A fridge, a fridge. My Kingdom.....

[GerritT]

That's why my brews ferment in a walk-in closet. Temperature differs with the intensity of an old bunny not giving a single f*ck.

As in: it doesn't. For those unaware of bunnies.

 

[dad_of_jon]

The scourge of the modern age is highlighted in "bold"! I still like to use the "Time+Gravity" system.

With regard to controlling the temperature of a brew, the highest average temperature of Birmingham (centrally situated to the UK) is 17*C and for 10 months of the year the average is less than 15*C.

Take a look at these temperatures ...

https://www.holiday-weather.com/birmingham/averages/

trust me to be there on a course when if was +26 for most of the week

 

[rank_frank]

My house hits 25°C even in a normal summer. It's been way over 35°C this summer. Until I bought a freezer and inkbird controller I had to stop brewing from April to October. I'm a great fan of temperature control.

 

[Oneflewover]

Result! Gumtree came good in the end. A tall one to boot, room for 2 fvs or an FV + carbonating bottles. (don't look too closely at the state of the garage, not usually so chaotic!)

 

[Clint]

Bloody showoff...

 

[Oneflewover]

Bloody showoff...

If you got it, flaunt it! abigt

 

[Hoddy]

Looks like facebay has come good and I've bagged a free one [emoji106]

Missing a handle admittedly but as long as it cools I'm happy [emoji3]


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[Oneflewover]

Looks like facebay has come good and I've bagged a free one [emoji106]

Missing a handle admittedly but as long as it cools I'm happy [emoji3]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Bloody showoff... .

 

[Dutto]

If you live near Bournemouth, you will only need a fridge for THREE MONTHS of the year if you wish to brew anything at 15*C or below all year round.

https://www.holiday-weather.com/bournemouth/averages/

BTW, the reason your Inkbird "frequently cycles between heating and cooling" is because you haven't set it up properly.

Mine both sit within 0.2*C of the Set Point and only "cycle" when they are settling down to control a new brew.

Apart from getting the set-up right, it also helps the Inkbird if you remove the plug from one or the other of the functions. i.e. To ferment at 21*C with an ambient temperature:

• below 21*C, there is no point in letting the refrigerator switch on,
• above 21*C there is no point in letting the heater switch on.

It is only when the ambient temperature is fluctuating above and below the desired fermentation temperature that the cooling and heating functions need to both be allowed to switch on and off.

Before I could afford an Inkbird I used one of these to switch the heater on and off in my "contraption" ...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00IL3IFNM/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

... and it worked very well, especially in winter. :thumb:

 

[Oneflewover]

If you live near Bournemouth, you will only need a fridge for THREE MONTHS of the year if you wish to brew anything at 15*C or below all year round.

https://www.holiday-weather.com/bournemouth/averages/

BTW, the reason your Inkbird "frequently cycles between heating and cooling" is because you haven't set it up properly.

Mine both sit within 0.2*C of the Set Point and only "cycle" when they are settling down to control a new brew.

Apart from getting the set-up right, it also helps the Inkbird if you remove the plug from one or the other of the functions. i.e. To ferment at 21*C with an ambient temperature:

• below 21*C, there is no point in letting the refrigerator switch on,
• above 21*C there is no point in letting the heater switch on.

It is only when the ambient temperature is fluctuating above and below the desired fermentation temperature that the cooling and heating functions need to both be allowed to switch on and off.

Before I could afford an Inkbird I used one of these to switch the heater on and off in my "contraption" ...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00IL3IFNM/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

... and it worked very well, especially in winter. :thumb:

View attachment 14726

OK Dutto, we clearly aren't going to agree on this one.......

 

[Dutto]

If you can afford a fridge buy one - just like I've done. :thumb:

All I've tried to point out is that a fridge isn't absolutely necessary for ordinary brewing anywhere in the UK for the vast majority of the year.

 

[Oneflewover]

And all I've tried to do is ask for ideas about where I might get a fridge based upon my experience (over science?) of needing / wanting one in my situation.

Besides which how many of us on here ascribe to the 'absolutely necessary' position when it comes to our brewing?

 

[britton]

Finally found one for £30, happy days.

 

[Hoddy]

If you can afford a fridge buy one - just like I've done. :thumb:

All I've tried to point out is that a fridge isn't absolutely necessary for ordinary brewing anywhere in the UK for the vast majority of the year.

All i will say is I won’t brew and ferment a thing without a fridge and a heater to be able to control the temperature.


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[Rico1973]

I understand were Oneflewover is coming from they say temperature control is second to sanitation! I keep having bad batches with off flavors. For now, I'm contributing this to lack of temperature control and yeast stressing and coursing off flavors
I am also building a fermentation fridge...................
fridge free
Inkbird308 $18.56 Ebay
Greenhouse 1ft 45w heat bar Ebay $13.99 free P&P.

I do have a question WHY do brewers place the thermostat probe on the outside of the fv, and not direct into the Wort?
Surely it's the wort temperature were interested in not the air around the fv?

 

[rank_frank]

I think that putting the probe in the beer is probably inviting infection unless you can properly clean and sanitise it. This might be difficult if you're using an inkbird as it's permanently attached. Most brewers put some insulation on the outside of the probe to reduce the effects of the air temperature.

I've got a thermowell in the lid of my fermenter that reaches almost to the bottom of the beer. I can move the probe up and down this and get and idea of the temperature difference across the beer. However, I found that the beer quality doesn't differ from when I taped the probe to the outside. I've also found quite a difference in temperature across the beer. During fermentation this doesn't matter much but during cold crash or lagering I have to be careful not to freeze the outside of the beer when the centre is still 2 or 3°C.

 

[foxbat]

I do have a question WHY do brewers place the thermostat probe on the outside of the fv, and not direct into the Wort?
Surely it's the wort temperature were interested in not the air around the fv?

You're right of course but most FVs that homebrewers use don't have the thermowell required to measure wort temperature hygenically.

There's also the issue that in our amateur setups we heat and chill the air not the wort and the wort has a very large thermal mass. If we measured the centre we risk scorching or freezing the outside before a centrally located probe would notice.

 

[Rico1973]

Foxbat good point thanks guys for the pointers too the out side wall of the fv it is :)

 

[dan125]

If you can afford a fridge buy one - just like I've done. :thumb:

All I've tried to point out is that a fridge isn't absolutely necessary for ordinary brewing anywhere in the UK for the vast majority of the year.

I'd have to disagree, my fridge here in kent is coming on regularly to keep a brew at 17C -ambient temp is currently 21C according to the BBC

 

[Dutto]

I'd have to disagree, my fridge here in kent is coming on regularly to keep a brew at 17C -ambient temp is currently 21C according to the BBC

Er .... do you want to have another look at the Post?

1. There is a vast difference between "ambient" and "average" temperatures.
2. The "average" temperature in Medway for August is from 16.0*C to 16.5*C.
   • The "average" High being 22*C
   • The :average" Low being 12.1*C

I appreciate that most of the commercial beers brewed south of The Wash is second rate, but with such high local temperatures, maybe it was impossible to brew anything decent before refrigerators became common shortly after WW2.

https://www.yr.no/place/United_Kingdom/England/Medway/statistics.html