Fermentation Chambers

DIY Fermentation Chambers plans are very easy to find on the internet and some are easer to follow than others. while i applaud those of you who have the equipment, know how, and inclination to build your own, i sadly do not. you would think with all the home brewers all over the world some company somewhere would come up with a ready made chamber that you could just plug in and use or at the very least a kit with all the parts and recommendations on refrigerator models to use. but so far my goggle searches have come up with only DIY projects.

ideally the fermentation chamber would be a perfectly normal mini-fridge with no modifications to fit a carboy and use a temperature controller. i know this is unrealistic. for one the door shelves need to be removed and most have a "freezer" unit that would need to come out. not to mention many mini-fridges have an annoying shelf in the back where the compressor is making the bottom way to weak to support a full carboy.

The chest freezer with external temp controller is the obvious answer.

true ... just have to measure to make sure its big enough on the inside.

You make a good point. I would pay for a turnkey fermentation chamber.

Right now I have a swamp-cooler style setup and I hate it. I am in the works of putting together my final setup. I am going for a single "unit fermentor". Each fermentor unit will consist of a nuCool 2.8 cu.ft. fridge, a dual stage temp controller, and a heating pad.

This setup provides heat for winter ales and cold for summer ales and lagering. And with only one fermentor per unit you can have multiple units at different temps (which is the downside of a single freezer/fridge for multiple carboys). The cost is about 300$ per "fermentor unit", but the compact size and ease of use makes it a pretty reasonable cost.

Having said that I am sure it should be possible to productize a carboy sized fridge with a real compressor (instead of the thermoelectric nuCool) integrated with a heating pad and temp controller for less than 300$.

This is what you want, right here:

http://morebeer.com/view_product/10776//14_Gallon_Conical_Fermenter_-_Heated_and_Cooled

Heating and cooling all in one package. And it's on sale.

StunnedMonkey said:

This is what you want, right here:

http://morebeer.com/view_product/10776//14_Gallon_Conical_Fermenter_-_Heated_and_Cooled

Heating and cooling all in one package. And it's on sale.

Click to expand...

lol yea but the $1749.95 price tag is a little beyond my current price range. other than that its exactly what i want.

I don't think there's anything out there because it's so easy to jerryrig something up.

I have a fridge I got on craigslist for 50 bucks and a ranco controller for another 50 bucks. all I had to do was remove the shelves and the freezer shelf. it fits tight in there but works.

if you need a pic let me know

elmetal said:

I have a fridge I got on craigslist for 50 bucks and a ranco controller for another 50 bucks. all I had to do was remove the shelves and the freezer shelf. it fits tight in there but works.

if you need a pic let me know

Click to expand...

what make and model of fridge is it? ... and yes please show some pics.

StunnedMonkey said:

This is what you want, right here:

http://morebeer.com/view_product/10776//14_Gallon_Conical_Fermenter_-_Heated_and_Cooled

Heating and cooling all in one package. And it's on sale.

Click to expand...

ill trade one of my kidneys for one of those