Fermentation Chamber Idea

I have been reading a lot about turning a mini fridge into a fermentation chamber in order to ferment more then just 1 ale / lager at a time. I have seen many of them that can hold multiple carboys at the same temp, but that got me thinking.

The only problem I can for see is what if I want to use my temp controlled fridge for multiple brews but I have a stubborn lager in there for a few months?

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The idea would be that I could do any combination of ales/lagers at the same time up to 3. Lets say you wanted to lager 2 beer, and ferment 1 ale. One love controller would be connected to 2 computer fans and the mini fridge itself set to lager temps. When the temp in the compartment drops, the mini fridge turns on and the computer fans kick cold air into each of the chambers. The second love controller is hooked into the ale compartment. When that temp drops, it just blows cold air into the compartment keeping it at mid 60's.

Anyone have any idea about the possibility of keeping these temps stable? Any flaws in my plan?

I think it may work, but you would have unstable temps in the regular area. Even if the fan is not on, cold air will still get through and it may be colder then you would like. But if you individually insulate each compartment it may just work. Only one way to find out, right? Good luck.

Well I was going to use that middle chamber for a cold air exchange, nothing more. And yes, I was going to insulate each chamber individually. Thanks for the feedback!

are there any computer fans with shutters built in? kind of like an attic fan, that open when air flows, but gravity pulls them shut when the fan turns off...

OOO, good idea, i will look around.

Do you think that the non moving air will effect it that much?

I was going to hook the big fan up to the fridge temp controller so that it would only kick on when the fridge does.

I think it could be done, but it will require a lot of tuning and trial and error with different size fans, holes, timing, etc. to get it working properly. Also, have you considered a more serial arrangement? That is to say lining the chambers up in a row from coldest to warmest, coming from the fridge with dividers and thermostat-controlled fans between each, such as the one Deathweed put together.

SporkD2 said:

OOO, good idea, i will look around.

Do you think that the non moving air will effect it that much?

I was going to hook the big fan up to the fridge temp controller so that it would only kick on when the fridge does.

Click to expand...

Well, if you have air masses of different temps, they won't be non-moving. Convection of air masses will work to move the colder air towards the warmer stuff every time. If the temp differences between chambers is not big, it might not matter much, but you'll never keep ale temp with an essentially open hole to a fridge temp air mass.

Where are you blowing the air too? Any returns in this system. Running a fan to blow air into into a sealed box wont really do much. Where is the air that's in there gonna go? You would have to have a way to vent the warmer air out or back towards the fridge.

one thing you need to remember is that air will by itself move to equalize temps. If it is at the same level and your heat exchange area is 40deg ,your ferment temp area is 50deg air will slowly flow into to 40deg from the 50 and that will happen in all your areas in both directions without the fan.


this can be prevented by adding a piece of plastic over the fan inside the chamber the fan will blow hard enough to lift it up. then with the fan stops the plastic will seal the hole and the air pressure will not be enough to open it.