Think this would work for a fermenter???

Saw this on craigslist and it sounds like a good deal. What do y'all think?

http://desmoines.craigslist.org/app/2229595864.html

Depending on how it's laid out inside, you could turn it into a fermentation chamber...

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I would just take a primary with me and put it in there and see if it'll fit with an airlock on it. I figured with some Johnson Controls I could get it to work as a ferm chamber right?

Ha ha, nice. Yeah, that could be a ferm chamber.

Yeah, you need to be in control of your Johnson...

Depending on how precise you want your control to be, go either analog or digital... I recall seeing some two pole controllers, so you could also add a heat source, if you need such a thing... I would wait until fermentation kicks off, and the wort is being warmed internally, before letting it cool down... If you picked up one of the thermowell's you could even insert the probe into the wort, and get an actual read on it's temperature...

Beer anal probing anyone?

$180 plus $100 for the controller seems like a really expensive fermentation chamber that can only hold one carboy...

strat_thru_marshall said:

$180 plus $100 for the controller seems like a really expensive fermentation chamber that can only hold one carboy...

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You can get single pole JC's for ~$50... Offer less than $180 on the fridge... The add DID say "OBO"... Tell him that you're going to have to spend another $50+ in order to use it, if you must. Remember, unless the add says "firm" there's always room to negotiate...

If you can get two carboy's to fit, or a few corny kegs, then you can ferment at least two brews at a time... Provided they both are happy in the same temperature range...

you can get a fullsized fridge that would hold 2 or 3 fermenters on craigslist for that price, and have money left for a temp controller!

Golddiggie said:

You can get single pole JC's for ~$50... Offer less than $180 on the fridge... The add DID say "OBO"... Tell him that you're going to have to spend another $50+ in order to use it, if you must. Remember, unless the add says "firm" there's always room to negotiate...

If you can get two carboy's to fit, or a few corny kegs, then you can ferment at least two brews at a time... Provided they both are happy in the same temperature range...

Click to expand...

true true. start way low and bring cash. Watch a bunch of episodes of Pawn Stars before you go to get yourself psyched up.

Walker said:

you can get a fullsized fridge that would hold 2 or 3 fermenters on craigslist for that price, and have money left for a temp controller!

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True, but if he wants the perceived 'cool factor' of the Bull can, he's going to have to pay...

Personally, I'd rather convert a good sized freezer into a fermentation chamber. Set the controller for the temperature you want, with the sensor inside the wort, and you should be good to go from the start. I look forward to having one of those to use.

I'd love to have a compact unit like that for doing lagers.

Well I've been searching for a chest freezer on craigslist for a few weeks now with no luck. I can't find anything that's either worth the price, or cheap enough and not a P.O.S. I don't plan on ferementing more than one batch at a time and eventually I will build a keezer. I did see a fridge on there after I posted this for $50.00. I'm actually thinking of looking at that one. That would be a perfect ferm chamber, my other fridge I planned on making into a ferm chamber got reallocated as an additional fridge by the wife. I wasn't too happy with that decision..................

First fridge for $50.00: http://desmoines.craigslist.org/app/2229331414.html

Second fridge for $50.00: http://desmoines.craigslist.org/app/2229545009.html

Give me some suggestions folks.

BIGREDIOWAN said:

I don't plan on ferementing more than one batch at a time

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famous last words...

I would go for the one with the fridge on the bottom it has beer in it so at least you know that it still works good.

There is a post somewhere out there where a guy took a red bull cooler just like the one you ask of and made it into a single carboy fermenter. Just look around and I'm sure you will find it.

Walker said:

famous last words...

Click to expand...

Usually, it turns into, I'll BREW just one batch a weekend... But fails to mention that brewing weekends are then two weeks apart (at most) ~90% of the time...

Once you start having really good home brew to drink, you want to always have really good home brew to drink. Hence the reason many of us try to brew at least every other week/weekend... That is, until you have so much on hand that you can slow down how much you're brewing...

It should be "no more than one that needs to be in the chamber at a time"... Considering how that's usually only the first week or two that a brew is in primary... Of course, you could also use it to cold crash some brews, or lager others... The possibilities are only limited by the size of the fridge/freezer and how many of them you have.

i'd go with the one from urbandale unless you want to try to convert that twin door one into a larger fermentation chamber. you can build some wood racks in there to fit a few carboys in there if need be. and there's plenty of room for a heater in there if you end up with this in the garage or basement.

I vote #2...more character...although there's more floor space in #1

Just found a chest freezer on there for $50.00. Looks like it's in good shape, but I couldn't get ahold of anyone at the number. It's a Maytag 10 cu. foot.

I saw a thread on a rockstar cooler that was similar. I believe it worked at first & then overheated & broke on him
-Collin

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/rockstar-energy-fridge-perfect-single-bucket-fermenter-127503/
found it

Looks like he fixed his overheating problems, but I doubt I get it anyway. I just talked to the guy and he sounded like he was stuck at $180. I told him I wouldn't go anymore than $120 or $130 and I still needed to see it in person. Explained to him I had to buy other things to get it to do what I wanted it to do. I'll try the chest freezer again shortly. That's only about 3 miles away from me. Here's the link for that one.

http://desmoines.craigslist.org/app/2232503512.html