# Fermentation Vessel/fridge Fit



## GalBrew (16/4/12)

Hi all, quick question. I am in the market for a new fermentation fridge/freezer and was wondering how many vessels can people fit in their particular fridge/freezer? I would like to be as efficient as possible and do as many ferments as once, so how many vessels and what kind of vessel can you workably fit in a fridge and what sort at once? Obviously you would not be doing ales and lagers simultaneously, but do people do multiple ferments?
Cheers,
Adam.


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## Yob (16/4/12)

depends on the fridge.. If I didnt care about a mess, and with some reinforcing I could fit 4 cubes in there... but 2 is enough come bottling day


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## Wolfy (16/4/12)

I can fit 2 full sized and 2 half sized fermentors in my old fridge, however as with all fridges it can only be set to one temp, so you can't really do both ales and lagers at the same time.


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## glenwal (16/4/12)

Doing ales and lagers at the same time shouldn't be to hard. Just need to separate the fridge in two (top with the cooling element, bottom without) and have a fan (controlled by an stc) to move air into the bottom compartment. This is basically how some fridge freezers work.

As for fermenters though, I use the 20l jerry cans from Bunnings. They are allot narrower than a standard round fermenter or cube. I can squeeze 3 across my fridge, so if I built a shelf I could fit 6 all up. Normally only have 2 going at a time though.


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## Brewman_ (17/4/12)

Agree the jerries make a better fit in most fridges, not surprising round pegs never fit well in square holes. Makes a big difference to the brewery when doing lagers that tie up fridges for longer periods.


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## seamad (17/4/12)

Ive got an older fridge/ freezer that will tale two and also a bigw bar freezer that fits bunnings round20 l or the newer 25 l cube. I prefer the bar freezer because the insulation is much better than a fridge, the fermenter nearly fills it so you are cooling a smaller volume, much smaller overall and can cc much better than a fridge. I would think that there would be considerable power savings because of the above and with a fridge/ freezer the freezer part is pretty useless ( it defrosts when making ales)
Paid $120 including home delivery
Cheers
Sean


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## MetalRooster (17/4/12)

seamad said:


> ...also a bigw bar freezer...



Got any details on the make/model?


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## argon (17/4/12)

I can fit 8 jerries into my upright freezer fermentation fridge. Not that I've ever done it though.


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## seamad (17/4/12)

Chris, it is an evita 85 l.
Got it @2 yr ago at bigw online. Was on special at the time for $120 with free postage . iirc dont think it was available in store,only online , wish i bought two.
cheers
Sean


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## GalBrew (20/4/12)

While I am at it what do people like the best? Fridge or freezer? I was listneing to an old brew strong on the way to work and Jamil mentioned that freezers get quite humid on the inside while running on a temp controller compared to a fridge. Any observations or opinions on this?


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## sean_0 (20/4/12)

AdamFromWH said:


> While I am at it what do people like the best? Fridge or freezer? I was listneing to an old brew strong on the way to work and Jamil mentioned that freezers get quite humid on the inside while running on a temp controller compared to a fridge. Any observations or opinions on this?



Well it's true, but I'm not sure how much of a problem it is. My keezer (which I also use for cold conditioning) gets quite damp inside, whereas my fermenting fridge stays quite dry. However the inevitable spills etc means that both get cleaned fairly regularly with a spray bottle of starsan and a damp cloth. It doesn't really cause me any issues.


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## mikec (20/4/12)

Two small fridges on top of each other. Why? So you can have two brews going at difference temperatures. CC one before the other, etc etc.

I've got an old 140L freezer, and one of these 130L fridges (fridge only so better use of space):

Westinghouse 130l Fridge


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## mikec (20/4/12)

AdamFromWH said:


> While I am at it what do people like the best? Fridge or freezer? I was listneing to an old brew strong on the way to work and Jamil mentioned that freezers get quite humid on the inside while running on a temp controller compared to a fridge. Any observations or opinions on this?



My freezer does get damp inside, especially as it's not frost free. The benefit is it gets colder much faster, and can go lower using less power.


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## tlbeer (20/4/12)

I ferment in an old Kegerator (series1 I think) with domed door and have just bought 2 x 20L willow cubes to ferment 2 lagers at once instead of one with a 30L round drum fermenter, had to cut the tabs off the ends of the installed plastic taps to get the door to shut properly but other then that minor adjustment they fit great, just have to wait and see how the lagers turn out!!


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## seamad (20/4/12)

My freezer does get wet but freezes when cc which it does much quicker than the fridge. Only small so easy to clean anyway.


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## breakbeer (20/4/12)

I just brewed my first ever Pilsner as I have only had a temp controller for a few months. Can only fit one fermenter in my fermenting fridge, but figured out that I could fit the fermenter & 1 keg in my Kegerator. So I used the fridge at 10c for three weeks & the the Kegerator for CC'ing. 

My folks have an upright freezer that they don't use so I'm gonna aquire that & set it up like the one in the top pic & possibly use Jerry's to squeeze in 4 (or even 6) at a time. Experiment a bit with the same recipe but small tweaks for each batch


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## mattfos01 (26/12/12)

mikec said:


> Two small fridges on top of each other. Why? So you can have two brews going at difference temperatures. CC one before the other, etc etc.
> 
> I've got an old 140L freezer, and one of these 130L fridges (fridge only so better use of space):
> 
> Westinghouse 130l Fridge



Hi mate, have got hold of one of these 130 litre jobbies as a fermentation fridge. Still inner city so space is at a premium...Did you remove the plastic door shelving to fit a FV. If so how did you go about it?


