Too hot to Brew ?

[Rik]

Haha, yep.know the feeling. I'm on a budget trying to make the worlds best beers (according to me) in Queensland heat. I've been curbing the wort and then placing the cube the next day in a esky with ice. The next it's about 23-24 the transfer to my fermenter, pitch yeast and place into esky with new ice bottles. Change ice bottle morning and night. Ales only though

 

[SKBugs]

Would a cheap/2nd hand fridge with a temp control at 25 degrees or there abouts use a lot of electricity? It is my main sticking point with the missus - the cost of running a fridge just for brewing etc. I'm a novice to this game but loving it.

 

[koshari]

Would a cheap/2nd hand fridge with a temp control at 25 degrees or there abouts use a lot of electricity? It is my main sticking point with the missus - the cost of running a fridge just for brewing etc. I'm a novice to this game but loving it.

I would guess about a tenth of a frige set at 1-4 deg. The main factor regarding insulation losses is the diff temp between your set point and the ambient temp. It will be more expensive to run whilst cold crashing though.

Keep in mind the same limitations such as bad seals and frequently opening the door will effect efficiency.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Would a cheap/2nd hand fridge with a temp control at 25 degrees or there abouts use a lot of electricity? It is my main sticking point with the missus - the cost of running a fridge just for brewing etc. I'm a novice to this game but loving it.

The keener you get the more fridges you will want, I would advise anyone who has the room build a fermenting room big enough to ferment your beer, and condition your beer. Use a reverse cycle inverter air con and you will barely notice any difference in your power bill.

 

[SAmmy]

Awesome info gents.

Now I have another one for you:

I've just bottled my brew. I've stored them horizontally in an esky with a couple of cold packs to keep them cool - I can get 25 bottles that way - but the instructions on one of the kits are reading that I should store the bottles vertical (upright).... looks like the above picture confirms that is the way to go...

Any suggestions?

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Upright is how they should be stored keeps the yeast down the bottom, try and condition at fermentation temperature.

 

[Garry southwell]

Gumtree is your friend mate, I have gotten 2 fridges free I for fermenting and another that I made into a keg fridge, can’t successfully brew in brisbane without temp control

 

[SAmmy]

Upright is how they should be stored keeps the yeast down the bottom, try and condition at fermentation temperature.

Thanks!,

 

[Garfield]

You could use a saison yeast , that would be a winner with higher ferment temps.
should bottle condition quickly as well.

This is the way I think too. I'm a tight ass home brewer so I save electricity by choosing yeast strains to suit the ambient temperature. I do now have a temp controlled fridge for emergencies, but in my early days, an unplugged broken old fridge was used like a coolroom/esky with frozen two litre milk bottles of water added as needed. Both are handy free solutions

 

[koshari]

Took me 18 months of mucking round with a fermenter box till i saw the light and set up a fridge to brew in. The brew i cold crashed the other day was very clear.

 

[koshari]

This is the way I think too. I'm a tight ass home brewer so I save electricity by choosing yeast strains to suit the ambient temperature. I do now have a temp controlled fridge for emergencies, but in my early days, an unplugged broken old fridge was used like a coolroom/esky with frozen two litre milk bottles of water added as needed. Both are handy free solutions

It would use more energy to freeze bottles and put them in a cabinet than control a cabiner to 20deg for 2 reasons. Firstly your using a lot of energy freezing the bottles in latent energy as the water changes state to ice. Secondly running a freezer requires a far greater diff temp between the setpoint and ambient temp meaning your insulation losses are greater. And the diff temp losses are a squared function meaning the higher the diff temp the efficiency gets worse.

 

[Garfield]

Love it, love it, love it!

I know what I'll be doing next weekend

The keener you get the more fridges you will want, I would advise anyone who has the room build a fermenting room big enough to ferment your beer, and condition your beer. Use a reverse cycle inverter air con and you will barely notice any difference in your power bill.
View attachment 111677

 

[Garfield]

It would use more energy to freeze bottles and put them in a cabinet than control a cabiner to 20deg for 2 reasons. Firstly your using a lot of energy freezing the bottles in latent energy as the water changes state to ice. Secondly running a freezer requires a far greater diff temp between the setpoint and ambient temp meaning your insulation losses are greater. And the diff temp losses are a squared function meaning the higher the diff temp the efficiency gets worse.

In my case, by choosing yeast strains to suit the climate, I rarely ever needed to adjust the temperature. The frozen bottles were a back up (which I keep in the freezer at all times for other uses anyway) so very little energy required to only occasionally refreeze them.

It also required no additional equipment, which could be the backyard hack that our OP was after.

 

[Plyplema]

That's the route I went, I decided to embrace the warmth in Brisbane and use saison and a kveik yeast (especially). Hefeweizen and other Belgians can also work. I still have a fridge but it only fits 30L and I usually have 2 going at once. I guess it depends on your preferences but I prefer the stronger yeast flavours than a clean ferment anyway so this works well.

 

[geoffi]

I have a bar fridge (white plastic fermenter fits in well, SS one bit tight) that cost $40.00 but saw one on the road the other day...
I bought inkbird 308 controller ($55.00) no wiring needed.... works well...

but even if you dont turn fridge on or get a controller... it will still be good insultation from temp changes, and with some ice packs or swap out with frozen water bottles each day, will be OK or at least better.... hot brewing is no good... I know

I fermented for years in a non-working chest freezer, just rotating frozen bottles of water. Even in the middle of summer I had no trouble maintaining steady temps for ales. More of a challenge with lagers, but still achievable, and in winter no problem at all.