ferment fridge

[Padalac]

hey guys. just got a fridge for my new home brew system last week/ free giveaway deal off gumtree from a nice old woman - fridge seems to work ok - however it was quite badly soiled on the inside. apparently the old woman didn't keep her fridge that clean. i've been spraying bleach inside it and cleaning the parts carefully - do i need to worry about this from a sani point of view?? will thoroughly cleaning it and spraying the inside with bleach or starsan do the trick? I had hoped that I would be able to open ferment inside this fridge.. i've recently had a run of bad luck with infections (possibly because i was brewing in hot weather) and keen to keep everything super clean from now.

thoughts??

[keith1664]

Should be fine, just make sure that you get into all the nooks and crannies around the door seal.

[djbadger]

+1 on the door seal. I've cleaned a couple of grotty fridges and this is where the nasties live. Some fridges have removable (and even replaceable) seals but otherwise I found that if you're careful you can get a sponge or brush right inside and then flush with lots of water. May need to repeat a couple of times. It's a lot easier if you take the door off and deal with it outside or somewhere you don't mind getting water everywhere.

[Fil]

an old toothbrush is great for cleaning out nooks n cranies

[orlando]

I had hoped that I would be able to open ferment inside this fridge.. i've recently had a run of bad luck with infections (possibly because i was brewing in hot weather) and keen to keep everything super clean from now.

thoughts??

Don't open ferment, why? I think it is because HB'ers see Yorkshire square style open fermenters in big breweries and think it's perfectly fine, but the scale of commercial breweries brings a completely different dynamic to fermenting. Having said that a lot of commercial brewers are based on closed conical fermentation, recognising the commercial risk of an infection. It is obviously possible for both systems to produce exceptional beer Harvey's of Lewes (open fermenters) & Adnam's of Southwold (closed) produce some of the best beer anywhere, but can we HB'ers consistently get away with it? Too risky for me, I never want to pour 5 gallons of beer down the sink again.

[Padalac]

thanks for the tips guys, I'll definitely be giving the door seal some special attention. on orlando's advice, I might go with a closed-lid ferment for the first few runs at least. maybe open ferment is something i can look at further down the line. I've certainly heard that sam smiths for example use open fermenters and I love the ester profile on their beers

[orlando]

maybe open ferment is something i can look at further down the line.

[AnthonyUK]

Give it a good clean with bleach solution on the inside.
You a fermenting in a closed environment (FV) inside a closed environment (fridge) so you are pretty safe
You will get mould at some point due to the high temps and humidity but a quick wipe with bacterial wipes or bleach will keep it at bay.