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## Bribie G (26/12/12)

From what I can make out from the picture, the door shelves look like the standard type and should be removable for cleaning. Check and see if they are in grooves then just smartly thump one upwards on LHS then RHS and it should pop out. They are often quite reluctant to come out so apply a good whack with heel of hand etc - they look to be along the same lines as my Mitsubishi fridge.


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## mattfos01 (26/12/12)

Bribie G said:


> From what I can make out from the picture, the door shelves look like the standard type and should be removable for cleaning. Check and see if they are in grooves then just smartly thump one upwards on LHS then RHS and it should pop out. They are often quite reluctant to come out so apply a good whack with heel of hand etc - they look to be along the same lines as my Mitsubishi fridge.
> 
> View attachment 59573




Thanks mate, after a six month hiatus I should be back brewing again in Jan, with temp control! Heading to Jaycar tomorrow to get bits and pieces to wire up a couple of stc-1000's. Will make a start then touch base with a Electrician mate to check my work. Getting my fridge on Friday. Been a long layover..


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## QldKev (26/12/12)

My older fermenting fridge is a Kelvinator 320L all fridge, fits 1 fermenter top shelf and 1 bottom shelf. It will also allow 2 x 20L Jerry cans per shelf. 






And the newer one (our ex house fridge) is a Westinghouse Freestyle 420L all fridge, fits 2 x 30L square Bunnings fermenters or 3 x 20L jerry cans on the lower shelf. 







Allowing 2 fermenters is plenty for you, and if buying new I would consider looking at 2 x bar fridges. As mentioned above great if you want to do a lager and an ale at the same time, also if you only have 1 fermenter on the go you only run one fridge. 

Only issue when running 2 x bar fridges compared to 1 larger fridge the bar fridges use more power. Use random examples from Westinghouse
130L bar fridge 2 x 282kw/yr = 564kw/hr (about $141 year)
370L fridge 353 kw/yr (about $88 year)


QldKev


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## Yob (26/12/12)

damn Kev.. thats a hell of a trub level on that top FV... you gunna siphon that one out?


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## mikec (26/12/12)

Mattfos01 said:


> Hi mate, have got hold of one of these 130 litre jobbies as a fermentation fridge. Still inner city so space is at a premium...Did you remove the plastic door shelving to fit a FV. If so how did you go about it?


Yep, the shelves just pop out, easy.
I've actually got two of these fridges now, chucked out the old freezer as I found it accumulated a lot of moisture and thus mold.


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## QldKev (27/12/12)

Yob said:


> damn Kev.. thats a hell of a trub level on that top FV... you gunna siphon that one out?



Nope, I'll just cool it down to under 4c for a couple of days so it compacts fairly hard, then dump the first bit until it runs clear. Not sure why there is soo much cold break material? but the brew smells really nice. It's a "Twisted QldKev" and looking at the recipe I would actually think it would have a lot less break than this. 

QldKev


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## lael (27/12/12)

I was doing a bunch of reading on this before I got mine - apparently a frost free freezer stays dry. I managed to get an upright westinghouse frost free off gumtree. I've just run my first brew in it and the inside of the freezer has stayed dry the entire time. It's in the garage, but it seems to hold temps very nicely (the compressor doesn't start up that often). Supposedly freezers are more efficient for power as well. It's a 300L

I can fit two 'normal' round fermenters (is that a word? / spelling?) in bottom / top configuration, or one 50L fermenter. - the big one has to go on the shelf above the compressor/basket section as the floorspace isn't large enough with the compressor indent thing. Can't put it halfway up as it bumps into the fan/air outlet thing (would the shelves hold that much weight?)


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## mikec (27/12/12)

I reinforced my bottom shelf with blocks of wood.
I wasn't sure about putting 40L on it and Westinghouse would not give any numbers on the weight it would hold.
Yes frost free is the way to go. My old one was the regular type (old and cheap) and so was always freezing then thawing, leaving moisture everywhere.


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## Newts (19/8/13)

Just having a look at the pics on this one - does anyone ever worry that the fermenter is going to break the shelf in their fridge? I can fit a second fermenter in one of my fridges but I worry about the 25+kgs on the shelf so to date haven't done it. Might head into bunnings and see if they have any of those square cube type fermenters. Look like they were made to fit in a fridge.


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## Yob (19/8/13)

Kev has his strengthened with a couple of wire shelves to spread the load. You can make it out in the photos.

In my old fridge I built a little bracket to strengthen the shelf but at the end of the day I think I neednt have bothered... made me feel better though.

My current Fermenting fridges have toughened glass shelves, if they bend far enough to pop out of the guides Im in all sorts of bother anyway.


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## QldKev (19/8/13)

As Yob mentioned, I've use the double shelf idea in my old fermenting fridge and did the same in the newer one. I've never had an issue. On the bottom shelf of the newer one, since it is carrying two good sized batches totaling about 60kg I have also put in center legs. If you have a look at that prior pic you can see a stainless drip tray on it's side that happened to be a good fit.

In the other half of the pigeon pair I have 5 kegs on the top shelf, so about 100kg. I've needed to do a lot more bracing to support the weight. I ended up using wood to carry the weight to the lower shelves. Doesn't look as pretty, but it does the job.


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