8 replies to this topic

[SchwanzBrewer]

Over Christmas break I am going to build a fermentation chamber. I'm tired of dealing with the swamp cooler.I have full size fridges in the garage. They are both used primarily for cold storage and conditioning. I generally have 1-2 beers fermenting and another 1-2 beers conditioning at any given time. After 1 week conditioning in the fridge I keg and carbonate. I have 5 kegs in one of the fridges right now, 2 beers conditioning, and another fermenting, so space is going to get tight pretty soon.Plan A-Just for fermentation it will be single tier cabinet with a window air conditioner as the cooling source.-Buy a freezer and turn it into a nice serving station in the house.Plan BBuild the cabinet for fermenting as a 2 tier system where the bottom is for serving and the top is for fermenting. Only problem with that is that all the custom cabinets I have seen have had a problem having enough cooling power to do something like that. So, what I am thinking is buying a couple mini fridges off craigslist and gutting them. Using the guts to keep the bottom cold and use it as a cold sink for the fermentation chamber above. I figure it should hold 6-10 kegs in the bottom, 4-6 taps, and 3-4 carboys up top. Obviously the whole thing will be insulated and I will get temperature controller to run the fans that will blow the cold air into the fermentation chamber.Am I crazy? Is there a better way? Am I missing something? Remember I am in FL and this will be out in the garage where temps will be from 10*F in the winter to 98*F in the summer.Cheers,Rich

[harryfrog]

Our weather is much like yours - and I have one fridge that I dedicate to fermentation. It was free from craigslist, and is not energy efficient, but then I'm not running it all that cold (or when it is that cold, not that often).I place my carboys (or conical) into the fridge, set the temp with the 2 stage controller (heat and cool) and let it rip. When fermentation is done, before I move the beer, I set the fridge to 34F for a week (or so), then rack and keg (or secondary). I like having a dedicated appliance for the fermentation chamber, and like that someone did all the design, insulation and construction for me. I have fit 4 carboys in there before so it can also handle my brewing schedule.

[SchwanzBrewer]

OK I think I am going to go with making a ferm chamber with a window air conditioner that doubles as a brewing work bench and forgoing the serving side.The FFIL called me up a few minutes ago and his buddy wanted to know if he wanted to buy a stainless under the counter fridge like what you use to hold beer and food under the bar. The fan needs some work and it needs a new caster. $50. He said it will fit any size kegs, its about 5 ft long and 26in high. Woot!Cheers,Rich

[brewman]

I gutted my old mini fridge to get the the refrigeration unit out of it and will be building it into my chamber.Dan

[Buzz Buzzard]

My experience with the dual puposing a single box powered by an ac was meh at best. It worked great as on or the other, but just meh at both.Plus I did not like lifting buckets and carboys up in to the upper tier.Now the ac just powers the fermentor and a chest freezer has taken over serving duty.Much better, and I bet I will use less electricity as the ac struggled to get near freezing.

[Buzz Buzzard]

Moving day...https://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc148/AssHatAles/2011-12-22194813.jpg

[Dean Palmer]

The best thing I've found is the simplest. Get an upright freezer or fridge, add a temp controller, and attach the probe to the side of the actively fermenting vessel. Trying to make some multi-task contraption will take time and money away from what is important... brewing.

[SchwanzBrewer]

The best thing I've found is the simplest. Get an upright freezer or fridge, add a temp controller, and attach the probe to the side of the actively fermenting vessel. Trying to make some multi-task contraption will take time and money away from what is important... brewing.

I've got two fridges already. I have the money and tools to make it a sole fermentation chamber for ales, maybe lagers, but predominantly ales. It will have a nice top to use as a work bench as well.I'm thinking I will get a chest freezer to use as my kegerator at the house.Cheers,Rich

[Buzz Buzzard]

My bar serving freezer is moving along nicely. Got the Xbox and kinect mounted a flat screen over it. Next how to put a nice surface on it a nd mount some taps - as the temp set up is getting old fast.