33 PM
Interesting. I too have the same problem with living in a small apartment.
I like that its small, contained, waterproof and neat.
The aussies can get camping cool bags that will do the same thing. Cant find anything like them here though.
What exactly are you trying to achieve?
If its a cooled fermenter then:
Get some cool box ice packs and freeze them. Then lash about 4 or 6 onto your fermenter just below trhe liquid level with bungee cord or gaffer tape.
Then wrap some insulating foil bubble wrap (water proof) the wrap a sleeping bag / duvet (not WP) around that.
Freeze some more for when the originals need replacing and repeat the above.
However a 25 l fermenter wrapped like above is not that much smaller than a larder fridge.
Quote from: Will_D on August 22, 2013, 08:19:22 PM
What exactly are you trying to achieve?
To crash chill a fermented beer, to a temp low enough, and for long enough, that the yeast settles out so that I can bottle. The beers I made in winter and early spring were super clear, nothing else came close.
Have several camping freeze packs, and can get more. So I am interested in any and all solutions. I have 3 batches of cloudy beer to test techniques on.
Quote
However a 25 l fermenter wrapped like above is not that much smaller than a larder fridge.
My fermenters are 30L brewferm fermenters. With taps. I have thought about a *second* fridge option. I think we have the vertical space for it. And a broken one is still good for ice pack rotation.
Space is a premium. Whatever passes for
Thinks: 2.5 (sterile outside) litre milk catons full of glycol at -25C lowered by sterile nylon into insulated fermenter and "jiggled around"
Else: Immersion chiller fed with same glycol mix and pumped round.
You cannot "crash cool in a fridge"
Why: Did it with a corny of pasturised cider at about 65C.
Put into a fridge at about 4C and it took 24 hours to chill to 4C. That was not a crash cool
My bad, I am misusing terminology here.
My current ambient cooling method is *wait until October*.
Those Cool Brewing bags are getting great reviews, but once Postage and Customs come into it, I am not far off getting a dedicated larder fridge just for cooling. While I dont have any more worktop space for brewing kit, I can go vertical (stack fermenter 2 on top of fridge). Will take measurements this weekend and see if I can get something cheap.