show us all your fermentation closets/chambers here

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bluehouse

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I think it would be a good idea if everyone put a photo of or a link to every fermentation closet/room/chamber post on the forum in one spot. I noticed someone recently looking to frame in a fermentation closet into their garage with an added ac unit. I remeber seeing a few picutred on the thread before but when I search, can't seem to find. So if everyone who has one would post here, we could see a variety of types, sizes, ideas all in one place. You don't have to have photos from the entire build or a tutorial or anything just a basic photo so we call all benefit from previous ideas.
 
My ferm closet

Give me a break, I'm a starving college student. That cabinet just happens to be naturally well-insulated without any extra effort from moi... which is nice, because effort sucks.
 
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Full story here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/4-6-cu-ft-fridge-10-1-cu-ft-fermentation-chamber-conversion-88554/
 
My obsolete fermentation setup.

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Sliding door for process samples
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Cheers,
ClaudiusB
 
Because of the difference between the ambient temperature in the fermentation chamber and the actual wort temperature, it's probably best to have a seperate chamber for each batch. It would also be nice to have an ale and lager going at the same time. I'd love to find another mini fridge, but so far only have this one.

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Thanks for keeping this going guys still looking for the person who had the little fermentation room added into his or her garage. Plus all the other ideas that are here, shows that anyone ca have one in any space large or small with enough imagination.
 
Ok, here's mine...

This is a modified SOF chiller in an uninsulated space under the steps in the basement. In the winter it stays around 50F in here, so I use heating pads to raise temps when needed. It's only really used in the winter, and is most used for aging.

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Here is a small fridge in the garage, I generally only use this in the summer when it's warmer than my ferm temp.

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Here is a modified shelf in the corner of the garage. It holds 5-6 carboys and is what I primarily use. There is a heater a fan and an A/C to control temps.

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This is just a shot of the outside. (Not sure why the insulation is exposed in this picture, must have been a build pic.)

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i can barely fit my arm into my fridge to get a beer out. one of these days i'll just take the door off and fit it to the box.
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powerd by dell
 
Thanks for the new posts, new ideas. Looking at a ferm closet/cool room for my garage. Not going for cold room temps just ferm temps so I can brew through the summer in Texas. I am sure there are many other southern state brewers that are looking at the same issues. All your ideas are helpful. I have a question.
For those of you who installed window units inside the garage or basement that are not vented to the outside does the increased heat produced from the window unit cause a problem for you?
 
I live in Florida bluehouse so I have a similar problem. Right now I just put 'em in a bathtub with water about 1/4 of the way up the carboy and put frozen water bottles in it. I only do that during the early part of fermentation though...once that part is done (just a few days) I just let them sit at room temp for the remainder. It's really just the early part of fermentation that matters most...after 3 days or so it's pretty much done and the higher temp can actually help it finish and clean-up. At least...that's my justification.:D
 
Mini-fridge on the left:

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Using an analog Johnson control now, will switch to a dual temp Ranco for winter, and add a small space heater inside the chamber.
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This cold box is still in the building stage, just like my profile here, but my buddies and I are building a cold box/chilled conical combo. It will be cooled with an A/C glycol chiller.

Like I said it is still in the infancy stage but check it out and I hope someone can gain some ideas from it.

I have posted some pics of the build.

Homebrew Project
 
there are several threads loaded with good info on this kind of project already, but I just got around to loading up my images of my recent fermentation chamber build, so here they are. Unfortunately I was in too much of a hurry to take pictures along the way, so I just have the finished product.

Inside dimensions are 45"W x 30"H x 24"D. I used 2x4 and 2x2 framework to house the 1.5" blueboard Styrofoam so that it is flush to the frame. I skinned the frame on the outside with 1/4" luan and some leftover composite (masonite) paneling. I skinned the inside with flexible rubber shower wall liner material from Lowes, and sealed it all up with caulk so it can be easily cleaned etc.

I work with this kind of styrofoam a lot so I am very familiar with how it behaves. to cut it you can use just about anything you want, a razor knife with a sharp blade works fine. I prefer the snap blade knives because the blades are easy to replace and they can be extended so they are longer than the material is thick.

I also frequently use a band saw to cut this material, and have run it through the table saw with no problems as well. I have also used hot (electrified) wire cutters, and angle grinders to shape this material (not that you need them for building a box from it)

The best adhesive for Styrofoam board is 3M Super 77 spray adhesive applied evenly to both surfaces allowed to dry until they are tacky, then align the pieces and press firmly (be sure you get it right because it can be hard to undo). This is a very strong bond, but I'm not sure I would rely on it to hold edges together without some other kind of structure. when adhering to another flat, porous, surface this bond will be very strong. layers of the foam can be laminated together this way too.

For cooling I originally tried an small thermoelectric fridge...which sucked, so I went to Best Buy to look at better refrigerators and I happened to notice a Frigidaire 5000 btu air conditioner (model #FAX054P7a) for about the same price. It is very compact and has a built in thermostat that actually regulates temperature based on degrees, as opposed to a blind "cooler/warmer" knob. This eliminates the need for a separate Johnson or Ranco controller for keeping things at ale temperatures.The downside is that the lowest the thermostat goes is 60 deg F, so its no good for lagering unless the thermostat can be overridden.
Since I am using this fermentation chamber primarily for ales (combating the Florida heat) this suited me fine.

So far it works great, and it sure beats having my carboys in buckets with ice packs in the kitchen....SWMBO agrees

http://ironpour.com/Images/misc/ferm...hamber 001.jpg
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__________________
 
Lots of good stuff here, thanks for all the replies, keep them coming.
 
This box is still very much a work in progress but it will eventually be cooled with a glycol chilled radiator. Check it's progress out on our blog.




Homebrew Project

Input is more than welcome.

:ban:
 
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