Finally got my fermenting chamber!

[BrewinBromanite]

After months of unsuccessfully searching the local craigslist ads, I finally stumbled upon my new fermenting chamber! A restaurant/bar not too far from me went out of business, and I picked up an old Beverage Air cooler - for $50! It also fits four 5-6 gal carboys or buckets quite comfortably, which exceeds my expectations, since I have been hunting 7 cu ft chest freezers, which only hold 2 fermenters. The thing is pretty beat up, could use better seals, is a little smelly, and needs a good scrubbing, but I'm stoked. :rockin: I let it run for a couple days to see what it would do, and it got plenty cold (down to 25 degrees or so with no problems). Just need to get a temp controller, and I'll be putting it to use within a couple weeks, along with my 2 new 42 qt aluminum bayou classic pots ($54 a pop on Amazon), and a bayou classic double burner for my first set of all grain batches (I always do 2 brews side by side).

After searching a little more, it looks like its intended purpose is a school milk carton cooler, but fermenting beer definitely seems like a better use!! After all - beer is liquid bread - and it's good for you!!

Up until now, my bro-in-law has been nice enough to run his entire upstairs (which is not a small space) at a nice cool temp for ales, along with taking up a guest bathtub as our swamp-cooler setup. Hopefully this beast will at least be more energy efficient than cooling his whole 2nd story for the better of 2 weeks at a time. It's not hard to maintain 60-65 deg. ambient temp in the winter in TX, but summer is a bit different.

Cheers to more toys and happy brewing!

 

[scratchy1971]

Nice score man. Looks like the perfect shape and size for a chamber.

 

[BrewinBromanite]

Thanks! I was actually a little skeptical of how cold it would get, and of the height inside, but apparently my eye-balling skills need improving. Plenty of room for 4 fermenters, and pretty compact overall. I had to buy it regardless for the price. At the worst, I would've used it to store beer or convert into a keezer down the road - which are worthy purposes themselves!