Fridge for pressure barrel

[Rickous]

Hi all!

Well I've got my first brew (Wherry) almost ready to go in to my pressure barrel, been fermenting over a week now and hoping to siphon on Friday potentially. Last gravity check showed a nice healthy 1010, but wanted to leave for extra time to clear/finish up.

After much reading on here, I'm going to leave the PB in the warm for a week or two and then in a nice cool place for a while. Which is where I came to my first problem, I have nowhere to store outside!

After a quick browse on skeebay, I've seen a nice fridge for £4.50 (£10 delivery) as its local, and wondered if it was worth picking up as a cooling measure for my PB. Dimensions should fit the PB with ease, after taking out the shelves, and I have room in my flat for said fridge.

Just wondered if you guys think if this is a viable solution, or if you can offer an alternative. :hmm:

 

[stesmi]

I line an mdf box with foil and stick a couple of frozen water bottles in it with the PB and get it down to 10 degrees in the winter. Don't know if that helps? Reason I do this instead of a 2nd fridge is due to cost. It'll cost £60 a year to run an additional fridge and I'd rather spend that on ingredients ☺️

 

[Ale]

Im on my second brew and have to keep it in the garage as the wife is worried it will make the house smell of beer (don't know why that's a problem myself, but there you go). I've been using a brew belt to keep it warm, but its a real pain to keep it at the right temperature with that as when it drops a bit and stops fermenting the yeast isn't producing heat and it takes a lot of heat to bring it back up, but when it does the yeast kicks in again and the temo rockets. It hit 30 yesterday on day 8 of the brew so Im keeping it going on advice from here.

My planned solution is to pick up a cheap fridge for no more than a tenner and an STC-1000 (thermostat that can regulate hot and cold). I am hoping this will provide a year round solution as the fridge will offer some insulation in summer and winter. I will then wire the fridge and brew belt into the STC-1000 and set to heat or cool as appropriate.

Not sure how viable that is but I only came up with the idea about an hour ago.

 

[baggybill]

@Rickous - At that kind of money, it's no great loss if it doesn't work out for you (less than a round in the pub!). I had a fridge I got for free. Found out once I had it that it never dropped below 7-8' which meant no use for cold crashing (my intended use) but fine for cold drinks. Got shot of it (re-cycle centre) as my garage is cold enough!

@stesmi - I now have fully insulated mdf chambers (x3). See attached image.

@Ale - probably been suggested to you already but try the belt on a timer. Something like 15 mins on, 30 mins off. Might also be an idea to invest in a min/max thermometer from Amazon (~£8) that will record this information and let you know what's happening when you're not there (through the night etc.).

 

[Ale]

Thanks Baggybill. I have a max/min thermometer I've put in the garage already. This week its been between 7 and 12 degrees. The problem has been I set it so its maintaining 19+/-1 degrees and the fluctuation in temperature means it changes. If the yeast kicks back in as well the temp gets too high and if it drops too low the yeast stops and the temp goes down further. I need something to keep it constant.

I thought if just an aquarium heater but that wont keep it cool in summer if needed so I came up with the above setup as a solution. I reckon it'll cost a little over £20 which is worth it if it gives consistent temperatures and a better brew.

 

[strongboy]

Hi guys, interesting thread, mine will be ready to chill in a week or so, so is it ok just to chuck it in the shed or dose it need to be at a certain cold temp, was going to stick it in a old box and insulate it with blankets to stop it freezing.

 

[Rickous]

Thanks for all the replies all! Some interesting ideas coming from everyone :) I only want the fridge to cold condition as I've got no outside storage, such as a shed or anything.

@stesmi cost wise, that isn't a problem for me as living in my flat all bills are included in my rent. So the cost of the electric doesn't worry me

@baggybill That's what I was thinking, for the small cost its not a huge dent to the bank balance, and if it doesn't then we all have another fridge to use or I can condition my Cerveza bottles when they're done.