mgortel
Well-Known Member
I have been in the market for a new fermentation chamber ever since my wife accidentally destroyed my old one by puncturing a hole in the coil in the freezer portion of the refrigerator I was using (trying to break some frozen chicken necks for crabbing loose that had frozen to the coil......long story....sad sad day....lol). I used an A419 Temperature Controller (Johnson Controls) on said destroyed refrigerator....still have controller of course.
Anyway....just a heads up for my fellow brewers on a deal Home Depot has right now on a 7 CU FT chest freezer for $158.00 (regular price = $219)
I had checked on craigslist for refrigerators and found a couple I was interested in in the $125 -$150 range....but of course with a refrigerator if you want to get down to lager temps you need to overide the thermostat....not a big deal but still.
Anyway when I saw this deal I shot on over to the closest Home Depot to check it out. Unfortunately when I measued the 7 cu ft freezer I found it would not hold (2) Ale Pails even though the length of freezer is cloes to 35 inches.....because there is a step up on the one end for the compressor etc..... HOWEVER, I decided to buy anyway since the 5 cu ft freezer was like $180. When I got home I was pleased to find that the following combinations wil fit in myt new fermentation chamber:
(1) Ale Pail (this is the downside....it will not hold 2 ale pails....but not so bad actually as you can see below that it will still work for 2 batches of beer)
(1) Ale Pail and (1) Carboy (5.5 -6 gal)
(2) Carboys (5.5 -6 gal)
So if anyone is lookin for a deal on a new fermentation chamber check this deal out at H-Depot......I thought it was a great deal for a new freezer for such a cheap price as opposed to spending close to the same amount for a used refrigerator/freezert and having to make mods and worry about reliability.
Also, as a side note....I will probably buy one of these to use for (3) 5 gallon kegs for my bar in my basement I am clubbing out.
Happy Brewing!
Mike
Anyway....just a heads up for my fellow brewers on a deal Home Depot has right now on a 7 CU FT chest freezer for $158.00 (regular price = $219)
I had checked on craigslist for refrigerators and found a couple I was interested in in the $125 -$150 range....but of course with a refrigerator if you want to get down to lager temps you need to overide the thermostat....not a big deal but still.
Anyway when I saw this deal I shot on over to the closest Home Depot to check it out. Unfortunately when I measued the 7 cu ft freezer I found it would not hold (2) Ale Pails even though the length of freezer is cloes to 35 inches.....because there is a step up on the one end for the compressor etc..... HOWEVER, I decided to buy anyway since the 5 cu ft freezer was like $180. When I got home I was pleased to find that the following combinations wil fit in myt new fermentation chamber:
(1) Ale Pail (this is the downside....it will not hold 2 ale pails....but not so bad actually as you can see below that it will still work for 2 batches of beer)
(1) Ale Pail and (1) Carboy (5.5 -6 gal)
(2) Carboys (5.5 -6 gal)
So if anyone is lookin for a deal on a new fermentation chamber check this deal out at H-Depot......I thought it was a great deal for a new freezer for such a cheap price as opposed to spending close to the same amount for a used refrigerator/freezert and having to make mods and worry about reliability.
Also, as a side note....I will probably buy one of these to use for (3) 5 gallon kegs for my bar in my basement I am clubbing out.
Happy Brewing!
Mike
