AdamH1525226084 Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 [biggrin] [biggrin] [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentW Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Looks interesting. The wheat beer is a nice kit! Its that a temp controller? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamH1525226084 Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 Yeah Trent it's the 16A temp controller from Keg King - fully boxed up! Saves me stuffing around with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Nice.. Caution is advised with that (assumed) imersion heater though, possible path of infection, ambient heat is safer. Temp controller looks the bomb[biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamH1525226084 Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 That's the temp probe sitting on top of the controllr. It looks a bit like an alien an... probe to me, not that I'm familiar with them [alien] I got a heat band (in the plastic on the right). I thought about other heating methods (light globe in a pot I've seen mentioned) - but the FV is gonna take up all the room in the fridge. $70 for the controller! I will take some more pics of it once I have a play [joyful] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Did it come with a thermowell? If not id ne strapping the probe to the side of the FV and insulating it and having the belt loose in the fridge at the back. 16 amp is great, pretty sure all of mine are only 10 amp. The hardest thing to get used to now will be not looking at it every day[lol] (deleted th) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossm Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 ...I am assumimg you are meaning 10amp not 10th amp...10amp is plenty, if you are using that much power your beer is gonna be bloody expensive![cool] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 my fridges wont use it (except at start up) but I use (one of) my controllers for other things, namely, it controls an over the side 10 amp imersion element in my HLT for AG brewing... having a high amp rating is great for the life of the product. Yob whats in the silver packet? cant make it out in the photo?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 whats in the silver packet? cant make it out in the photo?? Do you mean the yeast packet? It looks like Brew Cellar English Ale Yeast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamH1525226084 Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 Yes Hairy is correct, that is indeed Brew Cellar English Ale Yeast. To the left of that at the base of the glasses is the Fuggles hop pellets in a sealed bag - the Fruit Salad Ale pack the pellets were in a small strip seal bag. IMO I like that better as it was much easier to smell the hops in the resealable baggies [love] It's probably better that they're sealed though, cos i was opening and smelling the other ones every 10 mins [lol] Yob, RE the probe, no there's no thermowell. What's good to insulate it? Maybe a bit of solid foam strapped to the FV holding the probe against the FV? So it's better to not have the belt touching the FV for even distribution? Cheers [happy] for the input gents Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Adam you should keep your hops sealed and in the freezer. nevertheless, no doubt they will be used soon anyway, it is good to develop best practices. I use a reptile heat cord which is similar to the heat belt. Just have the belt in the fridge somewhere and it will do the job. I have the heat cord wraped around a shelf in the bottom of the fridge. A lot of people just dangle heat belts down the back. I have my probe in a piece of styrofoam and insulated it with bubblewrap and a piece of cardboard. Then strap that to the FV with some old underwear elastic, or in my case I have occy straps. Here is an old pic taken sometime ago now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 or in my case I have occy straps. Can you still get these? I was told you couldn't, and my undies aren't quite big enough yet to stretch around the FV [lol] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Yeah I don't have any troubles getting them. Big W, Hardware Stores, Kmart etc all still have them here. You don't need to use them but it is something to give an idea. Just find something that you can use even if it is just a piece of rope/string for the time being. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Ah sweet. Right now I use some masking tape as it's all I had lying around. But it makes a mess on the outside of the FV [sad] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossil Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Nice work Adam! I bought the same temp control unit from Keg King and it works a treat. I also bought the heat belt that Kee suggested. I've only used it on 2 brews so far, but I've wrapped it around my FV. Kee mentioned that it was a fairly gentle heat (slow heating), so it shouldn't cause too many problems to use it that way. I've also attached the temperature prob to the outside of the FV with some foam and sticky tape. Gotta love the set and forget units! [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyG4 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 looking at bill's picture there... anyone know where u can buy a single bit of styrofoam like that? not the kind of thing i have lying around :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 looking at bill's picture there... anyone know where u can buy a single bit of styrofoam like that? not the kind of thing i have lying around :( For a longer-lived insulation material, you might want to consider neoprene foam (aka: stubbyholderfoam). Personally, I always prefer carving up the ones carrying logos of various CUB beers, as a symbolic extension of the middle finger toward the brewery and their "products". But that's just me.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 I do the same as Jim. I use two layers of neoprene and stick it down with packing tape. Someone left a QLD state of Origin stubby holder at my house and I took great pleasure in cutting it up [devil] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 looking at bill's picture there... anyone know where u can buy a single bit of styrofoam like that? not the kind of thing i have lying around :( Just get some from the supermarket.... Woolworths or Coles fruit and veg have heaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamH1525226084 Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 Smithy beat me to it - my undies aren't big enough yet either [lol] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Smithy beat me to it - my undies aren't big enough yet either [lol] Any undie straps bigger than those worn by a skinny little pre pubescent kid will fit around a fermentor - 32" for example will fit easily and are usually too big...[rightful] In regards to dangling the heat strap behind the fermentor is a good idea but just be aware that while it wont melt the plastic of your fermentor it will melt your fridge wall. It is best to have it separate from the fermentor but wrapped around something to absorb the heat (I used to use a terracotta wine cooler). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Any undie straps bigger than those worn by a skinny little pre pubescent kid You been spying through my windows again? [lol] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyG4 Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 For a longer-lived insulation material, you might want to consider neoprene foam (aka: stubbyholderfoam). really? so if i just use an old stubby holder that my dog chewed up, that'll work better? that's awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamH1525226084 Posted March 12, 2012 Author Share Posted March 12, 2012 Got the English Stout going today, in my new brew fridge. I don't think the original shelf in the fridge would hold approx. 23-24 kg, so I tried making one from some wood scraps I had. Almost a disaster there as it tended to want to shoot out when the FV was placed on top. Seems that the fridge gets smaller the further in you go. So ended up putting my makeshift shelf on top of the actual shelf - seems to do the trick. I got two terracotta pots for the heat belt. I figure they shouldn't get so hot they melt the fridge. It seems to be working nicely. Found an old stubby holder to hold the probe against the FV. Instead of an Occy strap I got a cargo strap - can tighten it wherever I want [joyful] It's all quite tight in there, was a struggle getting it in. Lucky a mate dropped in to help. If anything looks dumb please let me know [unsure] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamB8 Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Looks pretty bling compaired to what Ive got mate, I love it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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