primary cooling/mini frige OK?

[bobbrewster]

Hello all, I've been brewing my SNPA at <70F with success so far but my electric bill to keep my apartment that cool all the time in Oklahoma heat is outrageous. I've been finding some great deals on mini friges on craigslist but am concerned about several things... First: if I put my wort in there to ferment will the highest setting (i.e. "1" for most friges) be too cool for common ales (60F to 80F)? Second: do normal friges have any built in venting fans or anything for the bubbling gases from the airlock to escape from the frige? I'm sure you don't want all those gases being stagnate and building pressure in there. If the mini frige is a bad idea does anyone know of an alternate to central A/C that is cheap, easy and small? Thanks guys

 

[eriktlupus]

a mini fridge can work but 2 things. 1 is the minis don't have a high enough setting to maintain ale temps(they stay to cold) this is solved with a ranco or johnson temperature controller. these plug into the wall and then the fridge/freezer plug into it and they have a temp probe that you place into the fridge.

2 is tha most minifridges don't have the clearance to put a fermenting bucket or carboy into them so be careful of internal heights when buying. hence the recomendation that most people get an old freezer to ferment in in the hotter climes.

also have you tried an ice water bath for controlling temps? buy a 20g party bucket put the ferm in it and fill 3/4 full with water and wrap the ferm in towels. if this is not enough you can freeze 2L bottles of water and change them out every day

hope this helps

 

[ajwillys]

If you can find a mini fridge without a freezer, it should fit pretty easily. Look for the Sanyo 4912 or Oster OR5005M3M. The Sanyo definitely works (I do it) with a 7 gallon ale pail and I believe the oster would work too.

Of course like eriktlupus said, you will need a temperature controller to keep it that warm. The warmest my sanyo will go without the temp controller is 50.

 

[Choguy03]

http://www.coleparmer.com/catalog/product_view.asp?sku=9352000

+1 for the temp controller.

I think this is probably the cheapest digital temp controller I have seen around.

 

[bobbrewster]

Thanks a ton guys. I'll try the bath first then the frige. Oh, do mini friges vent the gases from the fermenting from the airlock? Or do I just open the door once a day to release the built up pressure and gases? Thanks, Rob

 

[The Blow Leprechaun]

Thanks a ton guys. I'll try the bath first then the frige. Oh, do mini friges vent the gases from the fermenting from the airlock? Or do I just open the door once a day to release the built up pressure and gases? Thanks, Rob

I wouldn't worry about the gases. Even if they don't vent, the worst that'll happen is it'll pop the door open. The resistance there is easily lower than anywhere else, you won't have anything catastrophic happen.

But the gas can probably escape anyway.

 

[malkore]

I've found that a water bath combined with wrapping a towel or t-shirt around the fermenter, and possibly adding a very small fan (or floor A/C vent if one is handy) will keep it under 70F.

the wicking/evaporative action of the cloth around the fermenter, accerlated by the A/C or small fan, REALLY cools it down compared to ambient room temperature.

Also look at the $10 fermenter cooler in my signature. My version is ghetto but its inspired several guys here to take it to the next step, either with a thin plywood box lined with insulation, or just a larger cardboard box (dishwasher boxes are great!).

 

[roth_nj]

have you thought about looking on craigslist or something for a cheap older full sized fridge? that way you wouldnt have any size issues and it may be able to run warm enough to not need any additional equipment... and you might be able to find something pretty cheap

 

[Cape Brewing]

The Craiglist way is a great way to go. I've done it twice and have two regular sized fridges that I use for fermentation. One was free and the other was $20... which was dumb of me to pay for since there are free ones in the Boston area almost every day.

You can spend a couple of bucks and buy a temp control (which I did) or just fiddle with the temp control built in to get the right temps you need.

The other big thing is I'm not sure you'll be able to lager things properly without a fridge/freezer. I have a Dopplebock in one of my fridges now. All I did was set the temp I needed (dropped it down a few degrees at the very beginning to compensate for the the initial vigorous activity and heat) and then adjusted all of my temps according to the schedule (50 degrees for four weeks, 65 for five days and then 36 for at least a month). I don't think you would be able to do this any other way... and like I was saying, you can get them for free.

Maybe you're electric bill will go up slightly but I certainly haven't noticed a jump in my bill.

And no, I've never had to vent any gases. I'm not sure any fridge is that air tight. You're certainly not going to build up any real pressure in the fridge.