ChrisK Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 Hi Guys ANother dumb question. Almost seems silly to create a whole new thread for it. So I know we leave our wots for a little while after primary fermentation so they can settle. I also know a lot of us use brew fridges to control the temperature of our primary fermentation. For me, these two activities are incompatible. My brew fridge with little bottler attached leaves me almost no room at all to get the bottles in If I move the fermenter to a nearby bench, then all the contents gets swirled around and I undo all that 'settling' time. Actually, even bringing the fermenter forward enough to get the little bottler clear seems to stir it up a bit. SO what do you guys do? Am I being too precious and I should move it to a more accessible spot? When primary fermentation is over, is that when I should move it to a more accessible spot? Does temperature matter during the clearing portion? I'm hoping you guys can give me some advice :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tipsy Mcstaga Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 Hey mate, Why dont you cut the lil bottler tube in half? That should fix the problem [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB2 Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 Another option might be to cut about an inch off the bottling valve then get a piece of clear flexible tube (hardware store) that fits tightly over the tube. Connect the one inch piece to one end and the bottling valve to the other. Then you can leave the bottles on the floor and move the bottling valve, as you fill from from bottle to bottle. So effectively, you have severed the bottling valve and lengthened it with a of flexible tube. Then you can bring the bottling valve to the bottles rather than the bottles to the bottling valve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trusty1 Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 with all this beer, and all that LPG, I can feel a Coopers - talk brewing BBQ invite hosted by ChrisK hitting the forum very, very soon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trusty1 Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 oohh, your problem, I'd put the fridge on a couple of besser blocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossm Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 ...you're onto it Paul, I have a trolley made up to a height that allows the bottles to sit below the level of the fermenter, it doubles as a draining rack too as a matter of fact, but that aside, I have the hose on the bottler as you mentioned, I can start the filling process and cap them as the next one fills, by the time the fermenter is empty the bottles are all capped! Wash the fermenter and hose and crack a longneck....too easy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisK Posted May 21, 2010 Author Share Posted May 21, 2010 Thanks guys. Reading between the lines I get the impression I should do everything I can to avoid moving the fermenter. Just cutting the tube won't do if I want to keep the ability to fill longnecks. The hose idea is a very good one though. I'll go hunting for some hose. One final clarification - is the temperature of the wot during the settling page important? I.e. if I ferment for the first seven days at 21 and achieve FG, can I then move the fermenter to a colder spot (say 12-16ish) to settle without any adverse effects? This would not only solve my problem but also give me double the brew fridge real estate, as the next fermenter could be in there nice and warm during the second week. Thanks again :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 [bandit] I was going to suggest putting the fridge on some milk crates but Trusty's suggestion of besser blocks sound like a winner. You could get a few extra and build a BBQ under the fridge.[lol] But seriously, just move it on to the bench at a level that you don't have to do your back in stooping down to fill you bottles. I put my fermentor on my work bench sitting on top of a milk crate. That works for me as I can stand up straight. Any disturbance of sediment is going to be negligible unless your dancing at the same time as you move it from the fridge to the bench. I've also used the tube method but found that the blue bit falls of the the end of my little bottler and I had a lot of cleaning up to do.[pinched] Looking at your photo, you must have had a difficult time bottling! I think you may be over thinking the whole brewing process. You have to have fun too. Good clean, sanitised fun of course [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB2 Posted May 21, 2010 Share Posted May 21, 2010 FV in Fridge I move the FV once fermentation is complete and it's kegging/bottling time. Never have an issue with disurbing the sediment. [whistling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slurtis Staggersalot Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 I rack it to a carboy when it's still fermenting a little and let it settle for a few days and then throw it into some bottles, I bulk prime. And I've learned a lot from reading here, one of the things I've learned is there are no stupid questions, just a lot of redundant ones [ninja] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trusty1 Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 the only stupid question is...(all together now) "The one you didn't ask!"[roll] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArthurW2 Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Digging up an old thread here i just got a brew fridge and was thinking of the same thing bottoling from it. The way i have it now i think i can do it at least for stubbies. I just bought a rebuilt fridge from a bloke at work for a hundred he also fixed the ballance on my washing machine and said he can hook me up a controlled system cheaper than the STC 1000 i have read so much about on here. The first thing i asked was if it had heating and cooling he said no it just cools and defrosts some other way. But for less than 30 dollars can hook me up a light bulb for winter brewing with a thermostat and use the same thermostat to cut it off when just have the fridge turned on. Any thoughts has anyone ever done this before or do most fridges have the heat and cooling elements? Any help would be good thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Fridges don't have a heating function. It would kind of defeat the purpose. What some people with the STC1000 is plug the fridge into the cooling plug, and then plug some sort of heating