jstuts2260
Well-Known Member
I have been planning doing this build for quite a while. A huge thank you to the plethora of people on here that gave me the inspiration. It was inspired by my dorm fridge I was using as a fermentation chamber breaking. Once that happened, I got the approval from SWMOB to create The Fermatorium (a little shout out to Modern Times in San Diego).
So here's what I wanted:
- Replace the lager fridge that broke
- Incorporate my kegerator into the total build
- Build two chambers, one being the lager chamber and the second being the ale chamber
- Build a bar on top to make it look nice
- Incorporate storage into the total concept so my wife gets all of my beer glasses out of the kitchen
- Make my wife happy because I cleaned up the mess that was my basement fermentation/kegerator area (yes I actually got brownie points for doing this!)
Heres a nice picture of the Before:
First things first, I needed to find a way to make this all work. As I mentioned, I researched and found out I needed to get a freezer to make sure I could provide lagering/cold crashing temps. I found this freezer on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MMRFRRK/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
After that I measured out the dimensions of my fermenters (60 liter Speidel Fermenters) as well as my 2 tap home made Danby Kegerator. Once I had those measurements I framed out the base.
Now the fun part Cutting and installing all of the insulation. I used the 1 pink insulation from Home Depot. After about 3 hours of cutting pieces to size, taping them in with metal tape, and cutting my hands a bunch I was finally done. I slid in the kegerator to make sure my measurements werent completely off and called it a night.
After much research I decided to go with the new Ohmbrew Fermostats to control my temperature. I know I could have gone with cheaper options, but I like the control of being able to program my fermentation schedules. Ive been using them for a few beers now and I couldnt be happier!
Now that I had the Lager Chamber ready to roll, it was time to brew my Rye IPA and try this sucka out! Here's a pic of the Brew Rig.
Well It held temperature pretty well but oh my god there was so much condensation from all of the seams. Bright side I was able to hook up my hose from the Co2 tank and transfer the IPA into the keg without moving the fermenter. No moving you fermenter = clean transfer and a happy back.
After a few weeks of being busy with work and a nice long California vacation (hit 15 breweries in 10 days) I was back at it. Now it was time to get the storage above the chamber figured out. The wife suggested we get something nice so we went to Ikea (I was just going to build something myself it was a good call to listen to her).
On a side note because the Speidel fermenters are so large I can also fit 4 corny kegs in this bad boy! Which means I can chill my kegs to 35 degrees and carbonate boo yah!
Another few weeks later, I finally got around to doing the bar top. I decided to go with traditional redwood flooring from Home Depot. It took some time and effort, but they really turned out nice. Oh and I got a 19 drip tray from a local brewing supplies store. And it has a drain spout! Filling growlers is super easy now. All excess beer just gets dumped down the spout to a bucket. Its beautifully simple.
Since my last brew, I used the foam spray stuff from Home Depot and sealed up every possible air gap in this thing. It took some time but now my two chambers dont leak at all. No more condensation and near flawless temperature control (.5 degree variable programed on the Fermostat).
The next thing I need to do is figure out how to keep the darn doors shut. Because of the insulation and tape they wont stay closed without something sitting in front of them. It must be nice to know a finishing carpenter but I do not. Oh well, at least I can brew beer!
So here's what I wanted:
- Replace the lager fridge that broke
- Incorporate my kegerator into the total build
- Build two chambers, one being the lager chamber and the second being the ale chamber
- Build a bar on top to make it look nice
- Incorporate storage into the total concept so my wife gets all of my beer glasses out of the kitchen
- Make my wife happy because I cleaned up the mess that was my basement fermentation/kegerator area (yes I actually got brownie points for doing this!)
Heres a nice picture of the Before:
First things first, I needed to find a way to make this all work. As I mentioned, I researched and found out I needed to get a freezer to make sure I could provide lagering/cold crashing temps. I found this freezer on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MMRFRRK/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
After that I measured out the dimensions of my fermenters (60 liter Speidel Fermenters) as well as my 2 tap home made Danby Kegerator. Once I had those measurements I framed out the base.
Now the fun part Cutting and installing all of the insulation. I used the 1 pink insulation from Home Depot. After about 3 hours of cutting pieces to size, taping them in with metal tape, and cutting my hands a bunch I was finally done. I slid in the kegerator to make sure my measurements werent completely off and called it a night.
After much research I decided to go with the new Ohmbrew Fermostats to control my temperature. I know I could have gone with cheaper options, but I like the control of being able to program my fermentation schedules. Ive been using them for a few beers now and I couldnt be happier!
Now that I had the Lager Chamber ready to roll, it was time to brew my Rye IPA and try this sucka out! Here's a pic of the Brew Rig.
Well It held temperature pretty well but oh my god there was so much condensation from all of the seams. Bright side I was able to hook up my hose from the Co2 tank and transfer the IPA into the keg without moving the fermenter. No moving you fermenter = clean transfer and a happy back.
After a few weeks of being busy with work and a nice long California vacation (hit 15 breweries in 10 days) I was back at it. Now it was time to get the storage above the chamber figured out. The wife suggested we get something nice so we went to Ikea (I was just going to build something myself it was a good call to listen to her).
On a side note because the Speidel fermenters are so large I can also fit 4 corny kegs in this bad boy! Which means I can chill my kegs to 35 degrees and carbonate boo yah!
Another few weeks later, I finally got around to doing the bar top. I decided to go with traditional redwood flooring from Home Depot. It took some time and effort, but they really turned out nice. Oh and I got a 19 drip tray from a local brewing supplies store. And it has a drain spout! Filling growlers is super easy now. All excess beer just gets dumped down the spout to a bucket. Its beautifully simple.
Since my last brew, I used the foam spray stuff from Home Depot and sealed up every possible air gap in this thing. It took some time but now my two chambers dont leak at all. No more condensation and near flawless temperature control (.5 degree variable programed on the Fermostat).
The next thing I need to do is figure out how to keep the darn doors shut. Because of the insulation and tape they wont stay closed without something sitting in front of them. It must be nice to know a finishing carpenter but I do not. Oh well, at least I can brew beer!
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