Looking for advice on Ferm Chamber.

[Vulg4r]

Hi guys, have been lurking here forever. Looking for some help with my ferm chamber.

As of right now chest freezers are out of the question for me. i live on a 3rd floor and even the smallest ones would just be too much of a hassle for me to get up here. So I'm hoping to find a mini fridge that can accommodate a 6 or 7 gallon fermonster without too much modification. (I'm okay with cutting out shelves and bending the freezer but i'd prefer not to have to mess with the compressor)

Assuming the above isn't possible, or too expensive some other alternatives i'm considering are switching to better bottles since i think they have a smaller footprint. And if that fails then perhaps changing up my target volume, and splitting the batch into 2 3 gallon fermenter.

While I don't do any lagers at the moment, i would like something that has the option for the future.

Thoughts?

 

[bucketnative]

I have been looking at doing something similar with a mini fridge because of space constraints. My current plan is to take the door off of a mini fridge, and then use 1x1's to build a small frame that creates an extension off the open door. On the frame, I plan to put some insulation board on all sides. So the fermenter would go into the insulation board housing, and the fridge would butt up to it to provide cooling. Weather stripping and duct tape to seal the fridge to the insulated box.

We have used similar structures in our lab to build environmental chambers that provide excellent temperature control on the cheap. For larger ones (10'x10'x10'), we have used household ACs to provide the cooling..

 

[tzaccario]

I recently switched to the Cool Brewing bag for my 6.5 gallon pail (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008EKD7CQ/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20) It folds up when not in use, but easily holds my pail and a bunch of ice bottles. I think I had (2) 1 gallon ice jugs, and (4) 1L.

I actually just made an Oktoberfest and was able to get it as low 40 degrees Fahrenheit as part of my makeshift attempt at gelatin/cold crash.

 

[Vulg4r]

I recently switched to the Cool Brewing bag for my 6.5 gallon pail (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008EKD7CQ/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20) It folds up when not in use, but easily holds my pail and a bunch of ice bottles. I think I had (2) 1 gallon ice jugs, and (4) 1L.

I actually just made an Oktoberfest and was able to get it as low 40 degrees Fahrenheit as part of my makeshift attempt at gelatin/cold crash.

I've considered making something along these lines, but I'm looking for more of a set and forget kind of system, rather than rotating frozen bottles around.

 

[mongoose33]

I want to extend bucketnative's idea above. I was going to write something like that, but bucketnative did a good job w/ it.

You could, if you found a minifridge that was tall enough but not deep enough, do the same thing we do when we build keezers. That is, we put a collar around the mouth and attach the door to the collar.

If you made a collar out of, say, 2x4 stock, glued it to the fridge opening and then attached the door to that, you'd have a deeper ferm chamber than the original, but it would take up less space.

You'd have to have something for the door to stick to in order to close--maybe some steel inset into the 2x4 for the magnetic gasket to close on, or a draw-tight lid closure if that wouldn't work, screwed into the door and the collar.

Just a thought. Might stimulate some other ideas, who knows?

 

[tracyk]

That is what most of us do when we build our ferm chambers. I just used the min fridge that I had bought and built an extension on to it. Built a frame first out of 2 x 4, then sandwiched the foam insulation from the big box stores in the 2 x 4 openings and covered with 1/2" plywood of your choice. This way you can make it whatever size you need. I did line the inside with FRP that they sell at the big box stores. I made mine to fit 4 carboys, since I tend to brew in spurts. Add a temp control and you are in business. You can make it as fancy as you want.

 

[John Paul Stoddard]

Excellent wood work

 

[wilserbrewer]

The small chest freezers are surprisingly light weight. The 5.5 or smaller units are often inexpensive on CL.

Less work and easier to move one up 3 flights of stairs than custom building something IMO.

 

[tracyk]

Thank John Paul Stoddard.

 

[Dave_K]

This is what I came up with: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=473619.

Not familiar with the fermonster dimensions, but I'm sure something similar would work.

This has done very well for me and I've put quite a few lagers through there at this point. My only complaint about it is that it's a single vessel fermentation chamber. If you're like me, you will need additional room very soon!

 

[dragonlor20]

Just a suggestion, but if you are looking at the mini fridge route, just get a kegerator. You wouldn't need a collar as they are bigger, they generally come with the co2 tank, and these days you could get the keg for 40 bucks or so. I did this for a while, you brew a beer, ferment in the kegerator, and then keg and serve from the kegerator. If you need more of a pipeline, brew Belgians in between... eventually it becomes a dedicated serving fridge, but for now keeps you in business.