Have fridge. Will lager.

Picked up a free fridge on Monday, finally got it in the basement yesterday. Got to work tearing it appart and cleaning it out. Found a bunch of freeze pops and french fries under all the plastic and styrefoam.

I built a shelf for the angled section in the back. Discovered making a 70* cut in short sections of 1x3 without a table saw can be interesting. Just need to cut a piece for the floor and maybe make a removable shelf for storage over carboys.

Now all my brewing supplies can be safely stored, and don't have to worry about a smack-pack accidentally being activated. And I'll be able to keep plenty of hops on hand.

So now it's plugged in to see if it actually works (after all the work on it is done).
Just have to build a temperature controller now. Maybe I'll be able to make a digital controller with external display.

Before the doors and shelving installed.

A freebie! That deserves a "WOO-HOO!"

And it works!

It was on 2 and the carboy I left in there (empty ) was pretty cold. I should probably put a thermometer in there.

Found schematics for a good controller, I just hope I can find the module.

Definately a WOO-HOO with a dancing banana.

Honestly, if you don't already have the materials or you're not just doing it for the fun of it, buying a controller is cheaper than making one.

http://www.automatedaquariums.com/ranco.htm

I should be able to put it together for far less than $50.
Plus building stuff is more fun than just buying it.
Plus I will be able to set it up so it shuts off normally, not by killing power to the entire unit. I can use the freezer as normal.
Plus this unit will also display max and min temps.
I can set it up with a batttery backup so a loss of power won't loose the temp settings.

That sounds pretty cool actually. Go for it.

Where'd you get the schematics?

I actually bought a garage fridge a month or two ago and have been lagering (well, fermenting and lagering) without a controller at all! It's on my list, but I found with ~15g of beer in the fridge it actually stays pretty stable wrt temperature. With just 5g it doesn't work nearly as well so it's not really a long-term solution.

Baron von BeeGee said:

I actually bought a garage fridge a month or two ago and have been lagering (well, fermenting and lagering) without a controller at all! It's on my list, but I found with ~15g of beer in the fridge it actually stays pretty stable wrt temperature. With just 5g it doesn't work nearly as well so it's not really a long-term solution.

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Huh? Don't understand your comments. The only reason you need a secondary controller is to override the internal unit. That way you can run the fridge at 50* for lager fermentation. Normal fridge controllers can't go much higher than 38* or so.

Mikey said:

Huh? Don't understand your comments. The only reason you need a secondary controller is to override the internal unit. That way you can run the fridge at 50* for lager fermentation. Normal fridge controllers can't go much higher than 38* or so.

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My fridge goes up to mid-50's no problem, however the controller in my fridge is either not very accurate or has a very large deadband. I'd like a controller to be able to set an accurate temperature without guessing what the number '3' on the thermostat dial means as well as have greater control over the deadband.

Clear?

Baron von BeeGee said:

Clear?

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Gotcha. I've never seen a 'stock' fridge that would control in to the 50s. None of mine will go above about 38.

How 'bout that!

Well, who knows how 'stock' it is (though not intentionally modified by the previous owners..). I picked it up for $75 used and it's not a very high-end model, but adequate for my purposes. It may be significantly trickier to control in the winter once the garage cools down.