I have been looking to move on from my mini fridge as a temp control and stumbled onto Aquarium Chillers. Which look like there might just be able to handle the temperature range and are cheaper than the available glycol chillers.
link to the chillerhttps://www.amazon.com/EcoPlus-Chiller-1-10-HP/dp/B000W4S45C/ref=sr_1_44?keywords=chiller&qid=1573084797&sr=8-44
I’ve been looking at this alternative, too. It should work fine, but chills only to 37F, so it limits the bottom end cold crash a bit…
you could always do a second cold crash in your keg and just pitch the first pint. That is usually what i do anyways.
Looks like a pretty cheap aquarium chiller- not sure how long it would last. Better aquarium chillers cost twice as much; the only real difference between them and glycol chillers is the liquid that circulates through it, and it requires a pump to circulate the liquid.
I’m looking for a cheap alternative temp controller too. I don’t want to clutter the basement with yet another fridge (I already have a kegerator in an upright fridge, plus a chest freezer for food)
I figure I brew ~10 times a years, and I only need to control temperature for the first ~4 days of fermentation, so I only need control 10% of the year; the other 90% of the year it would just be taking up space.
I was thinking of setting up temporary controller, possibly using thermoelectrics and a liquid loop. In my basement I need both heating and cooling (ambient from 50-70F and fermentation target from 50-100F for various yeast strains).
I was looking at this little aquarium heater/cooler.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32897654231.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.20ab1c766crfqT&algo_pvid=6ddd9090-8e69-4f7d-a450-dc2fcedd8032&algo_expid=6ddd9090-8e69-4f7d-a450-dc2fcedd8032-57&btsid=25165375-356b-43b2-8019-db0873f66718&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_6,searchweb201603_52
I assume it is a solid-state thermoelectric with a simple current-controller connected to a thermistor in the water plate. Could I rig up a simple “poor man’s glycol jacket”? I ferment in kegs (8 gallon split batch). I could wrap a simple liquid loop around the tow kegs and surround them with a sleeping bag. Set the aquarium heater/cooler to my target fermentation temperature, and run a simple pond pump to circulate water for the first few days of fermentation, then tear it down and put it away until next brew day.
What do you all think of that idea?
For years I put then fermenter in a tub of water and put an aquarium heater in the water. Worked well.
I’d just caution you to beware of false economies. Sometimes it’s better to buy the thing that’s designed to do what you need even if the upfront cost is higher. Make sure you account for the total cost of ownership for both options.
I am going to bump this discussion.
I have been using a brew jacket immersion pro for many years. I had to have the controller replaced a few years ago and the company did it for a nominal fee. I understand that they are no longer being built or supported so I am trying to think of the next step when it dies.
I was thinking of a chiller like this one: Amazon.com
I ferment in 6 gallon beer buckets and would use a jacket like this: Cooling Jacket | Cool Zone Fermentation Temperature Control
My question is: I see many people will set up the chiller to cool a reservoir of water and then pump that cold water through the jacket. What prevents pumping the water directly through the chilling jacker from the chiller and having a closed loop system?
Off hand I don’t see anything wrong with pumping from the chiller to the jacket. The chiller has its own reservoir, so I don’t see a need for another one.
Question: for those prices, why not go the more common chest or upright freezer route?
That is under consideration as well. Mostly, I am just pissed that there isn’t a replacement for the Immersion Pro out there. It works so well. I was away from homebrewing for a few years and didn’t realize that they weren’t around anymore. Wish I would have known, because I would have bought a spare.
I’ve been reading a lot threads on various places about these aquarium water chillers, this one seems to be the most recent, so I thought it would be a good place to post a question. Is there any reason that one couldn’t use a 3:1 water-to-glycol solution to pump through the chiller/cooling coils in a set up like this? It seems as though this could improve chilling efficiency and microbial stability of the chilling solution.