Controlling fermentation temperature.

[foxy]

I'm just in the process of making a heater/cooler for my wine fermentation. I'm using peltier chips, which for anyone who doesn't know get hot on one side and cold on the other when you pass a current through them.

It's basically going to be four peltier chips sandwiched between two (2.5mm thick) stainless steel plates. My design will have dimensions to hold 6 demijohns (600mm x 400mm) but this could be adapted to suit a fermentation bin. I'm using 4mm ply wood in between the two steel sheets with cut outs for the peltier chips to sit in, a 9mm thick sandwich in total. It will be mounted on a stand (easy to make from MDF) and controlled by a cheap (£2.50) 12v thermostatically controlled relay and powered by a (£5) 10amp 120w switching power supply. By reversing the polarity to the chips you can choose which side gets hot/cold hence using it as a heater or cooler. All you need then is to make a box to go around the fermentation vessel(s) and sits on top of the stand. Think of it like a posh heating mat.

I'll post something when it's built as it's a little hard to describe without any pictures and it's much simpler than it sounds.

Here's one in action.

 

[SmallSpacesBrewing]

Here's one in action.
View attachment 26930

I've been experimenting with making wine under pressure. At high pressure. (20-30psi) I can finish a wine in a week with no bad tastes resulting from stressing the yeast. Same with some beer yeasts. Like with beer, the pressure keeps it all clean. Also much rounder taste. I have a thread on here somewhere about it. (fermenting wine under pressure.) I got the idea from Dr. Hans on YouTube. He's done a lot of beers, also lagers at high temps. They finish fast, they finish clean.

Fermzilla /fermentasaurus is the bomb.

 

[Major_Incident]

My Canadian Blonde temp.is up and down. I Got the temp to 21....crept up to 24 this evening, I suppose it'll lose a degree overnight, might try the wet towels.

 

[BradleyW]

Has anyone kept their FV in a bath to maintain temp? I read in James Morton's book if you keep the FV in a bath of water at the desired temp then it should be ok.

 

[Spratt]

Has anyone kept their FV in a bath to maintain temp? I read in James Morton's book if you keep the FV in a bath of water at the desired temp then it should be ok.

I don't keep it in the bath (only got a shower) but I bought a 70 litre plastic dustbin from Amazon (about 16 quid) for my Fermzilla. Filled with water I've got an aquarium heater in there controlled by an STC1000. As I'm fermenting under pressure I'm not too worried about the temperature but come the winter I'm hoping it will really come into its own.

 

[Kveik Freak]

Kveik with a water bath. Much easier to control temperatures up the way! Experiment with the strains recommended for pseudolagers if you really don't want the fruity flavours. Remember to double-quadruple the yeast nutrient and if you're in a soft water area bump up the calcium, sulphate and chloride.

Also if it's a hoppy beer, investigate what your strain is likely to do to the hops. Some really bring the bitterness out. Late additions and dry hopping, especially dry hopping, seems to be the way to go for hoppier styles.