HOME BREWING

[WilliamG]

47 minutes ago, Benjy-mouse said:

Will check out the re-starting yeast

its 26 in fridge right now.  fridge is a new thing for me,  just trying it, i have an independent temp sensor with the power control unit. 

30-34 is to hot, that's the temperature in my location about 6  months of the year. 31 right now

Is the fridge plugged in and working? I thought the idea of such a thing is to keep the inside COOL, ie below 5C.

I have recently bought a digital thermometer via Lazada which shows inside temp, outside temp via a sensor on a wire, and humidity. When the thing is sitting on the table with the sensor next to it, the two temperatures are up to 2C different. 

[Marble-eye]

1 minute ago, WilliamG said:

Is the fridge plugged in and working? I thought the idea of such a thing is to keep the inside COOL, ie below 5C.

I have recently bought a digital thermometer via Lazada which shows inside temp, outside temp via a sensor on a wire, and humidity. When the thing is sitting on the table with the sensor next to it, the two temperatures are up to 2C different. 

I believe he has a device that you can adjust the temperature to anything of your requirements. I have one, they are very good, about 350 baht from Lazada.

 Like so.

 

[WilliamG]

12 minutes ago, Marble-eye said:

I believe he has a device that you can adjust the temperature to anything of your requirements. I have one, they are very good, about 350 baht from Lazada.

 Like so.

No good for me, my fridge works on 220v.

[Marble-eye]

4 minutes ago, WilliamG said:

No good for me, my fridge works on 220v.

So does mine, here's a better description.

[WilliamG]

43 minutes ago, Marble-eye said:

So does mine, here's a better description.

Thanks. So what plugs in where, not the mains feed to the fridge surely. And will it work on an Inverter fridge? Link to Lazada or Ali?

[Marble-eye]

8 minutes ago, WilliamG said:

Thanks. So what plugs in where, not the mains feed to the fridge surely. And will it work on an Inverter fridge? Link to Lazada or Ali?

The device comes with a 220v plug which plugs into a 220v socket and you set the regulator to your desired temp, there is also another lead which is a thermostat which you drop into the freezer, for more accuracy I would tape it to my beer fermenting buckets.

Just type 'freezer temperature controller' I have the Lazada app and it doesn't give me a link.

[WilliamG]

1 hour ago, Marble-eye said:

The device comes with a 220v plug which plugs into a 220v socket and you set the regulator to your desired temp, there is also another lead which is a thermostat which you drop into the freezer, for more accuracy I would tape it to my beer fermenting buckets.

Just type 'freezer temperature controller' I have the Lazada app and it doesn't give me a link.

So it is just adjusting the mains voltage according to the sensor in the fridge.

My fridge refuses to work if the local mains voltage drops below 190v, which it does regularly.

I'll stick with fermenting at 26C in my bathroom. Cheers.

[Marble-eye]

Just now, WilliamG said:

So it is just adjusting the mains voltage according to the sensor in the fridge.

My fridge refuses to work if the local mains voltage drops below 190v, which it does regularly.

I'll stick with fermenting at 26C in my bathroom. Cheers.

What happens your freezer or fridge will work at the same temperature is always does but the sensor senses the temp you have set on the controller so it will turn off the electric to the fridge when let's say it reaches 10°C and when it get gets to 10.5 it will turn the electric back on untill it reaches 10 again. So your fridge will never go below its optimum setting of say 3°C and a freezer will never get below, as in my case -14°C or there-abouts, but the device enables you to chose a setting between -14 to +35, obviously the upper temp will never go above the ambient temp outside.

Phew, does that make sense.

[Marble-eye]

@WilliamG Found an old photo of my set up, you can see the regulator on the top of the freezer. I would normally have it set about 21° to ferment, 17° to condition and 3° for cold crashing. 

 

[Benjy-mouse]

Hi Guys thank you for all the replies.

Going to carry on with the fridge for now as it gives a lot more control over things.

hope to stop using in the future, it is a pain

it all, could be a case of copy / faulty yeast in the past that's caused the stuck fermentation's. time will tell.

this is the controller i'm using, it cuts the mains power on and off according to the sensor you place in the fridge,  it works fine,  stays around 25 c

Thank you again guys.

 

[Benjy-mouse]

9 hours ago, WilliamG said:

Thanks. So what plugs in where, not the mains feed to the fridge surely. And will it work on an Inverter fridge? Link to Lazada or Ali?

it works fine on my inverter fridge.

[Edmond]

Oh cool, I thought it was a hard line on making your own brews. Is it that the authorities don't care if you are just making it for yourself or is there a set amount you can make? Any suggestions on styles that do better or worse here versus other climates like the US? Chang is fine on a hot day which is nearly all of them, but would be nice to be able to brew things I am able to get back home for myself.

[WilliamG]

7 hours ago, Edmond said:

Oh cool, I thought it was a hard line on making your own brews. Is it that the authorities don't care if you are just making it for yourself or is there a set amount you can make? Any suggestions on styles that do better or worse here versus other climates like the US? Chang is fine on a hot day which is nearly all of them, but would be nice to be able to brew things I am able to get back home for myself.

Beer is a P I T A to make, stick to Vino.

[Marble-eye]

8 hours ago, Edmond said:

Oh cool, I thought it was a hard line on making your own brews. Is it that the authorities don't care if you are just making it for yourself or is there a set amount you can make? Any suggestions on styles that do better or worse here versus other climates like the US? Chang is fine on a hot day which is nearly all of them, but would be nice to be able to brew things I am able to get back home for myself.

One problem with brewing your own beer and it's not really a problem is that you will need a freezer converted to a kegerator with all the paraphernalia that goes with it, and that could include kegs and CO2 bottles etc, but if you just like an odd bottle now and again, bottling the beer wouldn't be a problem. 

