carboy won't fit in freezer with airlock...

[NorthSide]

i recently bought a house and to my surprise the place came with a small stand-alone freezer in the basement. i immediately thought "now i can finally brew lagers!"... the only problem is that my carboy won't fit in the freezer with the airlock on. any ideas on how to get around this problem? could i use a blowoff tube for the entire lagering process? i'm not very handy, but i thought of removing the lid and building it taller with wood and some kind of insulation and then putting the lid back on top. any ideas?
thanks

 

[shelly_belly]

I found that I can get an extra carboy in the keezer on the hump if I put a piece of plastic (baggie) over the top of the carboy, loosely held on with a rubber band. I hardly even use airlocks anymore.

 

[kpr121]

Search for "keezer". Grab a beer or twelve, youre in for a lot of reading.

Edit: Keezers are NOT hard to install, I feel like anyone with even a little bit of DIY skill could do it.

 

[mjohnson]

Or skip the airlock and just use sanitized foil. Another idea would be to use a rubber bung with a hole drilled in it. Put some tubing in there into a glass of starsan. Kind if a mini blow off. Won't be good for out of control krausen, but it would let the excess gas out and might be more low profile.

 

[stat]

To fit my bucket in the mini fridge I stick a peice of 3/8" id tube into the grommet and then into a bottle of water. Low profile and works just fine. You could use a stopper with the same size hole on your carboy.

 

[wilserbrewer]

You could easily build a temporary freezer top out of a few layers of corrugated cardboard w/ a hole for the airlock.

or simply not use an airlock...airlocks are really suited for long term aging rather than active fermentation IMHO.

...a piece of plastic (baggie) over the top of the carboy, loosely held on with a rubber band. I hardly even use airlocks anymore.

 

[NorthSide]

thanks for the help. i will probably try the blowoff tube option and see how it fits. if not maybe the foil. a keezer would be ideal, but i gotta brew my oktoberfest soon.

 

[ihearthops]

These seem to work pretty well, and should also help out with your clearance issue. If you had a situation where you expected vigorous fermentation and wanted a blow-off, you could always fashion a carboy cap+vinyl tubing combo.

Vented Silicone Stopper

 

[ihearthops]

Just noticed NB was out of stock -- last I checked Williams Brewing has some available. Most Homebrew supply shops (online and local) seem to be carrying these now.

 

[NorthSide]

i've never seen an airlock like that. definitely an option for my setup. thanks!

 

[sudndeth]

I used a blow off while I was building my collar. Be careful though, my first time I had my entire star san blow off sucked into the carboy.

 

[surfingpl]

Better bottles are a little shorter than glass carboys. You can use one of those with a rubber stopper and a 90 degree elbow to a blow off tube. That will cut down the overall height by a few inches. That's how I fit a carboy into an igloo cube with the top totally closed.

 

[MBasile]

Problemo solved-o

http://morebeer.com/view_product/16646//Silicone_Stopper_Breathable_-_Carboy

edit: ihearhops beat me to it