Chest Freezer as Carboy cooler for fermenting?

I did a search and found a lot about using chest freezers to create keezers, but I can't find anything about them being good/bad as a place to keep my fermenting carboys cool.

I was thinking of getting a used chest freezer and put 2 fermenting carboys/buckets in. Connect an external Johnson temp control and set it to 65 degrees.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Good idea? Bad idea?

This swamp cooler thing isn't working for me....

muenchk said:

I did a search and found a lot about using chest freezers to create keezers, but I can't find anything about them being good/bad as a place to keep my fermenting carboys cool.

I was thinking of getting a used chest freezer and put 2 fermenting carboys/buckets in. Connect an external Johnson temp control and set it to 65 degrees.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Good idea? Bad idea?

This swamp cooler thing isn't working for me....

Click to expand...

I have a chest freezer with three carboys in it doing exactly that. Works great.

I have seen a few tours of peoples homebrewerys that use that same method. And now you can brew lagers!



-Nick

cool!

I've found a couple chest freezers on craigslist under $100. Then about $60 for the Johnson Temp control and I'm done, right?

I wonder though...that Johnson temp control essentially turns the freezer on and off to maintain the ideal temp. Doesn't that screw with the motor and dramatically reduce its life span?

muenchk said:

cool!

I've found a couple chest freezers on craigslist under $100. Then about $60 for the Johnson Temp control and I'm done, right?

I wonder though...that Johnson temp control essentially turns the freezer on and off to maintain the ideal temp. Doesn't that screw with the motor and dramatically reduce its life span?

Click to expand...

I wouldn't think so. I mean your average freezer turns on and off, right? It is controlled by a thermostat that will turn it on and off when it gets to a certain point. I doubt it is any different. It might be more suited for the temps it was meant to hold, and it might kick on a little more often, but I don't know that it'll do much harm.

This works fine.

I use mine simultaneously as a keezer and for lager ferments. Because I keep my beer around 48-50 it's perfect for fermenting too.

The only downside I can see is condensation. Freezers are meant to be frozen. So they will produce a lot of condensation at these warmer temps. It's not a big deal, just be meticulous about wiping them down or you can get some mold and such. Same problem for a keezer though.

Freezers work great as fermentation chambers.

You might want to consider getting a stand-up freezer instead of a chest freezer, depending on your circumstances and equipment. I use a stand-up freezer and I think it works better as a fermentation chamber:

1. Shorter height to lift the carboy.
2. Easier to see the sides of the carboy (I'm a bit of a voyeur during fermentation).
3. Easy access for pulling samples if you have a Better Bottle or other carboy with a spigot.

One argument against a stand-up freezer is that you lose the cold air when you open the door, but I don't believe this is much of an issue because the temperature of the air inside the freezer, even during a lager fermentation, is not very cold. Plus, the thermal mass of your fermenting beer is way larger than the air, so it won't significantly affect its temperature.

-Steve

How many carboys can you fit in a stand up freezer? Aren't they awfully heavy for those rather flimsy shelves?

muenchk said:

How many carboys can you fit in a stand up freezer? Aren't they awfully heavy for those rather flimsy shelves?

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I can fit two carboys easily. Check out my photos and comments in this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/better-fermenting-fridge-freezer-60102/

The carboys rest on the bottom of the freezer, not on the shelves.

-Steve

Another freezer user here... Chest freezer at that. 9cft from Sears. I fit 2 buckets/carboys/or one of each AND another 5 gallon bucket for short batches or cider.

Besides the lifting of the beer in and out of the freezer the only real draw back I've encountered here in So Cal is condensate. To battle that and keep it at bay I use Damp Rid.