Solar, 12v, Refrigeration, Walk-in

[sremed60]

I live in Arizona in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area; not exactly the ideal climate for a home brewer. Not only does everything have to be artificially cooled 100% of the time, but it usually requires dropping and maintaining temperatures 40˚F or 50˚F below the ambient temperature. I built a fermentation chamber, which is big enough for one 5 gallon carboy. It works awesome for fermentation. Until now I've been storing my beer in the pantry after I bottle it. It's cool and dark in there. My thermostat in the house is set at 78˚F, there's an A/C vent in the pantry and it's dark in there, so I'm guessing it's probably around 76˚F.

I've only been brewing a year and for most of that time I was focusing on getting the equipment I needed and all the aspects of brewing up to bottling. Once it was bottled I just stuck it in the pantry and began focusing on my next batch.

Recently I read where Belgian Tripels, (which is what I'm getting ready to bottle), should be conditioned at 60-65˚F for (at least) 30 days, and from what others have said, 76-78˚F is too warm to bottle condition or age any beer.

I'm gearing up to brew a Founders Breakfast Stout clone next week. I've had the tripel in secondary in my fermentation chamber at 68˚F for the past 3 weeks so I was waiting for that to come out so I can put the stout in there. Now I'm wondering if I need to use the fermentation chamber to bottle condition my tripel??? And that's assuming I can even fit twenty five 750ml bottles in there.

Just curious about any low cost ideas others have come up with. I don't want to fill my garage up with refrigerators and freezers. For one I don't want the added expense of running 2 or 3 more major appliances, but more than that I just don't want a bunch of refrigerators in my garage - for space and looks.

I'm thinking about some kind of under counter storage box that could hold 5 or 6 cases of beer, that I could maintain at say 65˚F without jacking my electric bill thru the roof. Maybe something 12v or solar?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[brewster2012]

You might consider thermoelectric cooler/refrigerators which come in different sizes for car camping. They are not inexpensive, but draw very little electricity and will lower the ambient temperature by 30-40degF or more. They are made by Engel, ARB, and a couple of other manufacturers.

If you are DIY handy, you could ghetto up a similar unit with an insulated box and thermoelectric modules with heat sinks with or without a thermostat.

A large wine cooler might also be repurposed.

 

[martyjhuebs]

I second the the thermoelectric idea. Amazon sells the parts for fairly cheap, the only thing you have to worry about is the the Amp / Watt power requirements if you are running solar. I think below may be a good start but it also may take you into a much larger project than you are looking for.

http://www.amazon.com/BQLZR-TEC1-12730-Thermoelectric-Peltier-Cooling/dp/B00EQ1X5EC/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1461779655&sr=8-7&keywords=thermoelectric

 

[sremed60]

... If you are DIY handy, you could ghetto up a similar unit with an insulated box and thermoelectric modules with heat sinks with or without a thermostat.

A large wine cooler might also be repurposed.

I am "DIY handy." I'm not particularly science/tech savvy. I can design and build anything. I built my fermentation chamber to look like a vintage ice box, (for no particular reason other than boredom and for the challenge). I demolished a mini fridge I found on craigslist and retro-fitted the compressor, the copper and the freezer compartment into the icebox I built. Then I wired it up using an Inkbird temp controller I got off ebay and a 12v fan I bought at Radio shack.

Building the thing was easy. Figuring out how to wire in the 120v compressor, 12v fan and Inkbird was an EXTREMELY time consuming journey. Once I got my brain wrapped around what everything was actually doing it was fine. But that kind of stuff doesn't come naturally to me.

I second the the thermoelectric idea. Amazon sells the parts for fairly cheap, the only thing you have to worry about is the the Amp / Watt power requirements if you are running solar. I think below may be a good start but it also may take you into a much larger project than you are looking for.

I don't know if I've ever heard the term "thermoelectric" before, but after briefly doing a quick Google on it, I'm intrigued.

I'm going to do some more reading on this. Thanks guys.

 

[martyjhuebs]

After doing more research on the Peltier device, I found that they make waterblocks that will attach to the device allowing a liquid of some sort to flow across and chill. If I was doing this build, I would run a Glycol system with a 12v solar pump on a rheostat to control the speed. Still not sure if a solar panel will control everything because I am definitely handicapped when trying to do electrical calculations.

Futhur description of system:
Peltier Device with watercooler block attached, copper tubing coiled or a CPU radiator in front of a 12v computer fan. Uses solar water pump to run Glycol through the system.

I would recommend keeping it a closed system with a battery pack as a back up.

 

[sremed60]

I spent most of the day yesterday weighing my options. At the end of the day, I'm at the point where I'm debating how involved I want to get in this "hobby."

When I first got interested a little over a year ago I knew nothing about home brewing; I had never even known anyone who home brewed. After watching a few youtube videos I thought, "Hey, with a big pot and a plastic bucket I can make my own beer . This'll be fun!" At that time I was drinking a few beers on the weekends here and there, trying different craft beer styles. A six-pack might stay in the fridge for a month or more.

