 |
In this instance, my wife found an awesome deal on the BrewJacket Immersion Pro. Lo and behold, Christmas came, and one was waiting for me under the tree.
Before the Immersion entered my brewery (a.k.a. the kitchen and a basement storeroom), I had no way to control temps. Mercifully, the temperature in my storeroom stays between 65F(18C) and 70F(21C) all year. This has allowed me to brew ales for a long time without worrying about whether or not my beer was getting too hot or cold. What it also meant was that brewing lagers was out of the question, because there's nowhere in the room I can put a dedicated brewing fridge.
That's no longer the case. Now I can brew cold enough to make lagers, and can also be more true to style with my Belgians by upping their fermentation temps.
 |
| The full setup |
While I would have been quite happy just to have gotten the Immersion Pro plus the needed adapters, the box also included an insulating wrap big enough for any standard carboy or brew bucket. The wrap itself (I call it my fermenter cozy) has very thick insulation, as well as a drawstring to wrap it tightly around your fermenter. Its shell material is solid and feels like it will last a long time. I was also happy to see both a blow off tube for the fermentation lock, as well as a one way CO2 release for those who don't want to mess with tubes and jars of sanitizer.
Getting started using the Immersion Pro takes a bit of work.
First, you can't just drop it in any old fermenter and hit go. The opening in a glass carboy is way too small, so plastic is in order. A 6 gallon plastic carboy is a perfect fit, so that's what I decided to use. You can also get adapters for other fermentation vessels.
There's also more to it than finding something the Immersion Pro fits in. Because it goes where a fermentation lock normally goes, you have to drill a 1/2" hole in your fermenter to install the included blow-off tube or one way CO2 release. It's either that, or seeing if you can launch the Immersion Pro at high krausen like an old Estes Rocket.
 |
| The new fermentation lock |
In action, the first thing I noticed was that dropping the temp is a slow process. On my first lager, it took around 24 hours to get from an ambient temp of 67F(19C) down to my 52F(11C) fermentation temp. However, I've since found that putting a few reusable ice packs on top of my fermenter helps speed the process.
Conversely, raising the temperature was pretty quick. I got from 52F(11C) back up to 65F(18C) in less than 12 hours. I'm curious if this was at least partly due to the existing temp of the room, even though the carboy was wrapped in the insulator.
Once your desired temperature is reached, the Immersion Pro stays within a degree or so above or below it. Not bad at all.
 |
| Humming along at 35.2F |
Although it's advertised as being able to go as much as 35F(~19C) below a room's ambient temperature, the best I can achieve is around 24F(~14C) below. In the winter, my garage hovers around 45-55F(7-13C), so I moved the unit out there to get my lagering temp low enough.
That's all well and good in the Winter, but not in the Summer. I don't think I'll be making any lagers from roughly the end of April through the beginning of October, as the Immersion Pro just can't get the beer cold enough in a room above 55F(13C) or so.
My overall feelings are generally positive.
At the end of the day, the Immersion Pro does what it says it does. As long as you're patient, it will hit your fermentation temps and hold them there, which leads to greater and easier control over your beer. I'll absolutely keep on using it.
As a value proposition, it's definitely up to the needs of the user. Used fridges can be found for cheap, and only need a temp controller added to them. They can also hold multiple brews rather than one at a time. However, if space is at a premium, you don't need multiple brews going at once, and don't intend to lager in the Summer heat, the Immersion Pro is a solid choice.
Comments
Post a Comment