JAKlaassen
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- Joined
- Feb 28, 2008
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I've been an avid reader and just getting into posting.
I am beginning to think about an air conditioner-run fermentation/lagering/storage chamber and I feel like I'm hitting a brick wall in my ideas. I like a lot of the designs out there (I think I've seen them all), but I would like to build something with multiple temperature zones/chambers. Ideally I would like to be able to ferment lagers and ales (though not necessarily at the same time) as well as lager and cold storage.
I am imagining a design with a large (4' W, 2' D, 6' H) lower chamber with a small chamber above that would be big enough for bucket/cornys (room has 9' ceilings). The air conditioner would blow into the lower chamber on a temp controller and another temp controller would control fans between the lower and upper chambers. I would hope that I could keep the lower chamber at about 40 and the upper anywhere from 50-70.
I'm thinking rather than walk-in, I'll have door(s) on the outside and a ladder. I may set it up so I can force wort up into a bucket in the top chamber from a corny using CO2, but that would be a later add-on to keep from having to lug buckets up the ladder.
Its early doors right now, and I'm wondering if I'm completely off base with anything. Will the upper chamber stay warmer than the lower with the fans off? Will I need some time of air return to get nice upward airflow while the fans are running? Anyone have any experience with what vertical temperature gradients I can expect? Anything I should be thinking about in my design?
Thanks!
I am beginning to think about an air conditioner-run fermentation/lagering/storage chamber and I feel like I'm hitting a brick wall in my ideas. I like a lot of the designs out there (I think I've seen them all), but I would like to build something with multiple temperature zones/chambers. Ideally I would like to be able to ferment lagers and ales (though not necessarily at the same time) as well as lager and cold storage.
I am imagining a design with a large (4' W, 2' D, 6' H) lower chamber with a small chamber above that would be big enough for bucket/cornys (room has 9' ceilings). The air conditioner would blow into the lower chamber on a temp controller and another temp controller would control fans between the lower and upper chambers. I would hope that I could keep the lower chamber at about 40 and the upper anywhere from 50-70.
I'm thinking rather than walk-in, I'll have door(s) on the outside and a ladder. I may set it up so I can force wort up into a bucket in the top chamber from a corny using CO2, but that would be a later add-on to keep from having to lug buckets up the ladder.
Its early doors right now, and I'm wondering if I'm completely off base with anything. Will the upper chamber stay warmer than the lower with the fans off? Will I need some time of air return to get nice upward airflow while the fans are running? Anyone have any experience with what vertical temperature gradients I can expect? Anything I should be thinking about in my design?
Thanks!