AJStank

Recipes 

Hi everyone,
I've got an old chest freezer in the garage that SWMBO is willing to let me convert into a lagering/fermentation vessel. I'm planning on buying a temperature control device to let me regulate the temperature inside the freezer, would I need to drill into the freezer to run the probe?

My other concern is the fact that my garage runs from about 45-50 degrees in the winter. Would I have trouble getting the freezer temp up to the 60-70 degree range for ale fermentation?

Thanks for the input!

Swib

Recipes 

I would suggest building the STC-1000 2-Stage Temperature Controller (AKA the ebay controller). There's at least one thread here on how to do it, and it'll only run you $45ish. It gives you control over both heating (with a 60w bulb) and cooling your fermentation chamber. As for drilling into your freezer, you could build a collar, not for having taps in this case, but just in order to have something else to drill through without permanently damaging your freezer.

theonetrueruss

Recipes 

Just run the wire under the lid and don't worry about it. The amount of leakage is minimal for the temps you are using.

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TheOneTrueRuss
Fat Messiah Brewing