Built a $15 Fermentation Box Today - Plans

Any hardware used for mashing, fermenting or aging.

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joeymac
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Built a $15 Fermentation Box Today - Plans

Post by joeymac »

So when it's cold outside my house is usually only about 18-19 deg C to keep heating costs reasonable. Unfortunately, that's a little on the low side for fermentations. Brew bands and temp controllers are nice, but that's $20-$30 for EACH bucket I want to keep warm... no way. :shock:

Here is my <$20 solution that heats 4-5 large brew buckets and only took about a half-hour to build.

So I made up a batch of sugar wash and then built this box around it. I pitched the yeast in the ferment about 8 hours ago. The temperature only dropped as low as 24 deg C after the pitch and without any added heat the ferment temp is already up to 26.5 deg C. I already had one brew band so I put it on one of the buckets incase things cool off too much - but I haven't had to turn it on yet.

I built it out of a 1" foam insulation sheet from the hardware store. A 4ft X 8ft sheet is anywhere from $8-$20 per sheet. I bought the pre-scored pink panther FORMULAR sheet because many of the precut lines are already at the right measurements. I already had some HVAC insulation tape laying around, but any kind of duct tape would work well. Using a 4x8 sheet is convenient because it makes an insulated box big enough to hold four 7.9 gallon buckets or five 6.5 gallon buckets. That's convenient because four 7.9 or five 6.5 gallon buckets holds enough wash to fill a 15.5 gallon keg boiler twice for two stripping runs. And the cool thing is the way this is made lets it fold flat so it can be tucked away against wall in the cellar or something.

Just cut the pieces and tape the four 24"x32" sides together along the INSIDE of the 24" edges to make a square that is 32" along the sides and is 24" high. Putting the tape seams on the INSIDE EDGES of the square is what lets it fold flat. Then take the two 16"x32" pieces and tape them together to make one 32"x32" piece for the lid. Attach the lid to the TOP INSIDE of one of the walls to make a hinge the same way you attached all of the wall edges. Then with the leftover foam piece, cut some 2" strips to fit inside the bottom of the lid piece and attach them so that they just barely slip inside of the walls when closed. This helps keep the box square when the lid is closed and also helps seal in the heat. Stick a thermometer in through the top and you're good to go!
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Fart Vader
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Re: Built a $15 Fermentation Box Today - Plans

Post by Fart Vader »

Good thinking. :thumbup:
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Bushman
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Re: Built a $15 Fermentation Box Today - Plans

Post by Bushman »

I did something very similar with a large portable cart I had.
Portable Fermenting Cart
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Expat
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Re: Built a $15 Fermentation Box Today - Plans

Post by Expat »

Good idea! :thumbup:

Do you have anything to isolate the fermenters from the floor?
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Re: Built a $15 Fermentation Box Today - Plans

Post by rad14701 »

I've built several foam hot boxes over the years... A couple were made from Dow blue foam board, both 1" and 2", and one was made from 2" foil clad expanded foam board (don't recall the brand)... Temperature controlled by a thermostat driven light bulb of adequate wattage for the overall box size...
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Re: Built a $15 Fermentation Box Today - Plans

Post by joeymac »

Expatlad,

I thought about loosing heat through the floor. I could put everything in a blanket towels or buy another piece of foam insulation for the bottom. If I were on the cold concrete cellar floor I might do that, but it hasn't appeared to be a problem in the kitchen. Also keep in mind that if you had perfect insulation and a vigorous ferment, it could be possible to reach levels over 30C or higher... which could also be bad.

If the fermentation slows down enough to cool off below 20C, that's when I'll plug in the brew band. It's only 25watts and I already had it. But any small lamp with a plain filament bulb would work - adjust bulb wattage as necessary.
Last edited by joeymac on Sat Jan 28, 2017 7:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
"Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks" - God (Isaiah 5:22)
So evidently, God wants us to drink our whiskeys single barrel and our Bourbons neat.
joeymac
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Re: Built a $15 Fermentation Box Today - Plans

Post by joeymac »

rad14701 wrote:I've built several foam hot boxes over the years... A couple were made from Dow blue foam board, both 1" and 2", and one was made from 2" foil clad expanded foam board (don't recall the brand)... Temperature controlled by a thermostat driven light bulb of adequate wattage for the overall box size...
I recalled reading a post of yours about a lightbulb in a box to keep ferment temps up which gave me the idea to build this. So I figured I'd build one and give people some measurements and details.

Amazon has a handful of controlled trraium heaters under $20 if I ever want to do that though. But first I'll see how just simply plugging in the 25watt brew band I have works for heating whole space if I need to.
"Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks" - God (Isaiah 5:22)
So evidently, God wants us to drink our whiskeys single barrel and our Bourbons neat.
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bitter
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Re: Built a $15 Fermentation Box Today - Plans

Post by bitter »

Another simpler option may be just buy yeast for your temperature range. I use Nottingham in the winter and it ferments nice at 58f, but a fermentation chamber is sure nice to have and yours is about a simple as it gets.

