Chest freezer or fridge for fermenting, opinions please

[The Rev]

I fermented in carboys in the same chest freezer that served as my kegorator ... set at disepnsing temps ... each carboy would wear a thin-film heater, a neoprene carboy jacket

Must say, I never would have thought of that. Novel. Like the pics, too.

There would seem to be a trade-off ... if the neoprene doesn't insulate well, then the heater is making you burn more energy keeping the freezer cold. But if the neoprene insulates too well, lagering and keeping a vigorous fermentation from heating up would be harder.

I used to lager in a dedicated (small) chest freezer, and even without neoprene I still wasn't happy with my ability to control the fermentation temperature while the yeast was working. There is something to be said for water jackets instead of air ...

Did you notice any of these issues, eg your freezer having to work harder? Did you experiment at all with different insulation around the carboy?

thanks,

the Rev

[Mylo]

Not to be an asshole, or anything... Well, anymore than usual, that is....

But this seems like a horribly inefficient design! Unless, of course, you own a solar farm, and get a surplus of free electricity... It's like your wife using the gas fireplace to warm up the family room a few degrees in summer, when you are trying to keep the rest of the house nice and cool. (this didn't happen to me, but seemed like an appropriate metaphor).

Get a dedicated serving fridge or freezer, and a separate, dedicated fridge or freezer for fermenting. If space and cost is a issue ( isn't it always? ), build one of these, like I did.

http://www.wortomatic.com/articles/The- ... n-Chillers


Mylo

[Kbar]

Get a dedicated serving fridge or freezer, and a separate, dedicated fridge or freezer for fermenting. If space and cost is a issue ( isn't it always? ), build one of these, like I did.
Mylo

I agree. Full size refrigerator from Home Depot, $450 in black, no frills, and I get hop and meat storage in freezer above. I then run a small Oster 5.0cuft. refrigerator for fermentation. No controller, just use built in controller and set it to the desired fermentation temperature minus 2-5F. 7 Gallon conical with modified legs fits in it nicely.

[The Rev]

run a small Oster 5.0cuft. refrigerator for fermentation. ... 7 Gallon conical with modified legs fits in it nicely.

Cool. I'm guessing you use a hoist to pick it up when you remove the trub, and when you subsequently keg?

Mine is a junky little 7 cf chest, plus a crap thermostat I picked up at the homebrew store. As I said earlier, I've used it for lagering, but more often I just use it to crash cool my secondary when things are damn good and stopped, -10F for 12 hours or so gets the little beasties to settle, leaving me with nice clear beer to keg and simplifies dissolving CO2 in the mix as well. Just remember to raise the thermostat to something above freezing before the beer actually freezes and shatters the carboy ... Note to self: don't forget the Rye IPA I have in there now ...

[Kbar]

Sorry, should have clarified, it is a front loading 5.0 cu.ft. Oster refrigerator. Not a top loading Freezer. Yes, I have to man handle the conical to get it in and out, but the trub dump and beer dump valves are accessible given it is a standard front load style refrigerator.

Just another day of lifting weights.