Deebee Finally Gets Temperature Control

[deebee]

On Saturday I dropped into the tip or whatever they call it now and asked if they had any fridges. The guy showed me a dusty beauty that he promised me worked like a charm. $20. Bargain. It's now in my shed.

The warmest setting runs it at about 2*C so I will experiment with a timer turning it on and off during the day and hopefully do without a thermostat.

The problem is, it almost but not quite fits two fermenters. (So it only fits one fermenter.) I can see myself brewing a lager for two weeks then cold conditioning it for four weeks and only turning over 25 litres every 6 weeks.

How do you get maximum use out of one small fridge?

Off to get a lager yeast this week.

 

[BigAl]

Deebee,

If its a normal upright type fridge then the door shelves take up space inside the fride. You can modify the door. The shelves are generally moulded plastic and you can take them out. The piece normally screws into the metal front door part of the fridge. You can then cut out a piece of board (ive used melamine coated masonite, cheap as chips) to replace the shelves. This gives your more space inside the fridge for fermenters.
Hope this helps.

Cheers.

 

[JasonY]

Ive used a fermenter + 20L jerry can for a 40L ferment ... PITA though but in the end some temperature control is better than none

 

[big d]

or think outside of the square or round as the case may be fermenter.try a different arrangement of say cubes used as fermenters.nothing says you have to have a normal airlock.think of a blow off tube in its place with a long tube coming out of the rubber grommet going into a container of water etc.this way you may just be able to stack cubes as fermenters on top of each other and run a couple of flexi tubes out of the small space between the cubes.

worth a thought maybe.

cheers
big d

 

[deebee]

The frig is too short for stackingfermenters unless I can take out the aluminium box that is the freezer. I might try to take out the moulded door insert instead. And see if two cubes will fit in. Or one cdube and one fermenter. Must be something I can do.

But yeah, any temperature control is better than none.

 

[big d]

or become a patient lager brewer. <_<
bit like me deebee only brewing the occasional 23-25 litre amount as im only just getting into lagers.2 to date.

 

[Doc]

My lager fridge is about the same. One 25 litre pail fermenter.
However I can get two of the 30 litre taller (but narrower) screw on lid fermenters. Best use of the fridge is then to do two lagers a day or two apart so they are on the same fermentation, diacetyl and cold conditioning cycle.

Beers,
Doc

 

[Guest Lurker]

At the risk of getting a reputation as a cave man. You can carefully remove the moulded inside of the door and replace it with something else.

Or, you could do what I did. Work out which plastic bit of the door is in the way, and take a hammer to it.

 

[Ross]

I took a hacksaw to my door moulding - just to get that 5th keg in

or just keep your eyes open for another fridge...

 

[normell]

Most, not all, fridge doors have a moulded plastic piece, and another piece behind, so attack with hammer, hacksaw or whatever to get the shit off.
BUT if it's got a butter conditioner, it will have a couple of wires, and one WILL bite you if not careful