Freezer as fermentation chamber

Spent yesterday browsing through youtube videos on making fermentation chambers. A lot of good ideas. But one big question: is there any reason not to purchase a small chest frezer and add a temperature controller with a probe to cycle the power on and off? I understand that its a bit awkward to lift the fermenter in and out of a chest freezer, but I can handle that. Am I missing anything obvious?

Probably just cost. If you can afford it, and the freezer cooperates with the temperature you set it to I would say you're golden. A lot of people would probably be jealous of it even.

Nope, you're not missing anything. If you've got the space, go for it. It's precisely what I do.

I went with a small chest freezer as a fermentation/lagering chamber.

Basically I came to the conclusion that the next step in bettering my beer was to nail down temperatures and normalize things. By doing this I'm no longer dealing with the temp spikes that come with certain times of the year.

So for some beers that I feel are going to benefit from it I'll use it.

If you have the space and coin then do it up.

Yup, pick up a freezer off Craigslist or whatever and away you go. Apparently it's harder on the freezer compressor than normal use but you should get several years out of it anyway.

You could go with a standup freezer.

I use a chest freezer and to keep it at 62 - 68, Id say the freezer cycles on for 5 or so minutes every 1-2 hours. It really has had very little effect on my energy bill.

Yep, chest freezers already use a fairly low amount of energy, and the fact that they run for maybe 5% of the time means I haven't noticed it at all on the electricity bill.

As far as wearing out the compressor... if you do things right, it shouldn't be an issue (and shouldn't be cycling on much more than usual anyways). The idea is to use thermal mass to prevent rapid temperature fluctuations. Ideally, you should tape a probe to the side of your fermentor and insulate it - that way, you are measuring the temperature of the beer, and it takes a much longer time for 5gallons of beer to change by a degree than it does for air (just look at how long it takes to boil water!). And by measuring the temperature of the beer with the thermostat, you are also CONTROLLING the temperature of the beer, which makes a heck of a lot more sense than measuring/controlling the air around it (due to the additional heat that yeast generates during fermentation.)

Temperature controllers typically allow you to set an automatic delay so that the compressor doesn't cycle on too quickly, even if the temperature settings say it should, and this gives your freezer some added protection. But it's really just a precaution, because with the thermal mass of a 5gal batch (sticking even more stuff in the freezer also helps) and proper probe placement, the length of time it should take for the thermostat to turn on the compressor should significantly exceed even the highest delay setting anyways. Basically, if you do things right, a freezer should last you a heck of a lot longer than "several years". Depending on how old it already is, it should be more like "several decades."

has anyone found a need to add heat or is the yeast always producing sufficient heat internally? I keep my house fairly cold in the winter.

I use a chest freezer as well. One bit of advise I can give is to be careful buying a used one. Most are probably just fine, however some are not. I bought a used one from a co-worker that was working fine (or so he says), but when I hooked it up it failed to cool. In fact it got warmer inside with the compressor running trying to cool it off. I researched trying to see what could be wrong and most of what I read says once an older freezer is unplugged and warms up that lines can crack and leak the Freon. After that I just went and bought a new one.

william_shakes_beer said:

has anyone found a need to add heat or is the yeast always producing sufficient heat internally? I keep my house fairly sold in the winter.

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You'd have to keep your house pretty darn cold for it to be too cold for even ales, but a small heat source (brew pad, ferm wrap, brew belt, reptile bulb, etc) will still come in handy, as typically you want to ramp the temperature UP a bit during fermentation, if at all - but as the yeast becomes less active, the cool environment may cause it to ramp DOWN, which can cause it to attenuate less fully, and in some cases even stall. And the heat source will also be extra useful for certain styles that benefit from warmer ferments.

Is it strictly necessary? No. But if you're going to go so far as to get yourself a proper ferm chamber for the sake of brewing your beer, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to only make it "half-capable", when adding a heat source is very inexpensive, really doesn't take up anymore space, and allows you to ferment precisely at the temperatures you want, *no matter what*. Comprende?

I'm thinking:
Holiday 7 Cu. Ft. Chest Freezer
Control Products TC-9102D-HV Dual Stage High Voltage Digital Temperature Controller
Any recommendation of a heating pad that won't get upset about getting wet occasionally?

(yup gotta check to see that a fermenter and a blowoff bottle will fit in the freezer)

Celticway said:

You could go with a standup freezer.


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iCame

I recently got a GE 7 cu. ft. chest freezer and a digital Ranco temp. controller. Great little set up. I made a stand (2X4's and some casters) so I can roll it around to where I need it.

I wanted to be able to fit 2 carboys/buckets in there at the same time. I went to the store and measured the internal dimensions of the freezer and then went home and determined how much space my fermenters took up. One easily fits on the bottom and if I build a small platform (extension for the compressor hump) I can fit another fermenter (with airlock) on the hump with the lid just barely closing.

Go for it.

I have a sweet 20.3 cu ft Gibson chest freezer. I bought for $70. It wasn't pretty so I sanded and feathered it and painted it black with appliance spray paint. I bought a dual temp controller from morebeer.com for $150 it comes pre wired all you do is plug the freezer into the cooling plug and your heating element into the heating plug on the controller. Then just plug the controller into the wall and set it and forgot it. I'm going to buy a ceramic reptile heater for my heat source and 1 or 2 computer fans wired up to a old phone charger to circulate the air inside the freezer. Also I'm going to keep the temp probe in a small bucket of water to keep the freezer from constantly cyclying. All this I'm doing I gathered from hours of research. I hope it helps you.

Oh yea and I found the freezer using the craigslist app and some patience. The app is nice because it instantly alerts you when somebody puts something up your looking for so you can jump on it quick because stuff on there sells FAST.

Where do you download a craigslist app from? I've been looking for a freezer but all the good ones are always gone and all thats left are junk ones they want like 400 bucks for.

DUNDASJ said:

Oh yea and I found the freezer using the craigslist app and some patience. The app is nice because it instantly alerts you when somebody puts something up your looking for so you can jump on it quick because stuff on there sells FAST.

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+1, that's how I got mine.

I downloaded it from the android market. I am sure theres one for the iPhone too.

why do you need a ceramic heater ??

standard 40w bulb works fine in mild CA winter temps for a heater. No need to get fancy.

but why get a heater ? say im trying to keep a temp of 50 and then 65 sometime late... wouldn't i just adjust the temp controller

CrankyBeaverBrewery said:

but why get a heater ? say im trying to keep a temp of 50 and then 65 sometime late... wouldn't i just adjust the temp controller

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The temp controller doesn't heat and cool. It merely controls items that heat and cool. In a chest freezer there is only a cooling unit. If you want to precisely control the interior temp of your freezer you need a source that can heat it in addition to the cooling unit.

In my case it's a lightbulb. In others it's a heat mat. Lots of stuff works, but if you just plug a controller in to a chest freezer and it's at 50 then you change it to 65 all that does is make sure the freezers compressor doesn't come on. As long as your ambient room temp is greater then 65 the temperature WILL eventually get there. But my 40 watt bulb helps me get there faster.

Accidental post. Can't delete.