bk0 said:Count me in the "me too" camp. This product almost works TOO well. I had to use less ice because my carboy was too cold, fermentation slowed to a crawl. Took one of the frozen 2 liters out and everything was great from then on.
Thanks!
bk0...can ya let us know what temps ya got down to using the two 2 liter bottles (also what the room's approximate ambient temps were)? Also what it went up to with one bottle and what you were fermenting in (5 gal or 6 gal carboy)? Thanks for sharing!!! - Info Geek
bk0 said:Sure. I was using a 5 gallon PET carboy for a batch of mead. Ambient room temp was around 70-75 F. Temperatures initially got down to 50-52 F which made fermentation slow down too much.
I was actually using four 1 liter bottles, so I removed two. After that temps went up into the high 50s/low 60s which worked better.
For those lagering with these, you are using a kegerator for secondary correct? I don't see how it is possible to get this to lagering (40 degrees F) conditions in secondary without a cooler. I get that primary could be done, but wanted to make sure I am understanding how everyone is doing their lagering fermentation.
My cool brewing bag takes quite a while (>24 hours with 3 2L bottles) to get down to 62-64F from room temperature (78-80F). I am wondering if putting a small battery operated fan inside would speed up the cool down process. Any comments?
Once at 62-64F it stays there very reliably with little effort.
I was thinking about this fan since it uses AA batteries which I can recharge.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000CE2DR/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
itsernst said:I don't know how much of a difference that could make, but you could certainly give it a shot. You could also trying adding some water in and making it kind of a swamp cooler. Water would cool it down quite fast in addition to your frozen bottles. Just add some bleach in to prevent mold.
HokieBrewer said:Does the bag itself take that long, or the carboy in the bag?
ThatGeekGuy said:I wouldn't mess with the water, you might as well just get a $5 tub from Wally World if you're going to dump water in. Tubs are sturdier and easier to clean. I bought my bag to not have to use water. A four degree climb when first putting the fermenter into the bag isn't a big concern, some of that is the natural temp climb during the start of fermentation, the rest just the equalization of temp before the bottles of ice kick in. If anything, just add extra bottles for the first 12-24 hours to stabilize faster and then back down the bottle count to maintain temps after that.
Can i use this for insulating a 21" x 21" megapot electric boil kettle too?
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