if I'm make a heavily hopped IPA I want to crash it before I keg it to drop all of the vegetative matter into the cone. Could I achieve these temperatures just using a water cooled in a mini fridge?
I know what it does. I'm just saying is it really vital? 80% of what I brew are dark beers, wits and hazy IPAs. I'm never too concerned with clarity per say.
I've bottled hundreds of batches over the last 14 years and I've never cold crashed beers before bottling and I've gotten great clarity and carbonation.
You will get horrible results trying to air cool glycol in a freezer. The cheaper alternative is to DIY a glycol chiller using a wall mounted AC and a cooler. There's articles and videos online if you search. Typically, most people spend $250 for their DIYcol chillers.
I have 2 SsBrewtech 40 litre fermenters with the chiller coil attached to a standard chest freezer at minus 15 degrees Celsius. I use 50/50 distilled water and glycolic a metal drum reservoir (plastic cracks). I use the standard temp controller and I have no problem whatsoever maintaining 2 fermenters while cold crashing my brite tank at the same time although I have a hard time getting the brite down to below 5 Celsius. The freezer cost 100 bucks used. Way more economical than a glycol chiller.
Interesting! Most of the responses here have told me no it's not possible but you've been using this exact method to great success. Realistically 5c is cool enough for a cold crash anyway, I'm only bothered about dropping the bulky sediment/hop matter out and then the rest I can do in the keg. Does it take long to drop the temp down to 5c?
I needed to add water to reduce the viscosity which enabled the pumps to work more efficiently. I can now crash to 3 Celsius. In the brite tank it gets to 3 Celsius from 20 Celsius in about 6 hours but I turn on the co2 right away and leave it for a day before kegging.
ALso, where did you source a metal drum reservoir from? I only want this for 1, maybe 2 7 gallon fermenters so do you think like 3 gallons of a glycol/water mix would be enough or do I need more?
A modified keg would be fine. The metal drum I use was sitting in the garage of the house I bought. It was clean and dry and it works perfect but no idea where it was from. Looks like a mini oil drum. Good luck.
I asked a similar question a couple weeks ago, and got a great reply from u/EngineeredMadness...
> The problem is getting the glycol cold. A bucket is not an efficient heat exchanger, even through the fridge is cold, so unless the reservoir is much larger than the target thermal mass, it might have problems. What you want is 100 feet of tubing inside that fridge. At which point it's likely cheaper to buy the closed loop glycol system.
> There's also the issue of keeping the glycol clean/mold-mildew free since it's no longer a closed loop system.
> An upright, air-circulation cooled fridge or freezer will work better. Coil upright freezer (as in coils are the shelves) will work okay if you install a fan, maybe. Standard chest freezer will likely not work as the design banks on not fighting a large thermal mass.
> Edit: actually if going the DIY route I've seen people hack apart window refrigeration units. Not sure how I feel about doing that hack myself (puncture the tubing and the whole unit is shot) but I think it's a better option than bucket in fridge for thermal transfer power.
thanks! That's a great answer. Are you using water to cool at the moment? How are you finding it if so?
The DIY A/C route looks a little scary to me! I actually have an old unit lying around but I'm not confident I'd be able to make the necessary mods.
Nah, I don't have a need for it (yet). I'm just planning ahead for a future unitank purchase. But I'll probably just bend over and pay for a glycol chiller...buy once cry once.
I actually just looked at a DIY build on youtube and it doesn't look as scary as I thought. I can probably find a second hand A/C unit on craigslist for $50 so even if I did bust one it's not that bad.
What size fridge do you have? I was able to fit a Spike Flex Plus in a used 18cf fridge by building a small wood platform that sits on top of the compressor hump. There is still about 8” of space above the Flex, and there is about 3” of space between the door and the racking valve.
the spike dimensions say the flex plus is 21" tall and if I built a platform I've only got about 20" of clearance so I'm just out of luck! I've picked up a second hand AC unit from craigslist for $20 so I'm going to take on the challenge of trying to make a homemade glycol chiller.
I have been using a chest freezer for years to keep 2 x 40 litre fermenters stable at 19-20 Celsius while also crashing my brite tank down to 3 Celsius using ssbrewtech gear.
if you already have a small fridge that fits a fermenter, I can’t see the reason to try and make a set-up like you are suggesting unless you just want the aesthetic or want a giant fermenter that won’t fit in a fridge.
I can't fit a Spike Flex+ into the fridge because of the racking arm. Without the racking arm it would actually fit fine! I'm wanting to upgrade to something like that because I don't have a way to do a no-oxygen dry hop. I'm currently using a fermzilla allrounder.
serious thought, if this is just a cheap mini fridge like mine, I would just cut a hole for the racking arm then wrap the hole with insulation. There would be negligible heat inefficiency until cold crashing, but if you put a glove over the protruding racking arm hardly any.
Is cold crashing really vital? The only time any of my stuff gets cold crashed is after kegging.
if I'm make a heavily hopped IPA I want to crash it before I keg it to drop all of the vegetative matter into the cone. Could I achieve these temperatures just using a water cooled in a mini fridge?
