Natural Cooling Methods

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robbiep

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Hi guys,

I am going to give my Coopers DIY kit a go on Christmas day. I decided to ditch the Coopers yeast and i bought some US05 and will also use a Brewcrafts German Lager beer enhancer instead of the Coopers beer enhancer.

The outside temps are quite high at the moment (35-39 deg), but on tuesday the will drop to about 25degs, with a minimum of 15 degrees.

I have a cellar that sits at around 21-24 degrees, but it will be interesting to see how warm it gets on a 39 deg day.

I am trying to get the cellar and fermeter as cool as possible and was wondering if you had any tips?

I heard putting buckets of cold water could help?

I also thought of putting a few damp towel in my freezer, then once slightly frozen, placing them over the fermenter (and doing this every 6-8 hours). Would this help?

Would like to hear any other natural ways of lowering the temp of the cellar / fermenter.

Please note, at this stage, i cannot get an old fridge.

Regards,
Robbie
 
How many more times are you planning on making this thread?
 
How many more times are you planning on making this thread?

What you mean? My last thread is totally different to this one. Majority of the replies to my last thread suggested using old fridges and a stc-1000.

Hence, why I changed the name of this tread to Natural Cooling Methods and made sure i said Please note, at this stage, i cannot get an old fridge.

Therefore, Natural Cooling Methods would be welcome by me :)
 
A wet towel with a fan blowing on it works.

Frozen 2 litre milk bottles full of water, immersed in a storage container with water say half way up the fermenter works.

All this gets painfull fairly quickly and will encourage you to get a brew fridge, but will help you get a good first brew.

As I said in the other thread, after a few days you won't have to worry about cooling so much.

Damian.
 
Collect pigshit and ferment it producing methane that runs a generator that powers an airconditioner.

Natural as.

But seriously - how big is your cellar?

And why not just make beer that prefers being at 22C?
 
Get a big tub or whatever, put fermenter in it, pour water around fermenter, add a frozen bottle to the water. Change as often as necessary.

Simple as, ESP since you have a cellar.
 
Just make sure you put some bleach in the water if you have a tap on your fermenter. Otherwise bugs will hang out inside your tap climb into your fermenter and drink and shit in your beer lol
 
I'd reckon 22C would okayish for US05. It's at the high end, but still within recommended range. Stick it in a big water container to soften the temp spikes (if any) and you'll be fine.
 
Early 20s is fine for US05.

Even says so on the bloody packet. Sure, it won't be super clean - but it doesn't get fusely and crazy esters until over 27C ambient.

I know. I've tried it.

Even 25C is okay if your ferment isn't going apeshit.
 
Thanks for all the advice guys, MUCH appreciated.

The size of my cellar is about 3m x 8m and probs the height of a door frame. Its 32 degrees outside and the cellar is still sitting at about 21-22 degrees, so would be great to get it a little cooler.

I will take your advice about putting fermenter in a water bath(with some sanitizer) and place a few frozen ice containers inside the water bath. I'll also put a few wet towels over the fermenter. I'll only do this for the first few days.

Yes, very tedious process, but im keen to do my first brew this week, and make it as good as possible, but not really in a position yet to get a fridge and wire up a stc-1000. that will come in due time.

With regards to choosing a beer for 22 degrees, i am going to use the Coopers Lager kit beers with a Brewcraft German Lager enhancer with US05. I think the temp range for the Coopers lager is 22-27 degrees, but hopefully the cooler i can get it, the better it will turn out.. well thats what im hoping anyway :p
 
If Coopers say 22-27 deg that's only to make sure it ferments quickly and completely. You've got to go by the yeast you are using and as has been said anywhere from 18 to 22 degree's or even a little more will be OK.
 
With regards to choosing a beer for 22 degrees, i am going to use the Coopers Lager kit beers with a Brewcraft German Lager enhancer with US05. I think the temp range for the Coopers lager is 22-27 degrees, but hopefully the cooler i can get it, the better it will turn out.. well thats what im hoping anyway :p

Sounds like a nice first brew.

If you're going for a pseudo-lager, you want as clean as possible, and US05 is good down to 16C, so just try to get it as low as you can easily and that's what you end up with.

You can get grain+hop flavour packs from some homebrew stores
http://www.absolutehomebrew.com.au/?page_i...ainflavourpacks

These are awesome :)

Its a bit like making porridge, then you just strain into your fermenter.

My father makes kits, and its amazing what a difference a handfull of grain and a smattering of hops makes.
 
Get a big tub or whatever, put fermenter in it, pour water around fermenter, add a frozen bottle to the water. Change as often as necessary.

Simple as, ESP since you have a cellar.

this.

I was conditioning a couple of fermenters last summer, but still needed to brew to get supplies up for christmas that we were hosting.
Expected to go through several kegs with my family.

I did what practicalfool advises (water bath) on the concrete floor of my garage in the middle of summer with some frozen bricks interchanged as necessary. Was able to hold the temp around 19/20 with US05. Couldn't tell the difference between my usually fridge controlled fermented beers and the water bath ones.

Would have no worries about doing this again if required.
 
You're going to have a hard to impossible time cooling the cellar itself naturally as you're working against the thermal mass of the earth surrounding it. I guess I'm assuming it's a proper cellar here. If it is surrounded by earth it would be very, very difficult. Maybe ever four or five verys belong there ;)

You could cool the air in the cellar with an air conditioner - not natural of course. You're better off using the water and iceblock/evaporation methods to cool the fermenters.
 
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