Does anyone have a keg setup in the garage in a cold country

[grandgourmand]

Hi,
new to the forum. I've been planning on turning a corner of my garage into a man-cave area because my house has been overtaken by my wife and kids. Plus I've got a few good neigbours that I want to hang out with in the garage. Problem is, I live in Canada and it's cold in the winter. I'm ignorant in these matters, but can I safely store a converted fridge keg setup in my (garage) over the winter? I would sneak out there occasionally for a pint, so hoping for some occasional use. My garage is not heated and detached. There's power, but not plumbing. It will be insulated and drywalled next year.

Any suggestions or a "how to" from someone in a similar situation would be helpful. Thanks.

[Bad Goat Brewing]

I'm not in a similar situation, but you could heat your kegerator. On my fermenting freezer i uses a controller that also has a heat output switching a reptile heat cable. I think i similar set up would work well for you.


http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Reptile-C ... Heat+Cable

[TheDarkSide]

What's the coldest it gets in your garage? Unless your garage gets really cold you won't have to worry about beer freezing (lower freezing temp due to the alcohol ), but it will make it harder to dial in your carbonation. If you planned on 12psi at 40F and your space is closer to 32F, you'll overcarbonate your beer.

I had my kegerator in the garage at one time and the coldest I ever saw it was 32F, and that was only for a short time. I now have it in the basement which doesn't get lower than 40f, so it's around the temp I serve at. I have a single stage on it, but you could put a 2-stage with a fermwrap or retile heater like Bad Goat suggested. Next year once it's insulated, you could always use the 2-stage for a fermentation chamber if it no longer needed.

[Kbar]

So, was just thinking about all the beer I have in the garage in the Northwest, where we are now seeing record low temperatures (16 year lows). From my research, 5% alcohol level beer will freeze at 27F (-2.8C).

Makes me wonder if the kegerator will be OK now given we are expecting 6F tonight.