There are a few homebrew shops in Bangkok that will deliver everything and anything you may require, even better is Lazada, they have started supplying home brew gear and ingrediants at a fraction of the price. 

Are you aware of the different ways to make the beer, (1) the most messy is just putting your grain in a pot and steeping it, (2) another cheap way would be to put the grain in a bag and boil it, like you were making a giant cup of tea, (3) buy the malt extract either liquid or powdered, definately the easiest and cleanest way of brewing, but it will cost about double the cost of the other 2 ways. 

I wouldn't bother buying these kits as it works out about the same price as the beer you are trying to make. 

There are many recipes and very helpful information on the internet. Happy brewing.

[Edmond]

On 5/6/2022 at 9:33 PM, Marble-eye said:

One problem with brewing your own beer and it's not really a problem is that you will need a freezer converted to a kegerator with all the paraphernalia that goes with it, and that could include kegs and CO2 bottles etc, but if you just like an odd bottle now and again, bottling the beer wouldn't be a problem. 

There are a few homebrew shops in Bangkok that will deliver everything and anything you may require, even better is Lazada, they have started supplying home brew gear and ingrediants at a fraction of the price. 

Are you aware of the different ways to make the beer, (1) the most messy is just putting your grain in a pot and steeping it, (2) another cheap way would be to put the grain in a bag and boil it, like you were making a giant cup of tea, (3) buy the malt extract either liquid or powdered, definately the easiest and cleanest way of brewing, but it will cost about double the cost of the other 2 ways. 

I wouldn't bother buying these kits as it works out about the same price as the beer you are trying to make. 

There are many recipes and very helpful information on the internet. Happy brewing.

Thanks for the well thought out response. Know if distilling is a no no or in the same boat?

[WilliamG]

12 hours ago, Edmond said:

Thanks for the well thought out response. Know if distilling is a no no or in the same boat?

Never heard of folk going blind from home made beer or vino. But when it comes to distilling it's a different game...methyl alcohol instead of ethyl. Steer clear.

[Marble-eye]

12 hours ago, Edmond said:

Thanks for the well thought out response. Know if distilling is a no no or in the same boat?

The legalities of home brewing in Thailand are as plain as mud. I will leave a link as to the law and to me it doesn't really give a yes or no answer, so interpret them as you deem fit. 

https://www.thaipbsworld.com/thai-cabinet-rejects-draft-progressive-liquor-bill/

 

[Phil-the-brewer]

Hey!  First time poster.  Stumbled on this thread in an effort to find beverage CO2 somewhere in Udon Thani.  Can anyone help?  Thanks in advance!  Happy fermentations!

[Marble-eye]

21 minutes ago, Johny said:

Hello everyone.

I'm going to start brewing in Thailand. So, I wonder, can I brew under room temperature? I'm fully beginner and I don't want to buy a fridge for this time. Share your experience please. 

Hi Johny, in my experience I would say it would be very difficult to brew beer without a converted freezer that allows you to adjust the temps from -10 to +35 or even more depending on the ambient temps outside the fridge, meaning if it is +35 outside the freezer, it will be +35 inside the freezer, the regulator only kicks in when the temp drops below the ambient temp.

British beers like to ferment at about 22°C ish, continental lagers much much cooler.

But having said all that you can use the capillary method (look up on you tube) to keep your fermentation container cool, but total hit and miss, I tried it once and failed miserably, ended up with a lot of off tastes, not nice.

But you can pick up a freezer cheaply these days and a regulator is not expensive, maybe 300 bahtish.

Wine is the easier choice, don't need a freezer, the yeast can be very tolerant.

But what ever you chose, good luck.

Happy brewing.

 

[TheDirtyDurian]

On 6/1/2022 at 2:19 PM, Marble-eye said:

Hi Johny, in my experience I would say it would be very difficult to brew beer without a converted freezer that allows you to adjust the temps from -10 to +35 or even more depending on the ambient temps outside the fridge, meaning if it is +35 outside the freezer, it will be +35 inside the freezer, the regulator only kicks in when the temp drops below the ambient temp.

British beers like to ferment at about 22°C ish, continental lagers much much cooler.

But having said all that you can use the capillary method (look up on you tube) to keep your fermentation container cool, but total hit and miss, I tried it once and failed miserably, ended up with a lot of off tastes, not nice.

But you can pick up a freezer cheaply these days and a regulator is not expensive, maybe 300 bahtish.

Wine is the easier choice, don't need a freezer, the yeast can be very tolerant.

But what ever you chose, good luck.

Happy brewing.

In my time in the Middle East I must have brewed a thousand litres or so of beer. Temperature has never been an issue really. Guaranteed to knock your socks off every time. In fact many people would cut their beer again with zero alcohol beer for this very reason. 

[mgreijm]

so to keep fermentation of beer optimal in a Thai house with few cool places, the best option is a fridge? isnt that too cold? 

[KaptainRob]

5 minutes ago, mgreijm said:

so to keep fermentation of beer optimal in a Thai house with few cool places, the best option is a fridge? isnt that too cold? 

A normal fridge at ~ 4c is too cold. 

Lagers can be brewed at lower temps than ales but 18 to 20c is best IMO.  In a Thai house you'd need a special 'cool room' during the hot season.

[Marble-eye]

9 minutes ago, mgreijm said:

so to keep fermentation of beer optimal in a Thai house with few cool places, the best option is a fridge? isnt that too cold? 

Yes it is, you need a thermostat that will control the fridge or freezer to around the 17c mark. Lazada sells them cheaper than the homebrew shops.

 

 

[Faraday]

You still brewing, mate?

@stuhan

[stuhan]

12 hours ago, Faraday said:

You still brewing, mate?

@stuhan

Just the odd 1 now and again,mainly cider from juice.