Using BrewBuilt Coolstix?

[Ralphie0523]

Hi all,

I am using a BrewBuilt Coolstix that my wife bought as a kit for Christmas. Obviously my setup for the cooling is simply not enough to handle the heat load.

I woke up this morning to find my German Pils at 78 degF on day 3 of fermentation. On day 1 I woke to 71 degF but managed to cool it quickly with a quick dump of ice into the ice chest. I have the cord for the pump and the inlet/outlet hoses routed through the top and the cover cracked open only enough to allow the hoses and cord through. Ambient temp in my basement is about 65F.

I currently have an old 5 gallon Igloo cooler filled with about 3 gallons of water. I rotate in 2-3 large gel ice packs every 12 hours, and this has been supplemented with some ice as I described above.

I was wondering if others have this piece of equipment and setup could provide some guidance as to the level of cooling capacity they have to add. I am interested in the following:

1. How much water is used?
2. How much ice and frequency of rotation/addition?
3. Anyone using a glycol chiller or similar?
4. If using a cooler/Ice chest did you make any modifications to route the hoses through the side or top of the chest?

I am convinced this can work, the issue seems to be my equipment setup and looking for guidance. Thanks.

 

[yowzers]

I have the cooling coil set-up from Ball and Keg: Home Brew Keg Level Indicator
It looks like it may have quite a bit more surface area than the coolstix thing since it is a loop. I use a styrofoam cheap cooler that can hold a two liter bottle of ice lengthwise. I punched holes in the side for the pump cord and hoses. I only use enough water to cover the 80 gph pump by a couple inches. You don't need or want too much water. I have an Inkbird to cycle the pump. The temp probe is down in the thermowell that came with the unit from Ballandkeg. I keep the fermenter well insulated with a couple towels. This is very important in the summer when my home can be as high as 78 F. Using this set-up I can lager at low 50's F in the summer if I change the ice jug in the morning and evening. I've cold crashed as low as 42F with this set up when my house was mid-70's F. Hope this helps.

 

[Ralphie0523]

This helps a lot. I think a lot of the issue has to do with the heat my pump gives off as well. When it runs for more than an hour or two is when things seem to go off the rails. I also think my ice packs are simply not up to par, I will have to do the 2 liter since it definitely has way more thermal capacity.

 

[yowzers]

I would agree, gel packs are definitely not as effective as ice jugs. Leave about 1/4 headspace when you fill the bottles with water for expansion when freezing