Membership questions? Log in issues? Email info@brewersassociation.org

Author Topic: How to cool a fermenting bucket?  (Read 1143 times)

Offline Joe_Beer

  • Brewer
  • ****
  • Posts: 415
How to cool a fermenting bucket?
« on: July 07, 2020, 11:53:39 am »
My ferementer temp went up overnight to 74F so put the bucket in a plastic storage tote with a few gallons of water. After a few hours it dropped to 72. Should I try and get it colder with a couple ice cubes? Going by what it says on the US-05 packet I'm still a bit on the warm side of ideal.

Offline dmtaylor

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4724
  • Lord Idiot the Lazy
    • YEAST MASTER Perma-Living
Re: How to cool a fermenting bucket?
« Reply #1 on: July 07, 2020, 12:10:11 pm »
Drape in a wet t-shirt and blow a fan on it.
Dave

The world will become a much more pleasant place to live when each and every one of us realizes that we are all idiots.

Offline Joe_Beer

  • Brewer
  • ****
  • Posts: 415
Re: How to cool a fermenting bucket?
« Reply #2 on: July 07, 2020, 12:30:37 pm »
Thanks, twice  ;)  I'll add the fan.

Offline denny

  • Administrator
  • Retired with too much time on my hands
  • *****
  • Posts: 27093
  • Noti OR [1991.4, 287.6deg] AR
    • Dennybrew
Re: How to cool a fermenting bucket?
« Reply #3 on: July 07, 2020, 12:52:57 pm »
My ferementer temp went up overnight to 74F so put the bucket in a plastic storage tote with a few gallons of water. After a few hours it dropped to 72. Should I try and get it colder with a couple ice cubes? Going by what it says on the US-05 packet I'm still a bit on the warm side of ideal.

I used to use ice packs in a tub of water.  Take yeast temp recommendations with a grain of salt and shoot for the low end.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

www.dennybrew.com

The best, sharpest, funniest, weirdest and most knowledgable minds in home brewing contribute on the AHA forum. - Alewyfe

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

Offline Joe_Beer

  • Brewer
  • ****
  • Posts: 415
Re: How to cool a fermenting bucket?
« Reply #4 on: July 07, 2020, 02:11:51 pm »
I used to use ice packs in a tub of water.  Take yeast temp recommendations with a grain of salt and shoot for the low end.

The wet shirt and fan is working great for now. Dropped the temp to under 69F. I'll add an ice pack later if it starts going up again. Seems to warm up a bit more at night when the AC isn't running as much.

Offline reverseapachemaster

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 3777
    • Brain Sparging on Brewing
Re: How to cool a fermenting bucket?
« Reply #5 on: July 07, 2020, 09:54:41 pm »
Drape in a wet t-shirt and blow a fan on it.

A great idea if you live in a dry-ish climate. It's the same concept as an evaporative cooler, which cools my entire house in Denver. When I lived in Texas this actually made my beers warmer because the t-shirt increased the humidity around the fermenter and retained the heat. I resorted to a water bath plus icepacks but eventually adopted a more consistent approach with a small fridge.
Heck yeah I blog about homebrewing: Brain Sparging on Brewing

Offline goose

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1287
Re: How to cool a fermenting bucket?
« Reply #6 on: July 08, 2020, 07:04:24 am »
Drape in a wet t-shirt and blow a fan on it.

I use a wet bath towel (because it takes longer for the water to evaporate) and a fan, but same idea.
Goose Steingass
Wooster, OH
Society of Akron Area Zymurgists (SAAZ)
Wayne County Brew Club
Mansfield Brew Club
BJCP Certified