Messages

1

Equipment and Software / Re: Temperature controlled fermentation in a Blichmann conical fermenter...

« on: May 24, 2012, 06:56:43 pm »

jeffy: That seems like a reasonable way to provide cold liquid to pump thru the immersion chiller, but if the liquid is maintained at the correct temp then the pump would have to run constantly.  If I use ice water, the pump only turns on when the temp in the fermenter rises and turns off when it drops.  But you do have me thinking about other ways to provide cold liquid other than using a cooler and ice.  Possibly some sort of glycol chiller either as a primary cooler that pumps thru the immersion chiller or as a secondary cooler to cool the liquid that gets pumped thru the immersion chiller.  The former is probably the more efficient, but I have a concern about leaks since the chiller will have to go thru the lid of the fermenter and I was planning on using compression fittings to attach the immersion chiller to the lid. 

jmcamerlengo: There is no need to monitor the temp of the ice water, it will be at 32 deg F.  The fact that the temp probe will be installed in a thermowell in the fermenting beer will be how the temp of the beer will be controlled.  A fermentation chamber as you are suggesting is a good thought.  I had in the past contemplated building one, but I am a little space constrained and when I was researching it the A/C unit would need to be modified so that it doesn't shut off at it's coldest temp.  They are also not build to run that cold and there is a real possiblity of freezing the compressor as well as the cost of running the unit (though I'm not sure if that would be more or less efficient than using ice from my freezer's ice machine).  The problem with using a chest freezer is getting the fermenter into them.  If I put the fermenter in it first, then it has to be near enough to my brew system to get the beer from my plate chiller into it which isn't really practical.  And if I try to put it in afterward I would have to figure out some sort of lift to raise it up and drop it into the freezer. 

Thanks for your replies and suggestions, I do appreciate them. 

Someone provided me a link http://brewhemoth.com/immersion-chiller to a commercial version of exactly what I am proposing doing.  So now that the concept is proven I have ordered 50' of 316 SS 1/2" tubing, a SS thermowell and a digital thermostat.  I should have it figured out in the next month and will post up pics when I get it completed. 

2

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Temperature controlled fermentation in a Blichmann conical fermenter...

« on: May 24, 2012, 06:40:50 pm »

ukolowiczd:  Thanks for the comments and thanks for the link to the commercial version.  That is exactly what I'm looking at doing. 

snowtiger87:  I assume you are suggesting that I use a glycol chiller to provide cold water to circulate thru the immersion chiller.  Or are you suggesting that I use glycol in the chiller?  I obviously need to get cold liquid from somewhere and the easiest thing I thought of was my ice maker, but a dedicated chiller might make it easier to run.  Thanks for the suggestion. 

kylekohlmorgen: I hear your concern about keeping it clean, but I figure if I use the same protocol I use on my fermenter (PBW to clean and boiling water to sanitize) that should keep things very clean and sanitary.  Also, with regard to fermentation not providing enough mixing to keep the temp constant, that shouldn't be an issue as with commercial unitanks the cooling on the straight walled sides causes the cool liquid along the walls to fall because it is denser and forces the liquid in the center to rise.  As the temp gets closer to freezing water actually becomes less dense (which is why ice floats) and the cycle is reversed which is why the unitanks (the good ones anyway) have a cooling region on the cone as well as on the straight walled sides so that the liquid in the cone will rise as it gets closer to lagering temps. 

As far as building a fermentation chamber, that was a thought, but I don't really have the space for it and I'm concerned about the cost of electricity as well as freezing up the A/C unit.  A little research on the internet showed that an A/C unit isn't designed to cool down into the 40's so you have to modify them to allow them to cool that low. 

I liked the pic of the unit that used the freezer to provide cooling for the fermentation chamber but that would require me to purchase a freezer AND build the fermentation chamber. 

So with the proof that this has been done before, I have ordered 50' of 316 SS 1/2” tubing, a digital thermostat and a thermowell to use to place the temp probe into the fermenting beer.  I already have a pump and a cooler so in a few weeks I should have the thing fabricated.  I'll let you know how it goes. 

Again, thanks for everyone's input. 

3

Equipment and Software / Temperature controlled fermentation in a Blichmann conical fermenter...

« on: May 22, 2012, 07:35:05 pm »

I have a couple Blichmann conical fermenters and because it is warmer where I live I can only brew lagers for about 2 or 3 months in Dec, Jan and Feb.  I have looked at ways to cool them, but I have mostly contemplated external means of cooling (i.e. a large walk-in refrigerator, custom cooling jacket, those cooling chips) but they all involved a really large investment (walk in cooler) or seemed overly complex (custom cooling jacket).  And I'm not so sure the cooling chips would provide enough cooling.  I recently received a mail order homebrew catalog that had a stainless steel coil style wort chiller (most are copper) and that got me to thinking about using it to cool the fermenter internally.  If I could mount the chiller inside the fermenter, make a connection thru the top of the fermenter to an external supply of ice water in a large cooler, use a digital thermostat like the Ranco or Johnson, put the temperature probe into the fermenting beer and have the thermostat turn on a pump to pump ice water thru the wort chiller when it gets too warm it seems like a workable solution.  It never dawned on me until I saw the stainless wort chiller.  The only other issue is that I would have to somehow insulate the fermenter so that it wouldn't run constantly and use up a ton of ice, but this seems reasonable.  Does anyone have any experience doing something like this?  Any concerns?  Any ideas?  Thanks for any input you may have. 
Warm Regards,
Dave

4

Yeast and Fermentation / Temperature controlled fermentation in a Blichmann conical fermenter...

« on: May 22, 2012, 07:29:08 pm »

I have a couple Blichmann conical fermenters and because it is warmer where I live I can only brew lagers for about 2 or 3 months in Dec, Jan and Feb.  I have looked at ways to cool them, but I have mostly contemplated external means of cooling (i.e. a large walk-in refrigerator, custom cooling jacket, those cooling chips) but they all involved a really large investment (walk in cooler) or seemed overly complex (custom cooling jacket).  And I'm not so sure the cooling chips would provide enough cooling.  I recently received a mail order homebrew catalog that had a stainless steel coil style wort chiller (most are copper) and that got me to thinking about using it to cool the fermenter internally.  If I could mount the chiller inside the fermenter, make a connection thru the top of the fermenter to an external supply of ice water in a large cooler, use a digital thermostat like the Ranco or Johnson, put the temperature probe into the fermenting beer and have the thermostat turn on a pump to pump ice water thru the wort chiller when it gets too warm it seems like a workable solution.  It never dawned on me until I saw the stainless wort chiller.  The only other issue is that I would have to somehow insulate the fermenter so that it wouldn't run constantly and use up a ton of ice, but this seems reasonable.  Does anyone have any experience doing something like this?  Any concerns?  Any ideas?  Thanks for any input you may have. 
Warm Regards,
Dave