Should I convert my fridge to kegerator ???

[Foureyes2020]

hey guys,

I’m new to brewing my own brews. Recently bought the 3ga BIAB kit from Northern Brewers. It’s currently fermenting, and I’ve done about three other batches from my one gallon starter kit. Really enjoying the process up to this point. I was a Chemistry major in college and this has always peaked my interest.

Anyways, I currently have a spare refrigerator in my garage that is not being used. It the standard size with a freezer in the top. While I’m currently bottling my own beer I thought that I might want to convert my spare fridge to a kegerator. But I’ve also heard about others using a spare fridge as a fermentation chamber after purchasing a temperature control module.

Which would you recommend? Can you do both?

Currently I’m storing my fermenter in my basement which during these hot summer days stays at a steady 69-70 degrees. Currently using yeast that requires 65-75 degrees.

Thanks for any input and ideas. Thanks in advance!

 

[GoeHaarden]

That's a decision only you can make. I don't think there is a way to use it for both, unless you want to serve beer at fermentation temps!?

I will say that controlling fermentation temps can have a dramatic impact on your final product. That's my vote.

 

[Kent88]

I don't have to read past the subject/title.

Yes.

 

[kh54s10]

I read past the title and suggest fermentation temperature control. If you can do that and make the kegerator all the better. But 70 degrees ambient can allow the fermentation to rise as high as 80 - not great! Fermentation temperature control is one of the easiest things to do to make your beers better.

 

[GPP33]

Ferm Chamber first. Once you get sick of bottling buy a chest freezer and make a keezer. Way more steezy than a kegerator.

 

[Jtk78]

For now, buy a temp controller and use it for a fermentation chamber. If there comes a time you get sick of bottling (some people don't mind, a lot people do) figure out if you're going to use this fridge to serve out of or keep it a fermentation chamber.

A lot of us use a chest freezer for one solution. There are dorm fridges large enough to hold carboys. It will depend on your space. But I'd get those fermentation temps under control first.

 

[IslandLizard]

I read past the title, but it's obvious to me: Kegerator!

Although somewhat depending on your coolest ambient temps, you can easily control fermentation temps using a large cooler or a large plastic tote filled with water and a few frozen water bottles to serve as a water jacket (heat sink) around your fermentor. Wrap the rig with a sleeping bag to keep the cold in. Use your fridge as a kegerator. No more bottling, except for those very few that benefit.

In those cases where you desperately need to cold crash, either pour really cold beer* or remove your serving kegs from the fridge for a couple days while your fermentor is crashing. Or fill said cooler with ice.

*There are a few ways around that too.

 

[Brewers Hardware]

I would make a fermentation chamber first. Usually the biggest factor in consistency and making better beer is being able to control fermentation temperature. I do hate bottling and having a kegerator is friggen awesome, but being able to ferment at whatever temperature you want is pretty great too.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Don't need to read past the title. Kegerator, all the way. You can make fine ales under 70 degrees. When you want to delve into lagers you can do a ferm chamber.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

There you have it. The answer should be clear as mud as the forum has spoken and we are unanimously split.

 

[Numsquat]

My vote would be for temp controlled fermenter. I would rather have better beer than a kegerator. This is coming from someone who built a fridge kegerator (fridge on top/freezer on bottom. held 4 kegs plus 20lb CO2 so had 2 taps and could carb 2 kegs at the same time while serving 2 plus kept frozen hops in the freezer). Temp controlled fermentation though is more important for better beer.

Plus you can ferment great beer and decide what kind of kegerator you want in the near or distant future. I have built 5 different kegerators using fridges, deep freezes, and dorm fridges but have sold sold 4 of them as I keep going back to one which has always fit my needs.

Kegging is so much better than bottling, plus if you keg you can still bottle or bottle from the keg, best of both worlds.

 

[IslandLizard]

There you have it. The answer should be clear as mud as the forum has spoken and we are unanimously split.

I've seen so many bogus, meaningless, and useless polls over the years, but this would have made a truly great one!

Instead of a "hollow" vote, what I really enjoy is reading the different opinions and reasoning on either option. That's what any user (OP) should go by, not just sheer vote count but the logic behind each of the options and apply that to his/her case.

Since the OP seems to brew smaller batches right now (1 gallon, 3 gallon?), ferm control in a water bath in a cool area (basement) is very simple. I often use a large, water filled cooler that fits 2 6.5 gallon brew buckets in my lower level bathroom instead of my ferm fridge. Especially in winter.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

I've seen so many bogus, meaningless, and useless polls over the years, but this would have made a truly great one!

Instead of a "hollow" vote, what I really enjoy is reading the different opinions and reasoning on either option. That's what any user (OP) should go by, not just sheer vote count but the logic behind each of the options and apply that to his/her case.

