This will be of interest for those who have limited space or funds but would like to brew through summer.
I have conducted an experiment over the last 8 days to see if I could brew at under 20C in Melbourne's variable summer climate.
The answer is a resounding YES!
The total outlay was $15.98. (Yes, I know that others on the forum use this method but I thought that I should put it to the test.)
The result was that, ironically, I had better temp control than my Winter brews. My temperature fluctuated from 18.5 to 19.8 but for most of the time sat at around 19.5C.
This was how it was done.
BACKGROUND. I brew in a west facing small room that is essentially a home office. It does not benefit from the air conditioned or heated parts of the house. It's a shed in a house.
SOLUTION. I purchased a collapsible cooler from Bunnings. (Thanks to another thread.) Then I froze PET bottles (the ones that come with the Coopers setup). Some bottles were filled to about 600ml with tap water others were filled with a salt solution. (Approximately 20% salt) I chose the smaller bottles as they would give more flexibility in regard to distribution around the fermenter.
I use the saline solution bottles because they don't freeze till about -20C. This gives me flexibility. If I want to chill quickly I use the saline solution. (There is a noticeable difference when you hold a regular bottle in one hand and the saline one in the other.)
I then juggled, (according to the weather report), the number and type of bottles I would put around the fermenter.
The climatic temperatures have varied over the week. The maximums have ranged from 24C to 37C as I write. On 24 C days I put put in a couple of bottles and leave the cooler open. On days like today I have put in 5 bottles, (3 saline, 2 normal) and covered the cooler with a damp towel. As mentioned above, my brew has stayed steady at about 19.5C.
The ambient temperature of the room has steadily risen from 22C this morning to 29.9C as I write. The ambient temperature in the cooler, taken with remote sensor, has stayed at 19.2 throughout the day. I changed the bottles 8 hours after I put them in this morning.
CONCLUSION. I am very happy. The simple system has coped with day to day fluctuations easily.
Big advantages are:-
1) It's a "no mess" system. The tap is not underwater as it is in a "bath" cooling system. It's easy to take an SG reading. There is no extra lifting as you place the fermenter on the cooler and then pull up the sides like a sock. Pull them down for an SG reading.
2) you can brew in your normal place so you don't upset other residents in the house. It doesn't take up more than a few centimetres of extra room.
3) with a towel in place the brew is in dark for 24/7.
I hope this helps somebody
Cheers
I have conducted an experiment over the last 8 days to see if I could brew at under 20C in Melbourne's variable summer climate.
The answer is a resounding YES!
The total outlay was $15.98. (Yes, I know that others on the forum use this method but I thought that I should put it to the test.)
The result was that, ironically, I had better temp control than my Winter brews. My temperature fluctuated from 18.5 to 19.8 but for most of the time sat at around 19.5C.
This was how it was done.
BACKGROUND. I brew in a west facing small room that is essentially a home office. It does not benefit from the air conditioned or heated parts of the house. It's a shed in a house.
SOLUTION. I purchased a collapsible cooler from Bunnings. (Thanks to another thread.) Then I froze PET bottles (the ones that come with the Coopers setup). Some bottles were filled to about 600ml with tap water others were filled with a salt solution. (Approximately 20% salt) I chose the smaller bottles as they would give more flexibility in regard to distribution around the fermenter.
I use the saline solution bottles because they don't freeze till about -20C. This gives me flexibility. If I want to chill quickly I use the saline solution. (There is a noticeable difference when you hold a regular bottle in one hand and the saline one in the other.)
I then juggled, (according to the weather report), the number and type of bottles I would put around the fermenter.
The climatic temperatures have varied over the week. The maximums have ranged from 24C to 37C as I write. On 24 C days I put put in a couple of bottles and leave the cooler open. On days like today I have put in 5 bottles, (3 saline, 2 normal) and covered the cooler with a damp towel. As mentioned above, my brew has stayed steady at about 19.5C.
The ambient temperature of the room has steadily risen from 22C this morning to 29.9C as I write. The ambient temperature in the cooler, taken with remote sensor, has stayed at 19.2 throughout the day. I changed the bottles 8 hours after I put them in this morning.
CONCLUSION. I am very happy. The simple system has coped with day to day fluctuations easily.
Big advantages are:-
1) It's a "no mess" system. The tap is not underwater as it is in a "bath" cooling system. It's easy to take an SG reading. There is no extra lifting as you place the fermenter on the cooler and then pull up the sides like a sock. Pull them down for an SG reading.
2) you can brew in your normal place so you don't upset other residents in the house. It doesn't take up more than a few centimetres of extra room.
3) with a towel in place the brew is in dark for 24/7.
I hope this helps somebody
Cheers
