Brewing in Summer

[Nizmoose]

Ask for a second hand fridge for Xmas, mate.

Haha I'd get the fridge and go that route if the house didn't already have two fridges with freezers and a large chest freezer already, living at home and with two brothers my parents will be out of cash and Tony Abbott out of black coal if I bought another fridge

 

[doon]

A fridge doesnt chew that much juice when at ale temps only when crash chilling

 

[Nizmoose]

A fridge doesnt chew that much juice when at ale temps only when crash chilling

That's a reasonable point

 

[MastersBrewery]

and two fridges only use twice as much juice when they're turned on but certainly give a brewer some brew length!

 

[Nizmoose]

and two fridges only use twice as much juice when they're turned on but certainly give a brewer some brew length!

haha the sabotage option I like it. In all seriousness though it is hard to justify a fridge from a space perspective and whilst money is far from an issue I'm kinda keen to throw together a ferm chamber that weighs about 500 grams and costs 10 bucks and uses zero energy

 

[dcan6303]

haha the sabotage option I like it. In all seriousness though it is hard to justify a fridge from a space perspective and whilst money is far from an issue I'm kinda keen to throw together a ferm chamber that weighs about 500 grams and costs 10 bucks and uses zero energy

Except for the energy used by another fridge to freeze bottles of water for cold packs.

 

[Nizmoose]

Except for the energy used by another fridge to freeze bottles of water for cold packs.

yes yes yes I was waiting for that!

 

[MastersBrewery]

Look I'm one of those greedy brewers and a little lazy, with short spirts of great activity (don't go there!! the women aren't complaining). Anyway so this year I have twice run the kegs dry and then had 3 or four weeks of frantic brewing, so having 80L plus of controlled fermenting space is a big plus. And lets face it the simple set and forget you can get with a STC 1000, is worth it with a fridge and heat pad, you could even hook up a Brew pi and change up your ferment while sipping Mojitas on some fabulous beach half way round the world. Whats not to love!!

 

[welly2]

yes yes yes I was waiting for that!

I've been told by a number of different brewers that if there is one thing that has improved the ease of brewing and the quality of their beer, it's a temperature controlled fridge. As someone in a similar situation to you, it was pretty much the first thing I got in place when I moved up this way.

 

[Nizmoose]

I've been told by a number of different brewers that if there is one thing that has improved the ease of brewing and the quality of their beer, it's a temperature controlled fridge. As someone in a similar situation to you, it was pretty much the first thing I got in place when I moved up this way.

Yeah once I move out I'm sure I'll end of going fairly bonkers with the gear. Once I'm out of home I'll likely be looking at electric brew rig with a few controls for **** factor maybe and a fermenting fridge and definitely kegs. At the moment the ghetto setup should work and you always need something to lock back on!

 

[schtev]

Nizmoose, you sound just like me! I started homebrewing around the same time as you and my results without a ferm fridge were mediocre at best. Now I have a small bar fridge (that I managed to modify thanks to a thread on this forum!) and a temp controller and haven't looked back. My beer is good now! So good that I actually want to drink it!

 

[manticle]

Once you move out of home you'll have shiny gear with **** factor? Must have a great job lined up already.

 

[Nizmoose]

Nizmoose, you sound just like me! I started homebrewing around the same time as you and my results without a ferm fridge were mediocre at best. Now I have a small bar fridge (that I managed to modify thanks to a thread on this forum!) and a temp controller and haven't looked back. My beer is good now! So good that I actually want to drink it!

Hahaha well that's a great sign! But yeah I'm hoping with some control I'll be sitting pretty

Once you move out of home you'll have shiny gear with **** factor? Must have a great job lined up already.

Haha well hopefully! Environmental science. But at the moment my other hobby is cars and I have two one of which always has something wrong with it so brewing has if anything slowed my spending hobby wise.

 

[storeboughtcheeseburgers]

I've been told by a number of different brewers that if there is one thing that has improved the ease of brewing and the quality of their beer, it's a temperature controlled fridge. As someone in a similar situation to you, it was pretty much the first thing I got in place when I moved up this way.

Yeah this is it - I was all 'Naar I can just brew with the seasons'.. You get a lot more off flavours in Australia with any non-controlled temperature brews I reckon.

The stc is basically what I got, but it was pre-assembled mangrove jack's job, as I'm crap with everything electronic. It was only like $40 more than if I assembled it anyway.

Moving to all grain, I would say start out simple and build up - I went from paint pail to esky lauter tun - got the 70L pot as sometimes as someone mentioned earlier, you want to make a large beer and get spurts of motivation to brew. Only probs I've found with making larger beers is you can get over it and want to have a few different types on the go at once. Not that I'm saying that is a major concern.

I'm finding the heat is making me want to brew less, and let my beers sit longer and drink megaswill lately - probably should really put down a pilsener - finding the hops a bit much in the summer.. but then again, the electric pale ale is pretty low IBU and getting some longevity and TLC - Prob will be a fine drop enough in a month when its all finished.

 

[Weizguy]

Once you move out of home you'll have shiny gear with **** factor? Must have a great job lined up already.

Williamswarn?

Certainly got the factor!

 

[Nizmoose]

Just thought I'd update on the polystyrene box, haven't got around to making two boxes on top of each other but for my little 10L fermenter I have it sitting in one box with the middle part of the lid cut out and a towel over the top. Have held fermentation at 16.5 for 5 days solid and today outside was 39 and inside ambient 28, pretty happy with it for some ice bottles and a foam box