Fridge or Freezer - it must be done

OK, I'm going to best buy today and buying a fridge from my kegs and carboys. i was going to get the 4912 (which is still a plan of mine), but i'd also like to do some lagering and conditioning using a fridge. SO...how much space do I need?

From a few websites (I can't go home till after i goto teh store) i see that 6.5 gallon carboys are 16 x 16 x 32". Is this correct?

Add an airlock or blow-off and I need about 35-36" total clearance on the top.

Now, i live in a small apartment and cannot have a huge fridge. I was thinking one of these: 7.2 Cu Ft Chest Freezer but it looks like at 34 2/5" total height, it's not going to be tall enough. arrgh.

in fact, all the chest freezers seem to be too short. i suppose i could modify them, but it seems like SOMETHING should be available, no? they would still work great for kegs in the meantime. i could probably fit three cornies in the 7.2 Cu.

i'm going to search the forums a bit as well, but i need to know the following if anyone has the info on hand.

1. What are the actual dimensions of 5-6.5 gallon carboys, and corny kegs?
2. What is the typical clearence i need for a 6.5 gallon carboy with blow-off or airlock?
3. What recommendations would you suggest from Best Buy. i have about maybe 3.5 x 3.5 ft of space to put this thing (and my roomate might be pissed about that but screw him. Here's a links to the freezers:

Chest Freezers

36" seems like an overestimate for the height of a carboy with airlock.

I measured my 6.5 gallon glass carboy with a 3-piece airlock before I bought my chest freezer and I think I came up with 28" or 29"...but I can't remember for sure. (I'm not home right now...so I can't measure).

In any event, I have a 10 cu foot freezer that's not particularly tall and it fits in there just fine. I think you'll be ok.

My 6 gallon better bottle it is 26 inches to top of s-type air lock (3-piece is a little smaller).
My ball lock kegs are 25in. (add some for the disconnects).

I have the 7 cu ft from home depot ($179), it is not much bigger than the 5 (in the amount of room it takes up). I added a collar ($15) and can get 6 cornies or 4 cornies and a better bottle and co2 tank. Without the collar you can fit 4 kegs on the floor with the tank on the hump, the collar adds enough clearance for additional kegs or carboy. I plan to use it to store kegs and lager. I talked about it in a thread a while back, the search is not working correct so I can't find it at the moment.

Any chest freezer is more than tall enough for a 6.5 with airlock.

The Wirlpool 9.6 Cubic holds five cornies comfrtably and I think I got one carboy and two cornies in there once.

Obviously, the bigger the better.

I have a 5CF freezer chest, it can hold one my glass 6Gal Carboy with a 3" air lock, and I can get a 6gal Plastic bucket in there too but I have to run a blow off tube as the air lock.

I wish I would have gone with the 7cf freezer, But I have limited space so I went with the smaller.

One thing with the Freezer chest is it does not loose too much cool air when you open it. where as a fridge a lot of cold air falls out when you open the door. so with a chest your temp is much more stable.

thanks for the good news. i'm going to have my roomate measure the area where i want to put it in the kitchen while i'm at the store. i think the 7.2 will work...assuming the interior holds enough. if he doesn't want it in the kitchen, i'll just put it in my room (and get a bigger one )

Yeah, one more in the "chest freezers are big enough" column. I use a 5.5 cf chest freezer from Sam's Club, and I've never had a problem fitting carboys into it...even 6.5g ones.

damn...doesn't look like i can use the kitchen. oh wellz, looks like i'm going with a bigger one (if i can fit it in the car...)

basically, i'm going to get something that fits 2 carboys or 1 carboy and 2-3 kegs. i'll let you know how it goes!

well, crap...didn't work out. i found a perfect one (7.2 that could hold 2 cornies and a carboy...but not 2 carboys) at home depot but they were out of stock. to tell you the truth, it wouldn't have fit in the car anyway. i'll go back soon. shucks.

Do you have a Sam's membership? They sell one 'Online Only' and the delivery is only $25. This was my plan but I was able to use my sister's SUV to get the one from HD.

This one?

i have a friend that has a membership...how much will that puppy hold? looks like it's only ~$200 total

DeathBrewer said:

This one?

i have a friend that has a membership...how much will that puppy hold? looks like it's only ~$200 total

Click to expand...

Not sure. But I would think as much as the one from HD.

Keep your eye to the "scratch and dent" appliances in front of Lowe's. I got my CF (Thinks it's 9 cu ft) for $150, basically new. Also, a CF makes a nice bedroom dresser....especially when it's got taps sticking out of it