Since the OP seems to brew smaller batches right now (1 gallon, 3 gallon?), ferm control in a water bath in a cool area (basement) is very simple. I often use a large, water filled cooler that fits 2 6.5 gallon brew buckets in my lower level bathroom instead of my ferm fridge. Especially in winter.

Wholeheartedly agree. I really wanted this to be a poll. I also like how the votes are cast based on personal experience. I live in the Pacific Northwest. It doesn't get hot here and my garage, at the time, never got above 70 during the summer so I didn't need temperature control. Perfect for ales. So, I went with a kegerator first. As I got more experienced and wanted to make different styles of beer, the need for temperature control increased as well.

I'm afraid that if I had to continue bottling it would have been the end to a very short career in home brewing. However, if I could not have maintained ale temps a ferm chamber would have probably come first.

 

[BarleyStanding]

I had the same decision to make about 4 years ago and went with kegerator, mainly because I hate all the work of bottling.There are a number of ways to control fermentation temperature. I used to put my fermenter in a big red tub, fill with water, and then keep cool with frozen bottles of water. You do get some temp. fluctuation, but I got it down to where I could keep the bath between 62-66 in a garage that regularly reached 90-100 during the summer. Now I have a PID controlled freezer for fermenting; it's a wonderful thing.

 

[bleme]

I bought a side-by-side for $100 and used the fridge side to ferment in.
Unfortunately, I wasn't brewing enough and the fridge was left empty for chunks at a time.
One day, I really needed some freezer space so I plugged that fridge in and put whatever it was in the freezer. When I needed to ferment, I'd have to rearrange all my freezer space to empty that out so I could use it as a fermentation chamber again. This discouraged me from brewing even more!

Then one day, someone gave me a small chest freezer. Woohoo! I could use that to ferment in, use the side-by-side for a kegerator, and keep the extra freezer space!

Then I went to Alaska and brought back a LOT of salmon and halibut, so the chest freezer filled up. Fortunately, my wife had picked up a kegerator at a yard sale in the meantime. I'd had her grab it mostly for the CO2 tank and regulator but now it makes a fine fermentation chamber.

The moral of this story is that if I had to choose, I'd go with a fermentation chamber but if it is at all possible, do both.

 

[murphyslaw]

What's more annoying to you, bottling day or monitoring temp by swapping out ice in a bath for two to three weeks?

I did the kegerator first. My advice to others is to do the fermentation chamber first. But either way, you'll be happier.

 

[Snarkley]

Kegerator for the fridge and chest freezer for controlled fermentation temps. This has really upped the quality of my HomeBrewing. I keep glasses and hops in the overhead freezer. It’s so nice to pull a draft into a frozen glass.

 

[scottkist]

I Have been looking at getting a mini fridge too to use as a kegerator but realized I probably would get more benefit by putting a temperature regulator on it so I could use it for multiple purposes. I figure you can always have a temporary tap setup inside the fridge. kind of like this

 

[lablover]

Since you say it is a standard fridge with a freezer on top, I'd use is as a kegerator. Getting away from bottling will make brewing so much more enjoyable. And, if you keep it as a standard fridge, the freezer can be used to store hops and other foods that need to be frozen. Temperature control can be done with a small fridge or some ofther cheap method. You'll love having draft beer on tap!

 

[NickTheGreat]

It depends. Do you need a ferm chamber? In my setup, and in my climate, my basement stays farily cool. Cool enough for ales, at least. So I turned my old fridge into a kegerator.

But if you're needing to control your fermentation temps, do that.

I just bought a mini frige for something in the house, and will turn it into a ferm chamber once we're done with it. It was $150 brand new at Home Depot. You could probably find a used one for much less.

So maybe the answer should be one of each :

 

[Tbagger]

I would recommend going with a fermentation fridge and getting a keezer later on.

For less than $40 you can improve your beer quality, make any style of beer you want year round, and easily replicate your successful recipes with the same temp schedules.

As for making a kegerator/keezer, the initial cost can be quite high. The fridge/freezer is only a small portion of the cost. You will need faucets, shanks, lines, connectors, manifolds, a co2 tank, a regulator, and kegs. All of which can be very expensive even if you buy them used. And the only real benefit is that you don’t have to bottle.

Don’t get me wrong, I love kegging and will never go back to bottling, but if given the choice between higher quality beer without the hassle of changing out ice packs a few times a day or more convenience on packaging day, I’ll take the former.

If you do go with a fermentation fridge, I would also recommend slowly acquiring the gear for a keezer. You can find great deals on stuff if you are patient and then you will have the best of both worlds.

 

[jaymosbeershack]

You can use the same fridge for both, but it takes some building. I have kegs in the fridge portion, and i built a glycol pump with a copper wrap for regulating fermentation temp in the freezer compartment.