Fermenting in Mini Refrigerator

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Scut_Monkey

Scut_Monkey

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I was wondering from those of you out there that ferment 6gal carboys or buckets in a mini fridge, what size is the fridge. Is it approximately 4.5cubic feet or bigger/smaller. Are there certain brands or models that are know to work very well for this purpose. I'm searching craigslist and I don't want to waste my time looking for ones where the contour such as a ledge on the bottom won't allow me to fit a bucket or carboy. Thanks.
 
If you want to use a mini fridge, the only option is really 6cu.ft. and above because of the ledge. You'd have to build some kind of platform, and more than likely remove the freezer, but it should work. I use a 4.3 for two kegs, but those are a lot thinner than a carboy or bucket.
 
As far as I know, you can't remove the freezer in most mini fridges because of the coolant lines running through. What I did was cut the shelves off of the door of my mini fridge so that the door could close with the 6 gallon carboy in it. Make sure first that there aren't any internals (wires, coolant lines) running through the door.

The only reason I did this was because I'm the only one in the house that ever uses the mini fridge, and I never used any of the shelves on the door.

I cut the shelves off rather than removing the whole door panel, because without the panel, the rubber gasket did not seal properly.
 
MBasile said:
As far as I know, you can't remove the freezer in most mini fridges because of the coolant lines running through. What I did was cut the shelves off of the door of my mini fridge so that the door could close with the 6 gallon carboy in it. Make sure first that there aren't any internals (wires, coolant lines) running through the door.

The only reason I did this was because I'm the only one in the house that ever uses the mini fridge, and I never used any of the shelves on the door.

I cut the shelves off rather than removing the whole door panel, because without the panel, the rubber gasket did not seal properly.
Click to expand...

Do you remember what size your mini fridge was. An approximation is fine just trying to figure out how much I need to spend and what size I need.
 
No clue on the size since its many years old, but I'll look tomorrow.
 
I was given an almost new 4.5cf fridge. It won't hold a BB or keg as is, but I am adding a foam box to make it hold a couple of 6 gallon Better Bottles, or some kegs and 5 gallon bottles.
 
You can fit kegs in most mini fridges above 4.3cu.ft. As talked about above, you need to cut the shelves off of the door. Also, the freezer can't be really removed, but it can be folded down and out of the way. You can move the coolant lines, you just can't bend them.
 

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