The Beer Fermentation Fridge (With Pics)

[Stu The Brew 2]

The Beer Fermentation Fridge

I now have done a few brews in my temperature controlled fermentation enclosure (old freezer) and am ready to post some pics.
I decided to make one of these as I only drink lager (sorry) and wanted to do it properly at reduced temperatures.



We used to use this as an extra freezer, but as the main fridge/freezer was starting to give up the ghost (fridge seal was going) we decided to treat ourselves to a nice big American style fridge/freezer. This meant that the old back up wouldn't be needed any longer (hmmm what a coincidence).
luckily this freezer has no cooling pipes inside the unit as cold air is generated at the top and blown down the back, meaning that shelves could be positioned anywhere and no pipes would have to be tampered with.



As you can see from the picture I have a pipe heater at the bottom (40w @ £12.99 from E-bay) with a computer fan butchered from an old PC. The fan does run quite fast so it may need a resistor inline to slow it down a bit. It hasn't been cold enough yet to need to be used (although the brew I have just put in may be using it) so I am not sure.



Temperature is controlled by an ATC 800+. For the un-inissiated, this unit will control heating and cooling at the same time, so once the temperature is set you don't need to touch it again. When the temperature rises 1°c above the set amount the freezer is switched on, and when the temperature drops 1°c below the set amount the heater is switched on.




I know the housing for the controller is bad but I wanted to get it up and running as soon as it came, I may tart it up a bit next year.



And here we go again. For the first time I have got 2 brews going at the same time which will alleviate me having to buy any more ready-made beer again. I should also be able to get a bit of a stock pile going so I don't have to be brewing constantly.

Both fermenters are Coopers beer kits. The one at the top is the older version, with the new slyle at the bottom. The new one doesn't have an air lock and is considerably bigger. To clean seems more awkward as the parts don't fit in our sink, but apart from that I think I prefer it. The proof will be in the tasting though of course

I hope this helps to show what can be made as when I was thinking of doing this there was no other posts for ideas to pinch.

Next project will be next summer "The Keggerator" !!

Happy brewing

[Nofolkandchance]

That's superb!

I posted a thread just the other day saying I was going to attempt to make a fermenting cupboard and a couple of guys elaborated on what can be done with a fridge.

How complicated is this to set up? Really I'm hopeless with electrics but if you want to share the details with a numpty like me on exactly how your new "rig" is wired up I'd be all ears as they say

Well done?

[Stu The Brew 2]

I am not a complete novice when it comes to electrics, but this is quite an easy project to wire even to a complete nubie like yourself.

If you want heating and cooling make sure you get the model I have, I got it from "The Home Brew Shop" on the following link

http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/cgi ... 00#a200000

for £28.32 (now).
If you want I can remove the front and take a picture of the wiring inside at the weekend.

Apart from the control unit everything else is very straight forward.

Any help you need for your up coming project just come back to me, it took me a while to get my head around how to build mine.

Happy butchering,

Stu.

[SOS_OPA]

FWIW: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180765125149? ... 564wt_1413

[Stu The Brew 2]

Thanks SOS_OPA that looks perfect.

[Skittlebrau]

What height is this fridge please? I'm currently scouring eBay for one for my own unit (I haven't even started brewing yet so it might seem like overkill for a newbie, but although she is supportive my partner insists that fermentation be confined to the cellar!). It seems to me to make sense to have a tall fridge to fit two brews in. Most of the tall "larder fridges" seem to be between 140 and 150cm high, but I've seen some at 180cm. Will 150 fit two fermenting buckets plus space at the bottom for the tube heater?

[Dave1970]

if you want to avoid home wiring altogether these guysdo a ready made 'plug & play' temp controller

[Skittlebrau]

Thanks for that, think I'll go with it rather than the ATC 800. Any guidance on the fridge dimensions?

[Stu The Brew 2]

HI Skittlebrau, sorry for the delay but this is the firs time I have looked at the blog since Christmas.

Ok measurements are as follows;

Outside measurement 1600mm high x 590mm wide

Inside measurements are 1300mm x 490 x 450 deep
taking into consideration the small space at the bottom (as usual the compressor e.t.c is at the the bottom of the freezer restricting the depth of the first shelf) the usable overall height is 1070mm which will then leave a gap at the bottom for the heater.

Shelf height is 190mm each with the recess at the bottom to the first shelf being 250mm. The gap at the to is around 90mm.

When looking for a freezer check the shelves, if the refrigeration pipes run below the shelves you will need to bend then out of the way (not something I would like to try), mine has a chiller at the top which blows down the back of the freezer.

Any other questions please ask away.

[Stu The Brew 2]

In addition to the previous post.
Make sure you get the most compact F.V's you can. My top one is from the old style coopers kit and measures a height of 450mm (with a little bubbler air lock). The bottom one is the newer style found in current coopers kits, althought I prefer this one for ease of use it does measure up a lot bigger at 530mm that is including to crowson collar (I think that's what it is called) which you remove half way through brewing and it removes the ring you get at the top of your brew for easy cleaning. The collar is 60mm high but I dont see any reason why you couldn't just not use it reducing the oveall height to 470mm (no need for an air lock with this one).

These two only just fit in my freezer, don't think I would get away with 2 new ones.

[Skittlebrau]

Stu - how are you powering the PC fan? I'm doing some rough mental sketches in my head of how my fridge will be laid out, and I'm thinking I may have to fix the heater to the side of the fridge rather than the floor if I want to fit two fermenters in at a time. This will bring it closer to the fermenters than I'd like, so if I do have to put it there I'm gonna have two PC fans on either wall of the fridge pointing in opposite directions to try and keep a sort of circular airflow going when the heater's on. One way of doing it would be to have a PC PSU inside the fridge with a two-way adaptor in the STC unit heating plug - so as to plug in the PSU and the heater - but judging by your picture you seem to have a more elegant solution than that.

[orlando]

Hi Stu,

I too have been thinking about a FV cupboard but it occured to me that I should be able to use this arrangement to place a couple of King Kegs in there for keeping brew cool in the Summer months when brewing comes to a halt, is that right?

[Stu The Brew 2]

Hi Orlando. Can't see any reason why you wouldn't be able to use this to keep kegs cool. The temperature controller can be set to any temp. and the fridge/freezer (freezer would be the best) will sit within a degree of the setting.

One question though, why does brewing stop in the summer?

Regards,

Stu

[Stu The Brew 2]

Hi Skittlebrau. The way I powered my fan was to use a simple 12v power adapter that plugs straight into the socket as you would get with say a radio e.t.c. I found though that the 12v adapter spun the fan too quickly though giving me the impression it would cool the heater down as much as circulating the heat. I did change the adapter to a 5v adapter (mini usb type from an old mobile phone which are the norm now ). That seems to work much better.

Hope this helps,

Stu.

[orlando]

Hi Stu,

Took the plunge and have gone for an under counter fridge with an STC 1000. What I want to ask you about is your fridges existing thermostat. Does it interfere in anyway with the controller moving the temperature to it's setting. I have just adjusted mine from fermentation temperature too crash cool down to 6c and it appeared to get stuck around 13-14. I adjusted the stat in the fridge from 3 to 4 down to 1 and it eventually kicked in and started cooling again. Was it coincidence or will I have to bypass the fridges own thermostat. If so any idea how this is done?