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  • Fermentation chamber

    I pulled the trigger on a bosch fridge with no freezer section to convert it into a fermentation chamber, the stc-1000 is en-route too. Any pitfalls to avoid or advice you guys can dish out to set this up correctly?

  • #2
    Yes, if you want to drill holes, make sure there are no coolant pipes where you drill.......

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    • #3
      I've been reading up on the temp probe placement in the chamber with mixed findings. I'm leaning towards the fermentation vessel attached (not inserted) route as to not have the thermal fermentation reaction from active yeast distort the readings.

      How are you guys doing it? Too high up will also distort the reading as heat rises and too close to the heat source also a bad idea?

      Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

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      • #4
        I usually duct tape to the outside of my plastic fermenter.

        If you can, get a fan to circulate. You can buy a fan that looks like a PC fan but runs on 220V AC (somewhere like Mantech) and then you can run it off the same power as the STC1000

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        • #5
          Where would you place the fan? I have a 220v rack fan from a server cabinet that would be perfect. Too, bottom, middle?

          Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

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          • #6
            I put the probe half way up the wort level, against the side of the fermenter. Directly against the vessel with a 100x100mm ish block of 20mm thick polystyrene covering it, (make sure I'm measuring the wort and not the chamber) and held tight in place with an elastic strap.

            My theory is you want to directly measure an 'average' point of the wort, and also the thermal mass keeps temperature fluctuations more stable

            The fans a good idea, to make sure cooling around the vessel is more consistent and mix up warm and cool pockets on the chamber. I would orient it so it moves the air tangentially around the fermenter.

            Do show us pics as you progress with this...
            Cheers,
            Lang
            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
            "Dudddde...Hold my beer!".... ; "I wonder what will happen if I ...."

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            • #7
              Originally posted by groenspookasem View Post
              I've been reading up on the temp probe placement in the chamber with mixed findings. I'm leaning towards the fermentation vessel attached (not inserted) route as to not have the thermal fermentation reaction from active yeast distort the readings.

              How are you guys doing it? Too high up will also distort the reading as heat rises and too close to the heat source also a bad idea?

              Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
              I'm wondering the same thing. My 1.5 x 2.4m fermentation chamber goes up next week, and I need to think about where to situate the probe:

              - roof height
              - middle
              - near the floor

              I'll have a mix of 25L fermentation drums and standing 80L conicals, so maybe half way up the wall? about 1.2m from the floor?

              Darn, wish we had some commercial brewers chime in here.........

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              • #8
                Im sure if you have a fan inside mixing the air around, then having the probe just about anywhere inside should be fine since the air right-through the chamber should be more or less the same ?
                The Problem With The World Is That Everyone Is A Few Drinks Behind.!

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                • #9
                  I agree. if the fan is oriented so it ensures good circulation then the probe can go anywhere.
                  I would just place it inside a 2l bottle of water or similar. The air will change temp to quickly and not be representative of your wort. You need some thermal mass to prevent switching on and off to frequently. I don't know if the stc has any hysteresis programmed in.
                  Strapped to the side with insulation on sounds like a good plan for a single fermenter chamber

                  Sent from my SM-A750F using Tapatalk

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                  • #10
                    And it may be obvious and you may or may not know this, but air temps does not equal wort temp. Fermentation is an exothermic reaction so the fermenters will be a bit warmer on the inside than ambient, so keep that in mind. A test might be in order to see what the actual difference is, or you can just keep an eye on them with cheap stick-on thermometers and then you have at least the fermenter temperature in sight.

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                    • #11
                      1) the air issue: I will have dual 30cm fans performing two functions:
                      - pull cold air out my coldroom
                      - push hot air back into the coldroom
                      So I think the probe could be anywhere convenient then.

                      2) Thermal mass: good point: I'll see how often my fans cycle on & off, but I'll set the temp variance for a couple of degrees and see how that goes. If the temp fluctuates too often, then a water bottle might be a clever idea.

                      3) Fermenter temps: yes, I am aware of the exothermic reaction, so for a 18 deg C fermentation I might have to set the ambient a few degrees cooler. I'll use some stick-ons on the 25L drums and 80L conicals to see whether the two thermal masses exhibit different temps, but then I'll have to also keep record of what yeasts are being used as I suspect the speed and ferocity of a fermentation cycle will affect the exothermic properties somewhat.

                      Interesting stuff to consider, thanks.

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by jannieverjaar View Post
                        I agree. if the fan is oriented so it ensures good circulation then the probe can go anywhere.
                        I would just place it inside a 2l bottle of water or similar. The air will change temp to quickly and not be representative of your wort. You need some thermal mass to prevent switching on and off to frequently. I don't know if the stc has any hysteresis programmed in.
                        Strapped to the side with insulation on sounds like a good plan for a single fermenter chamber

                        Sent from my SM-A750F using Tapatalk
                        After having had this view I am starting to have second thoughts. A problem with a sensor insulated from the air is that it becomes 'desensitized'. If your air cooling (fridge) has significant cooling capacity (power), it could easily cool the air to say 10+ degress less than set value before the wort cools enough to tell the sensor it has dropped by even 1 degree.

                        I am leaning toward the side (in my own brewing) of understanding the actual fermenting process generated heat (1 deg? 10deg?, affected by volume? affected by yeast style? etc), and then controlling circulating chamber air temperature by an offset value (determined from the above factors)

                        It seems to be a tradeoff between regular small heat/cool cycles or occasional big heat cool cycles.
                        Cheers,
                        Lang
                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                        "Dudddde...Hold my beer!".... ; "I wonder what will happen if I ...."

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Langchop View Post
                          After having had this view I am starting to have second thoughts. A problem with a sensor insulated from the air is that it becomes 'desensitized'. If your air cooling (fridge) has significant cooling capacity (power), it could easily cool the air to say 10+ degress less than set value before the wort cools enough to tell the sensor it has dropped by even 1 degree.

                          I am leaning toward the side (in my own brewing) of understanding the actual fermenting process generated heat (1 deg? 10deg?, affected by volume? affected by yeast style? etc), and then controlling circulating chamber air temperature by an offset value (determined from the above factors)

                          It seems to be a tradeoff between regular small heat/cool cycles or occasional big heat cool cycles.
                          I've used a fridge-based fermentation chamber for around 3 years and I use a free-hanging STC probe. I set the STC to switch off/start the heat process 1 degree below my target and switch on the fridge 1 degree above my target and we haven't had a bad batch yet that was caused by the fermentation temps.

                          That's probably 200 batches?

                          Just my 2c worth on small chambers...........

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                          • #14
                            Oh yes, that was for ales from 8 deg C to 24 deg C fermentations.

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                            • #15
                              My plan is to have a Tilt hydrometer talk to the STC via BrewPi (or just use brewpi) and automate the ferm process based on SG readings and precise temp control. Auto diacetyl rest and cold crashing :-) But I haven't ordered the tilt yet and need to find my Raspberry Pi's - packed somewhere. The STC arrived yesterday and unrelated but my separating funnels arrived today

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