chest freezer fermenter

[simcoe26]

I am going to buy a chest freezer and a temp controller to allow me to brew in the summer. I only brew ales and try to ferment most around 68. Is a freezer and controller all I need to do this or even with a temp controller will it be to cold.

 

[shataway]

Yes. That is it.

 

[Grimstad13]

I bought a kenmore 8.8 cu. ft. chest freezer and a johnson 419 temp. controller. I used to use my closet which stayed a steady 62-68 degree temp. and never had a problem fermenting, I've done 6 batches that way and no problems. but we moved and there is no cool place in our new house to ferment, so I had to buy a Fermenting chamber. I did my first ferment batch last saturday in my freezer with the control set to 68 and got activity for the first three days. seemingly normal. it was a 1.042 og beer. I just brewed a 1.092 today and am awaiting the fireworks through the blow off tube. so my answer so far is it seems to work, If anything comes up different I will let you know.:rockin:

 

[jungatheart]

The temp controller will run the freezer until it's the desired temperature then shut off. When it warms up to past your set temperature, it turns on again. Easy Peasy.

 

[ajf]

I am going to buy a chest freezer and a temp controller to allow me to brew in the summer. I only brew ales and try to ferment most around 68. Is a freezer and controller all I need to do this or even with a temp controller will it be to cold.

That's what I use, and as far as temperature is concerned, it works fine.The only problem is that freezers which by definition are designed to operate below freezing temperatures, have difficulty in dealing with condensation, which requires some work to prevent mold forming.
A fridge, which is designed to operate above freezing temperatures, does not suffer from this drawback.

-a.

 

[MrMista]

One tip is to build some insulation out of styrofoam and tape it to the side of the fermenter. That will keep the temperature of the actual wort to what you want, and will reduce the amount of cycling that the freezer will need to do.

 

[brewmeister13]

One tip is to build some insulation out of styrofoam and tape it to the side of the fermenter. That will keep the temperature of the actual wort to what you want, and will reduce the amount of cycling that the freezer will need to do.

I did something similar with mine on someone else's suggestion and I would highly recommend it. My temp had some swings when fermentation started before and now it is rock steady at what I set.