Fermentation chamber questions

[outnumbered]

So my wife is tired of the beer fermenting in the spare bathtub so I was thinking what I should do and I thought I would get input from all of you.what is your opinion on Chest freezer, build my own, upright freezer or a upright fridge with no freezer?

I am leaning toward an upright freezer because I would not have to pick up the carboy and drop it into a chest freezer. If I get a big enough one eventually I could upgrade to a conical fermenter and it would also work therefore not having to change my fermentation chamber in a few years.

I was also looking into a upright fridge with no freezer will this work?
is there a difference between using an upright freezer or fridge?
I know I will have to get a freezer that does not have the coils in the shelves.

Building my own just does not seem to cost effective with all the deals on cragslist with chest freezers and fridges.

What do you guys recommend?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Hammy71]

I went with an old fridge I bought from the classifieds. 50 bucks or so.... Has the freezer, so I guess a conical may be pushing the size a little. But for that price, I figured what the hell. Sits in my basement and works great. Added a heating pad so I can heat the chamber too. Dual stage Ranco runs the fridge and the heat. If I ever get something bigger, I can still use the Ranco.

 

[flananuts]

If price is not an issue, I would buy a new stand up freezer, an auber temp controller, an rtd sensor for temp, and rig it up. I have a loving swmbo so I bought a new stand up freezer and rigged it. I love it! I ferment in a 15.5 gallon keg so my temp sensor is in a thermowell in the middle of the keg. I use it for all my ales, lages, cold crashes etc. I initially went the cheap route and that failed so I just put something together that I know I'll be pleased with for years.

 

[mjmac85]

Don't forget to think about if you want to grow your brew setup. Depending on budget you might want to buy something that you can grow into instead of just what gets you by. Just bought a chest freezer myself for $50. I don't have a huge budget, but for $50 I figure I can't go wrong. I would have bought a stand up if the price is right.

Hammy71 what size tubing did you use for those blow offs? I don't see a stopper and I might borrow that idea.

 

[autobaun70]

I put a lot of time into measuring my various fermenters, looking at options, ect. when I was looking to do the same thing. My final solution was as much luck in finding a good fridge on craigslist as anything.

I went with an upright fridge with no freezer. My current shelf configuration doesn't allow it, but with the correct layout I could potentially fit 4 6-7 gallon fermenters. I am currently using a single 13 gallon, but could easily add a second if I changed around my shelves.

To control the temp I went with a ebay temp controller and a $10.00 space heater. No need for a big heater at all. My favorite part, I have not had to cut a single thing, all of the wires just go through the gasket around the door, with no noticeable air leaks.

You can accomplish the same thing with an upright deep freezer, however make sure the one you are looking at does not have the cooling coils integrated into the freezer shelves. In most cases units labeled as frost free will work, where as non frost free models have at lease a couple of shelves that are permanently fixed in place with the cooling coils integrated into them.

Total investment in mine is about $250.00 including the temp controller. $200.00 of that was the fridge. At the time I built mine I was in a similar situation as you in that my wife was tired of my fermenters sitting in the spare bedroom. She was pissed at first at having a "useless fridge," but has quickly warmed up to it now that she sees that it keeps everything out in the garage.

 

[dutchoven]

I use an upright freezer and would definitely recommend it. Loading and unloading are soooo much easier than a chest freezer; smaller footprint, too. Here's my build, if your interested.

For a fermentation chamber, I don't think there's much difference between an upright freezer and upright fridge without freezer. A freezer has thicker walls and increased insulation. Fridges are designed to cycle more often. Probably a toss-up. One thing I do notice is upright fridges without freezers are sort of rare (at least where I live); I see freezers on Craigslist all day long.

 

[autobaun70]

I use an upright freezer and would definitely recommend it. Loading and unloading are soooo much easier than a chest freezer; smaller footprint, too. Here's my build, if your interested.

For a fermentation chamber, I don't think there's much difference between an upright freezer and upright fridge without freezer. A freezer has thicker walls and increased insulation. Fridges are designed to cycle more often. Probably a toss-up. One thing I do notice is upright fridges without freezers are sort of rare (at least where I live); I see freezers on Craigslist all day long.

very nice build, your shelf configuration is super clean. Have you put any more thought into splitting it into a fermentation/lagering chamber? I hate to alter mine, but may consider it if I can gain that level of usability.

 

[Hammy71]

Don't forget to think about if you want to grow your brew setup. Depending on budget you might want to buy something that you can grow into instead of just what gets you by. Just bought a chest freezer myself for $50. I don't have a huge budget, but for $50 I figure I can't go wrong. I would have bought a stand up if the price is right.

Hammy71 what size tubing did you use for those blow offs? I don't see a stopper and I might borrow that idea.

Don't recall the exact size. The green one was left over from my aquarium build and the clear was from Home Depot. Inch and a quarter maybe? Measure your carboy and take a trip to the hardware store.....definitely worth it.

 

[lonepalm]

Is this the eBay controller people are talking about?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-Digital...ultDomain_0&hash=item35ba1fa760#ht_6173wt_952

 

[autobaun70]

That's the one.

 

[TxBlackLager]

@autobaun70
Is that one of those dog food vault things as your fermenter? I swear I think I have that same one downstairs with my dog's food in it. It does provide a great seal.

OP: I am having the same problems trying to decide on a system for fermentation. I have mine in the spare bathroom's shower stall. Also another issue I have is maintaining a good temp for all of my bottles. 2 or 3 5-5.5 gallon batches all in bottles takes up quite a bit of space.

The only concern I have about upright fridges is their efficiency is lower versus chest fridges. Especially if you are opening it up to peek quite a bit.

 

[buckley28]

How many tanks/carboys your going to occupy your chamber? If its only two at a time I would say screw it and find a chest freezer on craigslist or something like that. An upright freezer/refer would work too. Just make sure you get your system on some sort of climate control. The standard throughout this forum is the aqarium controler (aka STC-1000 or something as close to it).
I chose the build your own route as I want maximum space that cannot be found in anything you buy (well maybe for a crap load of money). Pretty handy so I used a "Magic Chef" dorm refer I found on CL, STC-1000, dual stage controler and a small space heater I got from Lowe's - $20. Then build my chamber around it. Its roughly 6' long' 30'' high and about 3'6'' deep. All built w/ metal framing, 1/2'' ply exterior, 2'' of rigid insulation and to clean up the inside look I ised FRP. Have to admit it came out nice.

 

[TheClaw]

I was thinking about doing that, but I don't have the skills or budge to do the metal work, and I hope my super small dorm fridge could keep it cold