I immediately became obsessed with every aspect of brewing, like the proverbial kid in the candy store. With each batch I brewed I came up with more equipment I had to have to make the next batch easier and better.

Now, a little over a year later, I've turned 25% of my garage into a storage area for brewing equipment, I have the fermentation chamber I'm running and now it's not enough, I have cases and bottles of beer stored everywhere, and I'm now drinking 2 or 3 beers a day, every day. You can't really think about home brewing without immediately wanting to crack open a nice cold home brew now can ya? For the past year I've obsessed over home brewing pretty much 24/7. I'm retired but my wife still works, so I'm home alone all day. I grew tired of politics years ago. I played guitar in bands for most of my adult life but my last professional gig was in 2012. In fact, I haven't touched a guitar since 2014. I got back into golf a couple years ago and got pretty excited about that. I was playing 3 times a week and had put together my absolute dream set of Taylormade clubs. Then I went out and played one day in early 2015 and it just didn't seem fun anymore. After a few months of my clubs just sitting in the garage collecting dust, I decided to sell them - and that's about the time the home brewing bug hit.

So that's the proverbial crossroads I find myself at this morning. I've spent the last year, literally 24/7, obsessing over this new interest. I can't seem to absorb the knowledge fast enough. We've been meaning to build a patio on the back of the house for a few years. Right now it's just grass from the house to the pool deck. Over the past few weeks I actually designed an 8' x 26' pergola style patio that has hop plants growing all over it. My wife doesn't drink so she's not as enthusiastic about the home brew thing as I am. But she loves plants and unique landscaping ideas so she's all in favor of the plan.

I can't see giving up home brewing completely. It's just so fascinating and interesting. At the same time it's almost impossible to continue at it without everything growing and expanding. My original idea was to do a couple or three extract kits a year... for kicks. After my second extract kit, (brewed a few weeks after the first), I jumped on over to the all-grain, full boil camp and haven't looked back. I'm not sure I could work up enough enthusiasm to even do another extract kit.

(sigh) Oh well, thanks for listening guys. I got beers to bottle.

Cheers

 

[Kiknjville]

If you are not a big beer drinker, move down to 2.5-2.75 gallons and then just get a few mini refrigerators and temp controllers. You can fit a 3 gallon carboy in a mini refrigerator.

 

[jr72023]

Right now it's just grass from the house to the pool deck. Over the past few weeks I actually designed an 8' x 26' pergola style patio that has hop plants growing all over it.

Cheers

Grass? When I lived in Glendale, we had green rocks for a lawn between us and the pool. (Everyone has a pool in the Phoenix area.)

Check into digging a hole under that pergola. If you can get down a 10 or more feet you will have a stable area to cool. More than likely, you will hit caliche which will be a great insulator even though it will be like working through concrete. A pool contractor might be able to help. With the shade from the pergola and a little solar refrigeration, you might be able to have a nice beer cave like the germans.

Good luck. Never did like the heat in your area when I lived there. I always said that if Mother Nature were to give the earth an enema she would stick the probe into Phoenix.

 

[sremed60]

If you are not a big beer drinker, move down to 2.5-2.75 gallons and then just get a few mini refrigerators and temp controllers. You can fit a 3 gallon carboy in a mini refrigerator.

I thought about getting into 1 gallon batches a while back and actually tried a 2.5 gallon batch. Patience is not a virtue of mine. To go thru all the work and then wait several weeks only to get 9 or 10 beers didn't appeal to me.

Grass? When I lived in Glendale, we had green rocks for a lawn between us and the pool. (Everyone has a pool in the Phoenix area.)

Yes, I believe we are the only house in this development that has grass. I know it's frowned upon here, (unless you're a golf course), but I don't care. I moved out here in 1994 and hated it immediately. Within a couple months I met my current wife. She was born and raised here and her entire family is here so moving was never an option. 9 months out of the year the whether is awesome. June, July and August are so ridiculously, ungodly, unbearably miserable it almost cancels out those 9 months tho.

I've lived in the Northeast, (Vermont), the southeast (Florida) and the midwest, (Ohio), and been to almost every other state over the years. Ya gotta take the bad with the good no matter where you go, so I suppose this place is as good as any.

 

[GotPushrods]

9 months out of the year the whether is awesome. June, July and August are so ridiculously, ungodly, unbearably miserable it almost cancels out those 9 months tho.

You are quite the optimist. I can handle maybe 6 months. The other 6 are slowly eating away at my soul. (No joke, I get really down about the weather and lack of seasons) Same situation though... met wife, her whole family is here, they are close... Stuck here.

I just suck it up and have a 15 cu.ft. kegerator in the house and 2 dorm fridges in the garage for fermenting. And... umm... A stand-up deep freeze in the garage and a 14k BTU additional air conditioner in my office. Not gonna fight it.

 

[Paps]

Some people will frame off a small room in their garage (insulated to the max)and slap a cheap AC unit in it. A storage shed designed for a riding lawn mower could also get the same treatment.