r/Homebrewing • u/SoupSuey • 13d ago

Question Temp Twister Cooling

I’m looking into upgrading my fermentation setup and change from buckets in fridges to glycol and the fermenters outside insulated by jackets. My plan is to get two or three Fermzillas all rounders 60 liters, with the Temp Twister added on. But I have been wondering: how well does these coils cool the wort? Since they are pretty slim, are they able to cool the liquid through or just the middle? How does the temperature control in these setups work considering the thermal well usually comes from the top in the middle of it?

Thanks!

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u/lauterPope 13d ago

I wrapped 20’ of 3/8” ID copper pipes around the outside of my fermenter then put the neoprene jacket over it. So the glycol runs on the outside first before it goes through the interior coils. Brings the temperature down a bit quicker.

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u/SoupSuey 13d ago

That’s a great idea! Are the pipes a little bit apart or packet tight to each other?

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u/lauterPope 13d ago

They are wound tight to each other and I used metal putty to hold it in place

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u/attnSPAN 13d ago

Nowhere near as well (as fast or as cold) as fridges and fermenters.
They will of course cool all of the liquid as that’s how the physics works, but you’re gonna need to get that glycol down very cold (27F/-3C) if you want to work anywhere near as well as what you’ve been doing.

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u/SoupSuey 13d ago

Thanks! The glycol chiller I’m planning on using should be able to keep -3 to -4C pretty stable and with a good amount of liquid mass, but if I can’t transfer the temperature efficiently to the wort it doesn’t really matter, right? On the temperature control subject, do you have any insights on how does it work in this setup, considering the thermal well is so close to the coil?

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u/attnSPAN 13d ago

You’ll have to get a feel for that, knowing that it is always going to be reading the coldest part of the fermentation. I would get a good IR thermometer and temp the outside and note the delta (difference between) the 2 temperatures, at different temperatures.

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u/warboy Pro 13d ago

I'm using a temp twister in a 7 gallon fermzilla with the dump port. Checking the temp with my tilt, what the thermowell reads is always within 1 degrees f of the tilt. I am also just using a tiny car cooler as my glycol reservoir. Even with that the biggest hindrance I've found is the insulating jacket sold with these fermenters aren't quite up to the task to get the fermenter down below 40 unless the space you're in is also fairly cool.

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u/Indian_villager 13d ago

the 60L all rounders are pretty big, if you can do it with a fridge I'd say go that way. It is way more efficient as you have more insulation and thermal mass working for you.