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Re: Built a $15 Fermentation Box Today - Plans

Post by FullySilenced »

a few layers of cardboard on the floor would take care of a large portion of the heat loss through the bottom....

not as good as foam but would suffice for a no money involved kind of thing...

happy stillin,

FS

****reflector light and a thermostat will keep that thing toasty warm... i would use the reflector to keep the bulb off anything that might be combustible....
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Re: Built a $15 Fermentation Box Today - Plans

Post by still_stirrin »

FullySilenced wrote:***reflector light and a thermostat will keep that thing toasty warm...
The perfect use for an STC-1000.
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Re: Built a $15 Fermentation Box Today - Plans

Post by ShineonCrazyDiamond »

still_stirrin wrote:
FullySilenced wrote:***reflector light and a thermostat will keep that thing toasty warm...
The perfect use for an STC-1000.
If i may, I agree. But i prefer the INKBIRD ITC308PLUS. All in one, heat and cooling. With the plugs all ready to go. It is more expensive, but straight forward, and quality. I use it for beer brewing with a deep freezer and a heat wrap, but it can also be used for a box like this. No wiring, no need to build it.

But, there are always more than one way to make a drink, and everyone has their favorite :thumbup: .
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Re: Built a $15 Fermentation Box Today - Plans

Post by joeymac »

Freezers builds are nice and all, but I just don't have room for one to sit around like that. I need all my brew stuff to break down. Other than my keg, column and now this box (which folds flat), it all breaks down and fits into the fermentation buckets. All my items for the ferment through finishing.

As a cost alternative to chest freezers and refrigerators, consider that even "premium" residential freezers are still only about 9-15 R value on the wall insulation. If you were to build a box similar to above from 2" Super-Tuff-R foam, it would be an insulated enclosure with R-10 insulation that holds five 7.8 Gallon Fermenter Buckets for less than $30 invested. Not too bad. You could increase that R value with foil-backed thick rigid foam too, but it start to get pricey. And for another $30, amazon is littered with thermostat temperature controllers you can plug a regular lightbulb into for heat control. So as far as keeping a ferment warm goes, about $60 will give you a less durable but equally effective fermentation box.
"Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks" - God (Isaiah 5:22)
So evidently, God wants us to drink our whiskeys single barrel and our Bourbons neat.
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Re: Built a $15 Fermentation Box Today - Plans

Post by nerdybrewer »

I made mine from 1" metallic sided foam board, it's 4' tall and encloses a 100 gallon fermentation container.
Hadn't thought about insulating the bottom for some reason, I will get on that as I have just enough material to do that.
Mine can be taken down quickly by pulling or cutting along a seam or two.
I also use an Inkbird and a 300W aquarium heater, I'll be adding a 250 GPH submersible pump for my next ferment to keep things mixed up as I've developed heat layers in 60 gallon plus batches where the top layer will get really hot but the bottom will become very cold.
fermentbox.jpg
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Re: Built a $15 Fermentation Box Today - Plans

Post by joeymac »

Do you have to worry about smaller pumps getting gummed in an active ferment?

Personally, in a vessel that large, I'd try using your controller to run a heating blanket wrapped around the bottom 25% of the container. You may get natural convection of the mash within.
"Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks" - God (Isaiah 5:22)
So evidently, God wants us to drink our whiskeys single barrel and our Bourbons neat.
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Re: Built a $15 Fermentation Box Today - Plans

Post by cob »

ExpatLad wrote:Good idea! :thumbup:

Do you have anything to isolate the fermenters from the floor?
I have used the foam that comes at the bottom of washer/ dryer packing boxes as an insulation base for blue barrels.

appliance stores throw them away, just ask.
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Re: Built a $15 Fermentation Box Today - Plans

Post by shadylane »

The trick to keeping a ferment stirred up, is to let the yeast do it for you.
In order to do that, the yeast needs to be happy enough to work fast.
Having the bottom of the fermenter as warm or warmer than the sides definitely will make the yeast happier.
Also, having the bottom warmer, will make convection currents in the fermenter to help keep the mash stirred.
In other drunken words, Put blocks under the buckets so warm air can get under there. :lol:
Edited: Nice build joeymac :thumbup:
Thanks for sharing it, and you even gave us the pattern :clap:
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Re: Built a $15 Fermentation Box Today - Plans

Post by nerdybrewer »

joeymac wrote:Do you have to worry about smaller pumps getting gummed in an active ferment?

Personally, in a vessel that large, I'd try using your controller to run a heating blanket wrapped around the bottom 25% of the container. You may get natural convection of the mash within.
I'll find out how the pump does real soon, and I've tried heaters wrapped outside the container it just hasn't worked real well.
That being said the bottom hasn't been insulated and will be before I start my next run.
I'd like to accomplish a more even temperature in the container and lower power consumption.

For other comments, yes I agree a good active ferment can produce heat however when it's below freezing out where you are operating and you have a power outage or equipment failure the entire batch can get pretty cold by the time you can regroup. Normally I wouldn't need a lot of energy input but I'd like to be able to ferment batches year round.
Cranky's spoonfeeding:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52975

Time and Oak will sort it out.
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Re: Built a $15 Fermentation Box Today - Plans

Post by joeymac »

Will freezing kill the yeast or just pause the ferment until it thaws?
"Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks" - God (Isaiah 5:22)
So evidently, God wants us to drink our whiskeys single barrel and our Bourbons neat.
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nerdybrewer
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Re: Built a $15 Fermentation Box Today - Plans

Post by nerdybrewer »

joeymac wrote:Will freezing kill the yeast or just pause the ferment until it thaws?
Depends on the yeast.
I've had 1118 start up again with a vengenance after freezing for over a week and then bringing back to room temp.
In my case I pitched another activated half cup of bakers yeast once the wash was up to 80F.
Everything worked out in the end.
Cranky's spoonfeeding:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52975

Time and Oak will sort it out.
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