RoaringBrewer
Well-Known Member
Well, I know you can obviously use a freezer/fridge and temp controller to ferment things at a more precise temp when you need things colder than the surrounding environment/room (doing this in near future - lagerator out of chest freezer)...
But what about when you need warmer? I want to ferment primarily out of my basement, but this basement will be 55F-ish in winter. What if I want to brew an ale and need 70F temps in this scenario?
Specifically:
1) Will the inside of an unplugged chest freezer be much warmer than its surrounding environment - say 10-15F? I mean, it is an insulated box, right? I guess I could monitor the temp and do trial and error to find out, but its not yet cold enough. My guess is that this won't work and it will be room temp inside the unplugged freezer eventually...
2) If not, I will need some way to generate heat into the chest freezer. I guess the best way to do this is with a small heater, or maybe even just a light bulb, hooked up to one of the digital temp controllers (that can control cooling or heating)? Any fire risk by doing this?
I guess if there is no acceptable means to doing this, I will just continue to ferment my ales upstairs in the house where we keep it 67-68F or so... and just do my lagers in the chest freezer.
But what about when you need warmer? I want to ferment primarily out of my basement, but this basement will be 55F-ish in winter. What if I want to brew an ale and need 70F temps in this scenario?
Specifically:
1) Will the inside of an unplugged chest freezer be much warmer than its surrounding environment - say 10-15F? I mean, it is an insulated box, right? I guess I could monitor the temp and do trial and error to find out, but its not yet cold enough. My guess is that this won't work and it will be room temp inside the unplugged freezer eventually...
2) If not, I will need some way to generate heat into the chest freezer. I guess the best way to do this is with a small heater, or maybe even just a light bulb, hooked up to one of the digital temp controllers (that can control cooling or heating)? Any fire risk by doing this?
I guess if there is no acceptable means to doing this, I will just continue to ferment my ales upstairs in the house where we keep it 67-68F or so... and just do my lagers in the chest freezer.