Hello from Townsville

[haptic]

Hello All!

I'm Josh from Townsville. Long time lurker of these and a few other forums as I have been researching the ins and outs of brewing for a few months now.
Used to brew with a mate in uni for about a year just doing kit+kilo, some good ones and bad ones. Was a bit hard to keep a FV cool in 33 degree days and the high humidity. Got sick of bottling as well.

Below is my new setup I've put together this week after buying bits and pieces over the last few months. I was only allowed one more fridge (by order of the missus) so a keezer it was, with Perlick 650SS taps. FV is a SS Brewtech 7 Gal fermenter with the Ftss cooling system. Have a cold water source in the fridge for it. Started it off yesterday with a Coopers can to get the hang of the setup.

I have more photos if anyone else is interested.

For better or for worse I love gadgets and shiny things. I also love automating and controlling things too as I am a control systems engineer in my other life.

Hoping to get into some different extract recipes soon and eventually AG when I have some more $$.

Anyway, hope to keep learning from everyone and my experiences.

Cheers,
Josh

 

[Red Baron]

Welcome mate- that's a pretty sweet set-up already. You're right, brewing in Townsville is a bit challenging with the heat.
Look up the "Righteous Brewers of Townsville" home brew club (if you're not already a member) and go along to a meeting. There'll be plenty of people willing to help a new brewer out, and you'll find that the step to AG isn't all that hard in the end.

Cheers,
RB.

 

[Winny]

Welcome mate , I'm in ayr just south of you [emoji106] looks like an excellent set up

 

[MattSR]

How do you find the FTSS? Is the cold water in the fridge enough to keep it cool?

What size water tank are you using?

 

[haptic]

How do you find the FTSS? Is the cold water in the fridge enough to keep it cool?

What size water tank are you using?

Hey Matt,

I am using a 20L plastic carry can in the keezer (fits nicely on top of the compressor "hump"). This is kept in my garage which sits anywhere from ambient to 35 in summer. When it was in the low 30's I could get the FV down to about 16 degrees but the pump would run quite a bit as the water was getting up to about 12-13 degrees. It will do an 18 degree ferment no worries.

I have been cleaning out the FV the day before starting another batch so then the cooling water gets back down to 2-3 degrees. I can then cool down wort from about 38 to 20 degrees in about 15 minutes with it before pitching yeast. Water only gets up to about 10-11 degrees.

Really depends on ambient temperature and how cold you can get the water but it does mean I can't do lagers or cold crash as I could with a fridge.