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Temperaure Control during brewing - Queensland Australia

Hi to all brewers,

I have just moved to the Gold Coast on Queenslands Western shore, about 20 minutes North of Coolangata.

Although I have brewed for 30 odd years I have never had to contend with daytime temperatures indoors of typically 29/30 & nighttime temps of 26/27 degrees Celcius.

My first brew here, fermentation just complete, was started at 24 degrees by adding nearly half the brew vessel with refrigerated water. Brewing temperatures quickly rose to about 26/27 & I attempted to lower this by running the air conditioner with fermenter close bye. This did not work particularly well. I am expecting a below average beer which is not my rational in brewing.

Obviously I can gear-up & maybe sit the fermenter in a cheap fridge bought for the purpose.

Will you Queensland/ NT brewers please give me some definitive advice preferably with low cost techniques/equipment.

Pete

Reply to
<peterlo8
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Pete:

Definitely stick to ales, get yourself a small frig (unless you like fruity flavours) or move to Canada like I did. Great place to make lagers.

Reply to
Tom Lampman

On Sat, 26 Feb 2005 01:33:29 GMT, said in alt.beer.home-brewing:

Freezer, rather than fridge. It'll run less for the same temp.

I use a 5 cubic foot chest type freezer with an external temp control that cost about US$35 (and about US$10 for the wire - it doesn't come with any). The freezer was about US$179.

I can set the controller to 68F, with a 1 degree differential, and keep the wort at 68 regardless of the temp in the room.

Reply to
Al Klein

G'day Pete,

I live in Western Sydney and have to contend with similar problems. The following was posted by sozman as a reply to a question I posed in another ng a couple of years ago.

"Fuji Koki U52M is your friend. I know they are $33 + GST at Refrigeration Parts Victoria. You can find details and photos of how I rigged it up for fermentation at

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You basically replace your fridge thermostat with it."

I just use an old bar fridge and control the temp myself. Typically I turn the fridge on when I wake up in the mornign and am getting ready for work, then turn it off before I walk out the door. Then I will turn it on for a few hours in the evening again. You just experiment and keep the fridge at your desired temp.

If getting an old fridge isn't the answer, then finding the coolest part of the house is. I like brewing on tiles in a cool dark area of the house.

Good luck.

Reply to
Josh Button

Not, Qld/NT, but still warm here quite often.

Here's a couple of simple low-tech ideas:

  • sit fermenter in a bath of water, with a T-shirt over it and trailing in the water; make sure there is a breeze; T-shirt will act as a wick and evaporative cooler (not much good in humid heat though)
  • freeze a couple of bottles of water (2/3rds full PET soft drink bottles are good) and sit them next to the fermenter; I also stick a couple of old jumpers over the fermenter to add insulation; freeze some more bottles to replace the first lot with when they warm up
  • same as above, but put the whole affair into a dead fridge - lots of nice insulation
Reply to
Ross McKay
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You need an external temp controller. Various models are availble from refrigeration suppliers ( The suppliers the refrigeration technicians use). I think the name of mine is a Dixco I bought the unit, the mounting box, a GPO which is mounted on the side of the mounting box and some cable and a plug. The cost was about AUD$150.00 all up. It can be used on any fridge or freezer and has a built-in 10amp relay. I live in Adelaide with hot summers and cool winters. I brew all my lagers in summer using the controller on a chest freezer and in winter brew ales at normal ambient temperatures. Steve W.

Reply to
QD Steve

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