Mini Fridge Fermentation Chamber Question

Hi all, I'm looking to get a mini fridge to use as a fermentation chamber for both lagering and making saisons etc. I live in a small apartment so don't have room to build a wooden chamber like the ones I've seen plans for, and would really just like to get a mini fridge big enough to fit one 5-6.5 gallon carboy.

Does anyone have any advice on how many cubic feet I'll need for that, and advice on the build? I figured I'd get a temp controller and then flatten the freezer to hang vertically and get a heat lamp or pad for the warmer brews.

Bring your fermenter to the frige store and try it out. I ended up with a 5 CF chest freezer. Its a lot easier (IMHO) to load the bucket vertically than slide it in sideways. If you're shaving space, make sure you include the height of your airlock and space for a blowoff container. If I was doing it again I'd size my chamber for 2 buckets, as I now occasionally do 10 gallon batches.

william_shakes_beer said:

Bring your fermenter to the frige store and try it out. I ended up with a 5 CF chest freezer. Its a lot easier (IMHO) to load the bucket vertically than slide it in sideways. If you're shaving space, make sure you include the height of your airlock and space for a blowoff container. If I was doing it again I'd size my chamber for 2 buckets, as I now occasionally do 10 gallon batches.

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Thanks for the advice! Anyone else have any suggestions or ideas about wiring it?

I have this exact same question, anyone know a fridge you can just throw a 6 gallon better bottle with dry trap in?

I have a Magic Chef Mini Fridge-the Stainless Steel kind which has a larger interior, I am able to lager with a 6.5 Better Bottle, without removing the freezer compartment and also ferment with a S-type airlock. I can get it down to as low as 38° (largering phase) and as high as 48° for cold fermenting without a temp controller. I am thinking of getting one so that I can control the temps but I am very happy with this setup.
The only modification I did was take the shelf off the door and unscrew the fridges temperature controller, it just hangs freely, doesn't get in the way.
I even have room for washed yeast and bottles of beer.

Nice, I got impatient and I ordered this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002MPLYEW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Danby DBC120BLS Beverage Center

I had to spin the light from the middle to the side, just unscrewed 2 screws and left the third screw in and spun it, put some electrical tape on the wires and screw holes. Works great and I love that I can see inside of it without opening it.

fizgig said:

Nice, I got impatient and I ordered this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002MPLYEW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Danby DBC120BLS Beverage Center

I had to spin the light from the middle to the side, just unscrewed 2 screws and left the third screw in and spun it, put some electrical tape on the wires and screw holes. Works great and I love that I can see inside of it without opening it.

Click to expand...

Hey,

Any updates or pics? I was looking to buy this unit but was unsure of the noise level, any feedback is appreciated.

Wine Fridge FTW. Check CL- people buy them thinking they'll use them, never do, and then sell them for nothing. Bought mine and built and STC controller for under $100, and it fits 6.5 gal carboys or 6 gal buckets with ease. It also took no internal modifications, and the glass door makes it super easy to monitor fermentation.
All that for a comparable price and equal footprint to a mini fridge.

brewseeker said:

Hey,

Any updates or pics? I was looking to buy this unit but was unsure of the noise level, any feedback is appreciated.

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Just saw this, I'm at work and these are the only relevant pics I could find. I keep it in the basement but it seems pretty quiet. I made an STC-1000 temp controller box. You can see in the one where I unscrewed the light, and turned it to the side. I taped over the holes with electrical tape, it worked well, you can hardly tell it's altered..

http://imgur.com/a/92E5W