Camping Coolbags for cooling fermenters.

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

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/ - 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).

[Ciderhead]

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!

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

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.

[delzep]

wet t-shirt or sheet should work

[Ciderhead]

Bless me father for I have sinned by typing homebrew wet t-shirt into google

[Shane Phelan]

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.

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

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.

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

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.

[Will_D]

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.

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

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.

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

[Will_D]

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

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

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.