whiskeytango Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 So I see a lot of talk about glycol / cooling systems to maintain their mash temps. Presumably for cooling them down. My question is what are people doing if they want to keep it warmer? Does a glycol unit have the ability to raise the temp as well? Say up to 75 or 80 degrees for a rum wash? What are some common fermenting temperatures for Whiskey / Grain mash Rum / Cane / Molasses Vodka / potato / Grain / Other? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK2 Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 Whiskeytango, I always have to preface everything I say on here that we are still under construction, I only have ethanol plant experience. I am not aware of a chiller that will warm up a fermenter. When I had issues with a fermenter turning "cold" at the ethanol plant I would use the plate and frame heat exchanger to warm the ferm back up. I would valve off the cooling water and plumb a condensate return line from our boiler into the cold water side of the exchanger. I called this technique "reverse heat exchange", until it was pointed out that I was still exchanging heat, I had only reversed the hot and cold side. We then referred to the technique as ferm warming.....reverse heat exchange sounds a lot better to me.... Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indyspirits Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 Drop in a few stainless aquarium heaters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silk City Distillers Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 Silicone pad heaters affixed to the wall of the fermenter work, they can get expensive though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiskeytango Posted April 6, 2018 Author Share Posted April 6, 2018 On 4/5/2018 at 4:21 AM, indyspirits said: Drop in a few stainless aquarium heaters. How large of a mash are you heating this way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indyspirits Posted April 6, 2018 Share Posted April 6, 2018 "heating" is a stretch. We have 2500 liter fermenters. It maintains heat to about 85 degrees when ambient is in the low 70s. It's just shy of 3000 BTUs / hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabtastic Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 Our ambient temp is 80+F out here and we cool to 80-82F for a agricole-style rum (fresh juice). If the fermenter is jacketed for cooling, it probably has enough insulation to keep the heat from an active ferment. The chiller will not heat the glycol but the piping could be controlled in the same manner and heated with a separate heat source like a solar array or water heater. "reverse heatEx" does sound cooler btw lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MG Thermal Consulting Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 If you're using a central cooling system and it doesn't have a cooling jacket, you could wrap a mess of pex tubing around it and run a chilled water return line from your still and warm it up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MG Thermal Consulting Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 I can supply you with a heat reclaim chiller, making 170F hot glycol off the chiller and use the heat on various heat heat exchange devices needing heat, but then that would be an overkill. Rube Goldberg the heck out of it:):) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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