Thermoboxes as fermenters

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BrewStew

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Anyone use thermoboxes as fermenters?

do they help keep the beer a stable temp despite the outside temp going up and down?
 
They make great fermenters . . . .Only issue is that the beer will get too hot just from the heat of fermentation . . . . Need some form of internal temperature control. I'm planning on a stainless coil hooked up to my Maxi 310 . . . . . with a reptile mat stuck to the underside of the bottom of the inner skin for heating . . . . driven by a PID controller
 
Wow! By using that i will meet the upper catering requirements. Thankfully it's resistant for impureness too. :wha: :wha: :wha:
 
Must admit I am sorely tempted to purchase one of those for a mash tun as my Thermos is going to prove difficult for 10G brews. The only thing stopping me is the hop-stopper. I have no metal working nor plumbing facilities or skills here and until I can figure out how I would achieve this it'll just have to stay on my wish list. :(
 
for a mash tun i'm just planning on shoving a plastic tube into the included tap the same way my coolbox does.

as a boiler though, why not just go for a stock pot as there's only one skin of metal to worry about for drilling etc
 
Boiler and FV can easily accomodate a 10G brew, my weakness is the Thermos coolbox. 30l is a bit restrictive for batch sparging 10Kilo's of grain so the 70l N.O. item would be fantastic. If I could somehow transfer my existing manifold over (H&G standard MT job) then I'd be ecstatic but somehow I doubt it would be quite as simple as that. :(
 
Aleman said:
They make great fermenters . . . .Only issue is that the beer will get too hot just from the heat of fermentation . . . . Need some form of internal temperature control. I'm planning on a stainless coil hooked up to my Maxi 310 . . . . . with a reptile mat stuck to the underside of the bottom of the inner skin for heating . . . . driven by a PID controller


aleman how much of a temp rise are we talking about? enough to cause off flavours and or kill the yeast?

would we not get the same prob with plastic fermenters as they are insulators too?

has anyone managed to do this without cooling? cos i'd love to be able to ferment in the garage where temperatures are all over the place all day long, but without having to buy cooling equipment.

spose i could test with a smaller batch in a fermenter bucket... wrap it in camping mats and sleeping bags and monitor the temp, but mind you i guess 25L is a bit different to 60 odd!
 
enough to cause off flavours and or kill the yeast?

Definately and possibly. I let a batch rise to 27 deg c in a plastic fv, on it's own accord....it was a hefe though. It would have gone higher, but I had a cooling coil in the fv

would we not get the same prob with plastic fermenters as they are insulators too?

Yes and no. If the fv is in a insulated environment then I could see it happening, but not if the fv was just generally in a room as the heat would be radiated to the room.

cos i'd love to be able to ferment in the garage where temperatures are all over the place all day long, but without having to buy cooling equipment.

I think you're on a hiding to nothing, it's just not possible.
 
what about a stock pot wrapped in camping mats? or that reflective bubble wrap insulation stuff you can get at homebase/wickes

i'm trying to go stainless for a fermenter, but cheaply, and big enough to ferment one batch in, in the garage where the temps are erratic.

this is to last until i've saved up for the 100L cylindro-conical stainless fermenter with built in water jacket for temperature control for which i've just had a quote back from a local steel fabricator for ;) (one i designed myself)
 
Vossy1 said:
I have no metal working nor plumbing facilities or skills here and until I can figure out how I would achieve this it'll just have to stay on my wish list.

You could always buy one of these clicky

Job done, no messing :thumb:


Vossy, do you reckon that'd be good as a hop strainer too?
 
Vossy, do you reckon that'd be good as a hop strainer too?

Yep...I used to use one in the copper of my 70ltr brewery.
The holes are large enough to allow hop seeds through though...I just used a sieve to stop them getting in the fv.

I made my own hop strainer from perforated plate with a smaller sized hole for the 100 ltr brewery.
 
hmmm :hmm:

i'm thinking i may make a screen instead for the boiler then. saves faffing with extra bits to sanitise.

so what about wrapping a stock pot with camping mats for a fermenter? would that be too much? i suppose the only way to find out would be to fill my boiler with water and monitor the temps... but then again it wont self heat with yeast :hmm: more contemplation on the issue is needed i reckon :thumb:
 
You're in a catch-22 situation:
- If you insulate the FV then it's liable to overheat but it would maintain a more constant temperature.
- If you don't insulate the FV then it's more open to the temperature variations of the room.

IMO I'd look towards an ATC800 controlled fridge/fermentation cabinet.

If the problem is that the temperature is only dropping too low at times then you could get away with using an aquarium heater to control the fermentation temp. However if the temperature is going higher AND lower than the ideal range then you'll need to look at a heating and cooling solution.

Insulating the FV won't do much to help unless the temperature of the room is constantly a few degrees lower than the required fermentation temp.
 
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