temp controlled plastic conical

[defenestrate]

hey guys, i've posted a few times about starting a nano and i'm still working on that... but in the meantime i wanted to try temp controlling my 15 gallon plastic conical. i figured i would try it at this size and see how it worked before possibly attempting at a larger size.


i ended up using a 50 ft SS coil for a jockey box as an immersion chiller (much like the set up you can buy from brewhemoth for their conicals). i use a small pond pump inside of a 5 gallon cooler to pump cold water through the coil, while a ranco controller controls the pump. i drilled a hole in my airlock stopper and use a thermoprobe for the temp sensor inside the conical.



i'm just rotating in frozen water bottles to keep the water cold.

so far i've had pretty good results, holding 68 degrees in 75 degree ambient temps for 48 hrs without changing bottles. i have not maxed out the system yet to see what she can do. i may try salt water to see if i can get the temp even lower for less bottle swapping.

the "motion" of the fermenting beer does a great job of keeping the temps even through out fermentation, but once it finishes up the chiller does not work as well obviously... so crashing still needs to be done in a seperate vessel.

my vision for this at a nano scale is to have a "master" cold water supply ( a large volume of salt walter in a chester freezer holding 32 degrees) with multiple small pumps submerged in the freezer feeding multiple fermenters. not sure how effective this would be or how many 1bbl fermenters i could control, but i guess that will come with time.

either way its been a fun experiment... i know i'm not pro yet but what do you all think?

[Thirsty_Monk]

Submerged SS coil in fermenter is quite efficient.
I see you will have hard time to find freezer that is water tight.

[defenestrate]

Submerged SS coil in fermenter is quite efficient.
I see you will have hard time to find freezer that is water tight.

the water inside the freezer would be in a large container, something like a 30 gallon plastic drum

[v2comp]

the ss coils are super efficient, your lines running into and out of it, along with the tank insulation are the real killers of cool. just think about all the external surface area of the conical sucking up all the warmth from the surrounding air. (old physics, heat goes to cold stuff). the more time/money you spend on insulation (obvious) the more efficient any system will be.
if your pumps can handle a glycol solution, it will also help you out.

I have a friend that is cooling his 30 gallon plastic conicals with these (2), http://www.marinedepot.com/chillers_...eprobe-ap.html
he wrapped this 1" thick black foam rubber insulation around the whole tank and attached it with spray on adhesive. he can maintain "normal" ale fermentation temps easily, but if he doesnt get it chilled to very close to ferm. temps before pitching, it can take several hours to get to temp.

[defenestrate]

the ss coils are super efficient, your lines running into and out of it, along with the tank insulation are the real killers of cool. just think about all the external surface area of the conical sucking up all the warmth from the surrounding air. (old physics, heat goes to cold stuff). the more time/money you spend on insulation (obvious) the more efficient any system will be.
if your pumps can handle a glycol solution, it will also help you out.

I have a friend that is cooling his 30 gallon plastic conicals with these (2), http://www.marinedepot.com/chillers_...eprobe-ap.html
he wrapped this 1" thick black foam rubber insulation around the whole tank and attached it with spray on adhesive. he can maintain "normal" ale fermentation temps easily, but if he doesnt get it chilled to very close to ferm. temps before pitching, it can take several hours to get to temp.

for sure on insulation. i planned on using the tubing insulation that is used for glycol lines running to the fermenters, and obviously trying to keep the lines as short as possible. i haven't really looked into glycol yet... we'll see if water is up to the task. so far i've seen some pretty impressive water chilled systems (all insulated).

this would be really used for 1 to 1.5 bbl fermenters, most likely 4-5 of them to start.

[v2comp]

for sure on insulation. i planned on using the tubing insulation that is used for glycol lines running to the fermenters, and obviously trying to keep the lines as short as possible. i haven't really looked into glycol yet... we'll see if water is up to the task. so far i've seen some pretty impressive water chilled systems (all insulated).

this would be really used for 1 to 1.5 bbl fermenters, most likely 4-5 of them to start.

sounds like you have it under control then, good luck.

[defenestrate]

sounds like you have it under control then, good luck.

we can say that when i have beer happily chugging away @ 15-25 degrees below ambient

high hopes!

thanks for the responses guys

[patrickmathews]

Immersion coil versus cool chamber for 10 or 20 bbls ??

I don't want to hijack this thread but I have a very similar question. I have been thinking about using an immersion coil or building an insulated plywood chamber for each plastic conical tank with a window a/c unit connected to a controller. I am starting with a 10 bbl brew house and was thinking of buying plastic cone tanks for either 10 bbl or 20 bbl but I am also concerned with cooling this much fermenting beer with an immersion coil or a cool room.

Is there any particular advantage to doing the immersion coil versus a cool chamber?


I would love to just buy 4 20 bbl jacketed fermenters but the budget probably won't let me. If I can use this kind of setup for a year or two it would be very nice.

[defenestrate]

IMOH, a cold room at that size would not be efficient. i've seen systems up to 10 bbl with immersion chilling running -20 below ambients with water chilling.

that opinions comes from no experience at that size, so obviously take it with a few grains of salt.

[Thirsty_Monk]

Is there any particular advantage to doing the immersion coil versus a cool chamber?

Immersed SS coils is more effective with plastic tanks. 100 feet of 1/2" SS tubing is enough for 10 BBL tank (I think it could work with 15 BBL too). If you have money buy a glycol chiller for chilling. Your biggest cooling load is when you chill wort and when you cold crash.

[defenestrate]

i'm thinking just 25 ft should be more than enough for my pesky 1.5 bbl fermenters....

[patrickmathews]

Immersed SS coils is more effective with plastic tanks. 100 feet of 1/2" SS tubing is enough for 10 BBL tank (I think it could work with 15 BBL too). If you have money buy a glycol chiller for chilling. Your biggest cooling load is when you chill wort and when you cold crash.

Now comes the question of how I fit 100' of stainless coil in a 10 bbl fermenter and then how to I clean it. The lid opening is 12". The tank is 52" wide and 81" tall (unless I find a different one).

[v2comp]

leave the coils loose , basically wrap the coils around a sixth barrel or quarter barrel keg, they will spring out to around 14 inches or so. be careful not to kink it, then you kinda screw it into the hole. worked for me.

[Emian]

i ended up using a 50 ft SS coil for a jockey box as an immersion chiller (much like the set up you can buy from brewhemoth for their conicals).

I wonder what the FDA inspectors will say about stainless glycol lines immersed in your beer if you try this in a commercial setting?

Ian

[Thirsty_Monk]

I wonder what the FDA inspectors will say about stainless glycol lines immersed in your beer if you try this in a commercial setting?

Ian

I am not sure where you get FDA into the picture.

Could you elaborate on your concern?