Gday all from brissy

[Ian1234]

Been lurking around doing some reading for the last couple of weeks. Finally picked up a second hand morgans kit last night and gonna give a morgans lager a go tonight. hopefully do the sanitizing right.

i'm thinking about getting a bar fridge to store the fermenter in down in my shed and when it starts to get warmer i can get a temp controller for it. will a bar fridge fit the morgans fermenter in to it? i'm not looking at running more than 1 fermenter but i will start looking at trying out using hops slowly.

thanks.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Check the internal dimensions of the bar fridge. Some have a hump at the back, which makes it harder to put on the floor, or the freezer bit at the top stops it.

Maybe think of a freezer with a temp controller.

I have a wine fridge, but it doesn't go down to 4 degrees to cold crash.

 

[Grott]

Hi Ian1234 and welcome. Bar fridges come in various sizes so you will need to measure the fermenters diameter and height and buy accordingly. With your used fermenter check inside for any bad scratches as these are a terror for infections and also pull your tap apart to clean and sanitise.
Cheers

 

[Ian1234]

thanks fellas. i was forgetting about the hump in the back of the fridges. i'll keep my eye out for fridge or freezers never know what comes up.

thanks grott i haven't even thought about pulling the tap apart.

 

[unwrittenlaw]

I am using a bar fridge to ferment with. Have added depth by making a frame out of 90x35 pine and using no nails fix it to the fridge then remounted the door.

 

[Ian1234]

Unwrittenlaw do you have a photo? Maybe able to do something similar, if it saves some space it'll be great.

 

[Ian1234]

First brew on

 

[Grott]

Looks good and positive pressure in the airlock.

 

[Ian1234]

the temp is sitting at 28 so i'll see how this one turns out and keep an eye out for a fridge in the mean time.

 

[Coodgee]

the temp is sitting at 28 so i'll see how this one turns out and keep an eye out for a fridge in the mean time.

welcome to the forum and welcome to home brew! 28 degrees is way to warm for almost all styles of beer, no matter what the instructions say. At this time of year in brisbane, without a fridge, I would just leave it at ambient temperatures.

 

[Ian1234]

welcome to the forum and welcome to home brew! 28 degrees is way to warm for almost all styles of beer, no matter what the instructions say. At this time of year in brisbane, without a fridge, I would just leave it at ambient temperatures.

thanks mate. yea i was gonna leave it. maybe next time more cold water or something. first brew so i'll work it all out.

 

[LiquidGold]

If you want to bring the temp down you could always wrap a wet towel around the fermenter and point a fan at it which will cool through evaporation. Adding ice bricks around it might also help.

Is the heat pad set up with a thermostat?

 

[Ian1234]

If you want to bring the temp down you could always wrap a wet towel around the fermenter and point a fan at it which will cool through evaporation. Adding ice bricks around it might also help.

Is the heat pad set up with a thermostat?

that's a great idea mate. i'll do that tonight. the heat pad is just setting there not plugged in to anything yet, thought i'd put in under it now instead having to do moving it later. but next thing i'll be getting is a thermostat for when i do the next batch in the shed.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

welcome to the forum and welcome to home brew! 28 degrees is way to warm for almost all styles of beer, no matter what the instructions say. At this time of year in brisbane, without a fridge, I would just leave it at ambient temperatures.

Probably right.

Though I will throw a slight cat among the pidgeons. In my place in Wavell Heights, ambient at this time of year was brilliant.

However, in my current place, it's far warmer and I actually managed to infuse an Amber Ale with acetyldehide with an ambient winter brew. So just check the temp of where you're fermeting.

 

[BrockHops]

Gday Ian & welcome!
Here's to a successful brewing future (slippery slope/Vortex/Black hole)
Mate, a simple way to achieve your desired yeast pitching temp, I find is to have some hot water and cold (chilled if you can) and just add hot -cold etc until you've reached your full volume.
Temps should be 18-22° for ales
Lagers need a much cooler temp, 12 ish° , temp controlled fridge is a great way to keep your brew at a nice constant temp.

Anyway mate rip in , have fun and there is tonnes of great advice here, so sponge it up

 

[Ian1234]

thanks fellas. i guess its all trail and error to find what works for ones self. i will be getting a fridge or freezer for future brews.

i'll see if i can drop the temp a little tonight, if not as long it doesn't get an infection she'll be right to drink. i'll work towards getting a good set up for fermenting.

 

[BrockHops]

Hey Ian, 1 things for sure, you will make beer

 

[Ian1234]

After a week I did gravity test tonight sitting at 1010 I think it was at 1093 the day I put it on but I could be wrong as it was my first time using it.

But does the colour look right for a Morgans larger? I