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Date: 13 Nov 2006 18:06:29
From: Notaknob
Subject: Cooling Fermentation
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I was reading the December issue of BYO and saw something in the
"Homebrew systems that make you Drool" that looked like a good idea for
making lagers.
The fermentation setup uses an immersion cooler. Glycol is ran through
copper coils, which are immersed in the wort. The glycol is
recirculated by an immersion pump and it's controlled by a Ranco
temperature controller. It seemed like a great solution to limited
cooling space.
I was thinking of doing something similar using coiled copper, a
submersion pump, a 40qt Gott cooler with ice water instead of glycol.
I would keep the water cool with frozen milk jugs. The submersible
pump would be plugged into the temperature control. The only thing I'd
need is another temperature controller and a submersible probe. I
would insulate the fermenter to help keep the temps down. I do not
have a conical fermenter so I'd have to work around transferring the
beer from the trub after the initial fermentation.
I know storing beer with copper isn't a great idea, but the beer would
only be in contact for 2-3 weeks until I kegged it and stored it in a
chest freezer.
My question is if anyone else has a setup like this and if there are
any tips that you can provide.
Bruce
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Date: 14 Nov 2006 04:03:46
From: Brian Foster
Subject: Re: Cooling Fermentation
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"Notaknob" <notaknob@gmail.com > wrote in message
news:1163469989.397043.121670@k70g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
It seemed like a great solution to limited
> cooling space.
This is a great solution for limited cooling space. Get more cooling space.
Craigslist.org
Find a free or near free refrigerator or chest freezer in your area:
http://geo.craigslist.org/iso/us
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Date: 14 Nov 2006 05:15:32
From: MarkMc
Subject: Re: Cooling Fermentation
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I have a copper coil sitting in my fermenter, and I can tell you it
works a treat.
I have a pub behind-the-bar chilling device, which has a built-in
recirculation pump, which pumps ice cold water through the copper coil.
I have an OMRON PID temperature controller (brand new off eBay =A328)
which controls a 3-way solenoid valve which diverts the iced water
either straight back to the chiller, or via the coil in the fermenter.
The fermenter has a pRtd (aka pt100) electronic temperature sensor
which connects to the OMRON. The fermenter (stainless) also has a
self-adhesive heat mat for heating.
The fermenter is a dual skin 50L catering stainless steel tub with
insulation between the two skins, and I've used it in the height of
summer, and now in close to 0C weather here in the UK and it's always
within 0.1C of the set temperature. I think the insulation plays a big
role in that accuracy.
Regards,
Mark
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Date: 14 Nov 2006 16:00:10
From: NotaKnob
Subject: Re: Cooling Fermentation
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MarkMc wrote:
> I have a copper coil sitting in my fermenter, and I can tell you it
> works a treat.
>
> I have a pub behind-the-bar chilling device, which has a built-in
> recirculation pump, which pumps ice cold water through the copper coil.
>
> I have an OMRON PID temperature controller (brand new off eBay =A328)
> which controls a 3-way solenoid valve which diverts the iced water
> either straight back to the chiller, or via the coil in the fermenter.
>
> The fermenter has a pRtd (aka pt100) electronic temperature sensor
> which connects to the OMRON. The fermenter (stainless) also has a
> self-adhesive heat mat for heating.
>
> The fermenter is a dual skin 50L catering stainless steel tub with
> insulation between the two skins, and I've used it in the height of
> summer, and now in close to 0C weather here in the UK and it's always
> within 0.1C of the set temperature. I think the insulation plays a big
> role in that accuracy.
Sounds like you've got a great setup. I have a converted chest freezer
I've been using as a dispensing fridge and whenever I want to make a
lager, I've had to pull all my kegs out to put the fermenter in.
That's not an optimal setup as I have to resort to a ghetto setup for
dispensing beer. No beer for two weeks would be unacceptable.
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Date: 15 Nov 2006 01:16:39
From: MarkMc
Subject: Re: Cooling Fermentation
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Thanks, I'm really pleased with it. Most of it is stuff bought
second-hand through friends, so not too expensive. It's made an
enormous difference to the quality of my brews.
I have a chest freezer earmarked for a 'lagering cellar', and I'd have
the same problem as I don't have much space.
Cheers,
Mark
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Date: 15 Nov 2006 19:44:57
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Cooling Fermentation
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On 13 Nov 2006 18:06:29 -0800, <notaknob@gmail.com > wrote:
> I know storing beer with copper isn't a great idea, but the beer would
> only be in contact for 2-3 weeks until I kegged it and stored it in a
> chest freezer.
I'm not sure fermenting in contact with copper is a good idea either. I
believe that too much copper is toxic to the yeast? In the commercial
world you usually see boil kettles made out of copper, but I don't think
I've ever heard of anyone using a copper fermenter before. IMO, there's
probably a reason for that.
John.
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Date: 16 Nov 2006 12:40:53
From: hankus
Subject: Re: Cooling Fermentation
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I had also heard that the acidic fermenting beer + Cu is bad for the
beer...I know that it will clean the tarnish off Cu--
Thanks
Hank
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Date: 11 Dec 2006 08:00:55
From: JoeyB
Subject: Re: Cooling Fermentation
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I'm building a system that pumps food grade glycol from my freezer thru
insulated pipes to a loop of plastic tubing that is in my carboy. My
first prototype was with copper pipes in the carboy. As an experiment,
I wrapped a copper pipe in a scott towel soaked in white vineger (PH
2.4) Within about 2 Hrs, a heavy green oxide had formed on the pipe. I
looked up the reaction on the web (acetic acid and copper) and found
that it is copper acetate. It's used as a fungicide. I didn't want
fungicide in my beer so I went to plan B. Plastic tubing. Granted,
fermenting beer has a higher PH but prolonged exposure (i.e. weeks) may
produce a similar reaction. I'm not enough of a chemist to try and
guess what might happen.
My system will eventually have a circuit for each carboy, turned on
and off with a electrically controlled valve. I'm a geek so I'm
building a microcontrolled system to do the control and data logging of
my carboy temps. Since fermentation is exothermic, I should get some
indication of fermentation rates from the temp data. I'll post pics
when I have it up and running. I'd be interested in anyone else that's
tried it or thought about building such a system
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