Cooling 200l Wine Fermenter

[Tim F]

I want to set up something this year to control temperature in my primary fermenter when making wine. Considering a few different options and any feedback would be appreciated! I'm looking at approx 200l volume. I already have a 220l plastic tank, 1l/min and 6l/min pumps, a pid control box and a few on/off controllers and a few fridges and freezers to play with.
1. Buy a smaller primary that will fit in a chest freezer with a collar. I found a 150l that will fit. Seems like the easiest option but i'll have to make up the volume in a couple of smaller fermenters.
2. Pump cold water from a reservoir in the freezer through a large ss coil in my existing tank. I'd need to get a bigger pump and a roll of stainless tube. Not sure where i'd put the temp controller probe? I think this would be effective though.
3. Similar concept but pump through irrigation pipe wrapped around the outside of the tank. Cheaper than buying a lot of stainless tube? Less effective?
4. Pump the must through a coil in the freezer and return to the tank. Very easy to do with existing gear but it might cause problems over extracting from the grape skins?
5. ?

 

[barls]

use copper over stainless, it works better as a heat transfer medium.
id put the probe in what your trying to cool.

 

[Greg.L]

You can't use copper with wine, wine is too acidic.

 

[hughyg]

I want to set up something this year to control temperature in my primary fermenter when making wine. Considering a few different options and any feedback would be appreciated! I'm looking at approx 200l volume. I already have a 220l plastic tank, 1l/min and 6l/min pumps, a pid control box and a few on/off controllers and a few fridges and freezers to play with.
1. Buy a smaller primary that will fit in a chest freezer with a collar. I found a 150l that will fit. Seems like the easiest option but i'll have to make up the volume in a couple of smaller fermenters.
2. Pump cold water from a reservoir in the freezer through a large ss coil in my existing tank. I'd need to get a bigger pump and a roll of stainless tube. Not sure where i'd put the temp controller probe? I think this would be effective though.
3. Similar concept but pump through irrigation pipe wrapped around the outside of the tank. Cheaper than buying a lot of stainless tube? Less effective?
4. Pump the must through a coil in the freezer and return to the tank. Very easy to do with existing gear but it might cause problems over extracting from the grape skins?
5. ?

I'm interested in what you come up with. Im doing a 700l ferment and I was going to freeze a stack of 20l drums to throw on the ferment when it started to get hot. But you method two may be the way to go!

 

[proudscum]

Did a quick search on Ebay for small coolrooms and hire of but too expensive.

 

[hughyg]

You could employ 3. But just during morning and after noon pump over to avoid over extraction.

 

[QldKev]

5. Get your hands on a S/S 44 gal drum for fermenting (they are cheaper than you think). You should be able to get a chest freezer with collar to fit it easy.

 

[wynnum1]

try air conditioner.

 

[srcossens]

I want to set up something this year to control temperature in my primary fermenter when making wine. Considering a few different options and any feedback would be appreciated! I'm looking at approx 200l volume. I already have a 220l plastic tank, 1l/min and 6l/min pumps, a pid control box and a few on/off controllers and a few fridges and freezers to play with.

2. Pump cold water from a reservoir in the freezer through a large ss coil in my existing tank. I'd need to get a bigger pump and a roll of stainless tube. Not sure where i'd put the temp controller probe? I think this would be effective though.

Effectively the same thing, but just on a smaller scale to the freezer....... I know guys who have used ice banks or glycol chillers connected to a SS product coil hanging in the wort through the top of the fermenter. This is all connected up to a temperature control device such as a STC1000 with a SS probe in the wort. The ice banks usually have a pump which turns on when the temp needs to be brought down. It's mainly guys in the UK that I know do this as they can get the ice banks/glycol chillers quite cheap. It is quite effective as you are directly measuring the temp of the wort/must and cooling it down directly.

 

[iwantalongnametoo]

i am about to buy a 100L fermenter and cool it using a diy glycol chiller as follows,

Temp prob in fermenter wired into controller.

Temp controller open /closes glycol recirc valves

Glycol chiller will be in the freezer

Copper tubing around the fermenter and then insulate and lag it

The idea is to pump -10*C glycol around the fermenter until the fermenter set point is reached, and then a recirc valve will open and the glycol will recirc through the chiller in the freezer until the temp controller calls for it again.

 

[Maheel]

try air conditioner.

with a freezer panel box ?

or even a ply / broccoli box / ply sandwich home made job ?

a window box A/c would work well

 

[Tim F]

Some great ideas here. I'm interested in the SS 44 gal drum idea, I could fit 2 of them in my double chest freezer so if I can actually track some down that would give me more capacity and potentially cheaper than buying the 150l fermenter I was looking at. Building a ply/styrofoam mini coolroom with an air con is interesting too.