Bar Fridge vs Bar Freezer for fermentation chamber

[Chaos Brews]

Hi all, I have a few questions I wasn’t able to get clear answers on from other threads on the forum. Appreciate any experience or suggestions people have.

1. I’m tossing up between a bar fridge or bar freezer to use as a fermentation chamber. I’ve read freezers are good because they are more power efficient, better insulated and are great for cold crashing to get tempt down to 1-2c quickly. But I also read to find a frost free freezer because the frost can be bad for the brew. I’ve done a bunch of searches and it’s been hard to find a bar freezer size that is a frost free version and second hand at that. So my question is, will I be ok with a simple bar fridge to cold crash or should I keep hunting for a bar freezer?

2. I already have a standard size bar fridge I use as a bar fridge. I would want to stack the new fermentation chamber on top, for two reasons, 1-to be able to easily take gravity readings without having to pull the fermenter out and set it up on something each time. 2-to be able to bottle easily without moving it too much on bottling day since I will be cold crashing as well. My question is, if a freezer is the best option still, is there any issues stacking a bar freezer on top of a bar fridge? Like how the general advice is to a dryer on top of a laundry and not the other way around etc.


Other info that might change your answers:
- i use a 30L plastic fermenter (pic attached)
- I want a upright fridge or freezer in bar size due to space, and don’t want a freezer chest due to having a bad back
- I will more often than not be brewing ales so outside of this the unit would be off as the ideal temp would be around 21c.
- I live in Melb, its either cold af or hot af

Cheers

 

[duncbrewer]

I have a bit of both worlds, a fridge freezer, with the small separate freezer compartment on the top.
Space for the fermentasaurus in the fridge and then I cut a hole in the floor of the freezer compartment about 10cm across and lined it out.
This means that when the ferment needs cooling I get the fridge plate on the back of the fridge and the cold air pouring down from above, I made a duct from the fan in the freezer to the previously mentioned hole.
If I need the beer hot fermenting say for a kveik then I just block the hole up with insulation so the space is smaller to warm. Once serious cooling needed ( ie cold crashing ) then I remove this bung and cooling is fast. Most of the time the fridge and freezer aren't cooling the ferment though as the insulation keeps it pretty steady.
The heating from a brewbelt and the cooling are controlled by an STC and watched by the Ispindel.
Pictures show fridge freezer, internal fridge and can just see hole in roof, closer view of hole and freezer compartment open. I have added supplementary insulation to the freezer floor and sides and across the front so that it's a smaller space to keep cold and aids the ducting. You can also see the supplementary insulation cutout that I use as a bung when no chilling required.

 

[Eddy Monsoon]

I've got a fridge and freezer. 200 litre each

Convinced the boss they are available should we need them for party prep overflow....

Both work fine, and given that you're using the freezer above freezing I'm not sure frost is ever going to form.