how do you control fermentation temperature? i have tried alot of methods and lately been using a thermowell but as logical as a thermowell seems it has temp swings and im not really loving it, lets talk temp control
I use an old fridge in the basement. I installed a thermowell in the lid of my BrewBucket that I insert the temp probe of an Auber two channel plug and play temp controller into. In this photo I am close transferring beer but you can see the white wire coming from the thermowell as well as my heating pad mounted to the wall of the fridge.
I typically use a 14 gal SS Brewtech chronical with a glycol chiller. For smaller batches I use carboys in my large chest freezer that stores full kegs. I wrap the carboy first in a heat wrap connected to a temp controller and then with reflectix insulation. I have equally good and predictable/repeatable results with both methods.
I use a refrigerator and a Ranco 2 stage controller. I usually get the wort down to ~80 with a CFC, transfer and put the fermenter in the fridge to cool down to pitching temperature. Once it’s cooled down I aerate and pitch. Then, and only then, I put the probe in the thermowell. When active fermentation slows I remove the probe from the thermowell and crank the temperature up a few degrees.
During active fermentation the beer is constantly in motion so the temperature is the same at the sides as in the center of the fermenter. That’s why using a thermowell works well, When the motion slows to a crawl and then stops, you’re trying to cool the center of the fermetner by removing heat from the sides, so overshooting is a problem…
I have a polite but firm conversation with the yeast about my expectations before pitching. Seems to work most of the time. But, US-05 refuses to listen so I don’t use that strain anymore.
I use a chest freezer. There is a digital probe taped to the side of my carboy covered in foam to read vessel temp and another dangling in air measuring ambient and controlling either the freezer in warm weather, or a 250W ceramic heater during winter. I set ambient around 1.5C below desired ferment temp. adjusting if necessary.
Like MNWayne, I monitor the fermentation temperature, but the probe of my controller is in air to control ambient. (I’ve seen manufacturers recommend this.) The large thermal mass of the liquid relative to air keeps it steady while the air temperature fluctuates around the set point. While some people have luck with the probe in a thermowell or taped to the fermenter, I’m one who hasn’t. When I tried the probe in a thermowell, either heating or cooling was running nonstop, driving ambient too far in one direction or the other, and the beer, due to its thermal mass being slower to respond, would eventually catch up and thus had wild fluctuations in temperature. Controlling ambient is easier on the equipment and more successful in maintaining even temperature in the ferment. I just have to watch the temperature of the ferment, because the differential between it and ambient will vary with the vigor of fermentation. Adjust as necessary.
Oh, and since I switched to fermenting in a 10 gallon corny last year and no longer have a thermowell, I’ve gone old school for monitoring the fermenter temperature. Stick-on liquid crystal Fermometer.
I converted an old 1970’s kegerator. I use a Inkbird to control the temperature. The kegerator does the cooling and I have a reptile heater and a very small fan powered by a USB port for the heating. So The fan circulates air during the heating cycle.
I strap the sensing element to the carboy using an elastic strap with thermal insulation to shield it from the ambient. I tried the thermal well concept but the response time is far too long.
In the Winter, my basement’s ambient temperature is in the low sixties, just fine for ales without further ado. in the Summer, I put my Ale Pail fermenter in a plastic tub filled with cool water, and draped with a wet towel. I can adjust the temperature with the addition of frozen water bottles as needed. It’s not elegant, but it works just fine.
The buried lead here is that clever sideways keg move. I like it, anything that limits lifting heavy objects. I now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.
I use a temperature controlled chamber that is ducted into my beer fridge’s freezer compartment. I’ve found that a fancy thermowell is not necessary. I have taped a small 2” by 2” foam block to the side of the fermenter and the probe is inserted between the foam block and fermenter wall. I now have a Tilt and it agrees with the temp controller’s reading. It’s good enough.
Brewbama: Is the tilted corney during transfer to maximize volume during transfer or to minimize head pressure on the liquid in tube to help the incoming flow?
Sorry for being off topic on this specific thread.
Gee, I just figured he was trying to get the keg below the fermenter without lifting the fermenter… I didn’t think of all that complicated stuff on a Saturday morning… ;D
Both.
Prior to filling with beer, the keg is completely filled with sanitizer and purged with CO2. I lay the keg on a 2x4 with the gas in post up because I want the CO2 bubble to be at the gas in post once filled. I attach the liquid out post to purge the line with CO2 and attach it to the sanitized spigot first. Then I attach the sanitized gas in post and open the spigot. Once beer starts flowing pushing CO2 out of the gas in post I attach it back onto the fermenter lid. I fill until I see beer it the gas in line. Then, I sit it upright, install a tap onto the liquid out post, CO2 to the gas in post and dispense beer until I no longer hear gurgling. I figure this process results in the keg about as oxygen free as I can get.
Additionally, I don’t want to move the fermenter to stir up anything in the cone below the spigot. So laying it down satisfies two goals.
I need to have a similar conversation. I got a giggle out of this:
3 methods…temp controlled chest freezer, Brewjacket Immersion Pro, and Grainfather Conical with glycol chiller unit
SS Brewtech’s FTSs for cooling and a fermwrap for heating if necessary.
I have an older dorm fridge hooked up to an Inkbird. It’s a little larger than newer dorm fridges so it’s big enough to fit even the taller 7.9 gallon brewing buckets (although not tall enough for an airlock). It was converted to a kegerator by the prior owner but I took off the tap hardware. I also have heat tape I use in the fridge to ferment saisons warm and use the fridge as an insulated space to build up heat.
Temperature control was essential in my old house in Texas because I fermented in a guest bathroom that stayed in the 70s most of the year. Now I use part of my office in the basement which stays in the 60s through most of the year. I could probably get away with not controlling temperature down there but I still use the fridge and it rarely runs.
I use a chest freezer with a length of fermwrap secured to the side with adhesive hook and loop fasteners, both of which are plugged into a dual stage Auber controller.
If I set both differentials to 0.3° and set the hot and cold set points 0.3° from each other, the beer temperature will hold within a 1.5° range.
When fermenting in the SS Brew Bucket, I’ll use the thermowell, but when I ferment in my 10 gallon corny, I just tape the probe to the side of the keg with a bit of insulation. They both seem to work pretty much the same (and I also monitor with thermometer adhesives and the temp probe on my Tilt).
I am using 3787 almost exclusively to make 5 beers: Tafelbier, Patersbier, Dubbel, Tripel and Dark Strong Ale.
I don’t control temperature at all.
In the winter, the ambient temperature in my basement where I ferment is between 64-66 F. In the summer, it’s a little cooler because of the central air and the fact I have a duct in the laundry room to prevent the pipes freezing in the winter, so probably around 62-64 F.
I chill to 64 F and just let it ride. Initially the temperature is limited to around 64-66 F due to the ambient temperature for about 24-36 hours. 48-60 hours in it starts to creep toward 68 F, and right around 72-84 hours in it begins to creep toward the low to mid 70’s.