device into the heating plug and put that inside the fridge to mitigate temperature overshoot. I did a couple of experiments on this though before fermenting my first batch and found no real point in using a heat source as the brew temp doesn't overshoot when the STC turns the fridge off after reaching set temperature. Basically the STC acts exactly the same as the fridge's thermostat. You set it to a certain temp and it switches the fridge on and off periodically to maintain this temp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArthurW2 Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Thanks otto the problem im facing is my fridge is outside so during winter when things hit minus 4 and 5 can i plug a light bulb into the heat part of stc 1000? Or i could just sit it on a heater pad in the fridge but sort of defeating purpose of fridge then. Thanks Arthur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 It depends on the temperature of the brew in the fridge. I stick the temp probe to the side of the fermenter and then tape a piece of foam over it to insulate it from the air. This way it measures the brew temp rather than the temp of the air in the fridge. You certainly can plug a light bulb or whatever heating source you like to use into the heating plug on the STC if you need to. And if it's getting down to -4 or -5 then you may well need to.[lol] Keep in mind if you use a heat pad, don't sit the fermenter on it, keep the pad away from it so it heats the surrounding air rather than the brew directly. Remember, the purpose of a brew fridge is to keep the brew at the required fermentation temp. It's basically just an insulated fermentation chamber rather than a fridge per s\xe9. So it's not really defeating the purpose to use a heat source if needed to maintain the correct temp. I don't need it where I am because the weather is quite warm so it's mainly needed to cool the brew to ferment temp rather than warm it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArthurW2 Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Thanks again otto i think i have a little before i worry about a temp controller now the fridge hasnt switched back on in nearly 3 hours it cooled quickly to 20 degrees then turned off. I asumed because it was only on setting 1 out of 9 1 being warmest. Now hours later im asuming my fridge is f.....d light still comes on but not cooling anymore. I turned setting up to 5 over hour ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 How did you manage to set the fridge to 20C without a temp controller? Anyway, it can depend on whatever the differential is as to when it will switch back on to cooling. It may not mean your fridge is stuffed just because the light comes on but the fridge isn't actively cooling. It could just be that it's somewhere between the set temperature and whatever the temp is that it's meant to get to before it kicks the cooling in again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArthurW2 Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Sorry otto i didnt explain that i also filled a FV to 23 litres with water and turned the fridge on and left it on a setting one out of 9 to experement if i could leave it on that of 2 all the time forcorrect temp. I have a thermometer in there just hand held not attached to anything when it hit 20 i was happy and walked away. Came back and checked hour later after made first post and it still hasnt turned back on if anything where the coolness is meant to come from feels quite warm. I turned the temp up to 5 and then 7 hours later nothing and fridge has warmed to 28 degrees. I think i may need to chat with bloke got it from hes farly handy im sure he can fix it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Ah I get you now. It's not unusual for the fridge to be off whenever you check it - they don't normally switch on for very long to maintain ferment temps. However, for it be off for hours like that and not cooling or maintaining temps doesn't sound right. I reckon have a chat to the bloke, if you get the fridge fixed I'd just get an STC-1000. You can get them delivered for between 20 and 30 bucks and it's so much easier. Just set and forget. Plus you have the option of heating and cooling in one unit without buggerising around with more clutter than you need. I daresay that would work out cheaper than this bloke's controller system plus more money for a light bulb setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Arthur, you will definitely need a heat source in the fridge during winter if you are keeping it outside in minus 4-5 temps. It gets a little chilly out my way during winter and during cold snaps the early mornings get down to -2 to 0 degrees. I keep my fridge in the garage and the heat pad is often on during winter. Not so much during the day though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArthurW2 Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Thanks for the replies Hairy do you have the cord for the heater pad going through the back of the fridge somehow? Also is it a new diy fermenter i was looking at the legs on the bottom thought it wouldnt be as good on the heating pad as the old ones a mate also gave me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Nah, I just have the cord going through the seal in the door. It is a thin cord and doesn't break the seal too much. I have the DIY fermenter but I don't have it sitting on the heat pad. I built a wooden shelf for the FV to sit on and I have the heat pad sitting on a wire fridge shelf about 30cms below the FV. But I have enough room in my fridge to enable me to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 I have read on here and elsewhere that it's not a great idea to put the fermenter on the heat pad because it directly heats up the trub in the bottom which isn't good for it apparently. It might pay to keep the heat pad in the fridge but away from the FV if you're able to. [cool] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArthurW2 Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Ok so the heater pad not touching is enough to keep the temp warm enough for ferment? Interesting to know thanks hairy. For the next month or so i need cooling especially during the day so looks like back to the water bucket until get the fridge fixed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 The fridge is an insulated cabinet so you could try adding some soft drink bottles of ice to the fridge and monitor it from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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