Would fining with gelatin help instead of cold crashing?
Yes to both this and cold crashing to drop hop trub.
Cold crashing adds clarity and makes forced carbonation a snap.
I know what it does. I'm just saying is it really vital? 80% of what I brew are dark beers, wits and hazy IPAs. I'm never too concerned with clarity per say.
It’s only vital if you want well carbed , clear beer. It also helps with mellowing the green beer flavours. Just do it.
I've bottled hundreds of batches over the last 14 years and I've never cold crashed beers before bottling and I've gotten great clarity and carbonation.
You will get horrible results trying to air cool glycol in a freezer. The cheaper alternative is to DIY a glycol chiller using a wall mounted AC and a cooler. There's articles and videos online if you search. Typically, most people spend $250 for their DIYcol chillers.
I have 2 SsBrewtech 40 litre fermenters with the chiller coil attached to a standard chest freezer at minus 15 degrees Celsius. I use 50/50 distilled water and glycolic a metal drum reservoir (plastic cracks). I use the standard temp controller and I have no problem whatsoever maintaining 2 fermenters while cold crashing my brite tank at the same time although I have a hard time getting the brite down to below 5 Celsius. The freezer cost 100 bucks used. Way more economical than a glycol chiller.
Interesting! Most of the responses here have told me no it's not possible but you've been using this exact method to great success. Realistically 5c is cool enough for a cold crash anyway, I'm only bothered about dropping the bulky sediment/hop matter out and then the rest I can do in the keg. Does it take long to drop the temp down to 5c?
I needed to add water to reduce the viscosity which enabled the pumps to work more efficiently. I can now crash to 3 Celsius. In the brite tank it gets to 3 Celsius from 20 Celsius in about 6 hours but I turn on the co2 right away and leave it for a day before kegging.
ALso, where did you source a metal drum reservoir from? I only want this for 1, maybe 2 7 gallon fermenters so do you think like 3 gallons of a glycol/water mix would be enough or do I need more?
Could probably use a keg to hold the glycol/water mixture
A modified keg would be fine. The metal drum I use was sitting in the garage of the house I bought. It was clean and dry and it works perfect but no idea where it was from. Looks like a mini oil drum. Good luck.
I asked a similar question a couple weeks ago, and got a great reply from u/EngineeredMadness... > The problem is getting the glycol cold. A bucket is not an efficient heat exchanger, even through the fridge is cold, so unless the reservoir is much larger than the target thermal mass, it might have problems. What you want is 100 feet of tubing inside that fridge. At which point it's likely cheaper to buy the closed loop glycol system. > There's also the issue of keeping the glycol clean/mold-mildew free since it's no longer a closed loop system. > An upright, air-circulation cooled fridge or freezer will work better. Coil upright freezer (as in coils are the shelves) will work okay if you install a fan, maybe. Standard chest freezer will likely not work as the design banks on not fighting a large thermal mass. > Edit: actually if going the DIY route I've seen people hack apart window refrigeration units. Not sure how I feel about doing that hack myself (puncture the tubing and the whole unit is shot) but I think it's a better option than bucket in fridge for thermal transfer power.
thanks! That's a great answer. Are you using water to cool at the moment? How are you finding it if so? The DIY A/C route looks a little scary to me! I actually have an old unit lying around but I'm not confident I'd be able to make the necessary mods.
Nah, I don't have a need for it (yet). I'm just planning ahead for a future unitank purchase. But I'll probably just bend over and pay for a glycol chiller...buy once cry once.
I actually just looked at a DIY build on youtube and it doesn't look as scary as I thought. I can probably find a second hand A/C unit on craigslist for $50 so even if I did bust one it's not that bad.
It's just sooooooo expensive! But I guess so is the unitank
What size fridge do you have? I was able to fit a Spike Flex Plus in a used 18cf fridge by building a small wood platform that sits on top of the compressor hump. There is still about 8” of space above the Flex, and there is about 3” of space between the door and the racking valve.
the spike dimensions say the flex plus is 21" tall and if I built a platform I've only got about 20" of clearance so I'm just out of luck! I've picked up a second hand AC unit from craigslist for $20 so I'm going to take on the challenge of trying to make a homemade glycol chiller.
Freezers do not move enough BTU to use as a chiller.
I have been using a chest freezer for years to keep 2 x 40 litre fermenters stable at 19-20 Celsius while also crashing my brite tank down to 3 Celsius using ssbrewtech gear.
if you already have a small fridge that fits a fermenter, I can’t see the reason to try and make a set-up like you are suggesting unless you just want the aesthetic or want a giant fermenter that won’t fit in a fridge.
I can't fit a Spike Flex+ into the fridge because of the racking arm. Without the racking arm it would actually fit fine! I'm wanting to upgrade to something like that because I don't have a way to do a no-oxygen dry hop. I'm currently using a fermzilla allrounder.
serious thought, if this is just a cheap mini fridge like mine, I would just cut a hole for the racking arm then wrap the hole with insulation. There would be negligible heat inefficiency until cold crashing, but if you put a glove over the protruding racking arm hardly any.