38DD Mother of a fermentation cooler finishing questions.

Hi, Since my apartment in Quebec City is as hot as lucifers own buttcrack this time of the year, I will likely end up with a green apple festival in my english ales. Bummer..

So I was thinking, anyone has ever used the 38DD Mother of a fermentation cooler thing? http://www.wortomatic.com/articles/38DD-Mother-of-a-Fermentation-Chiller

I really would like to keep it 68-71f year round, to get a great "this stuff is from the British Isles straight."

Is mildew and condensation a problem in it? How do you deal with it?

I would like to use Oak boards to make it look cute and structurally sound, with some moulding to trim it up, make it pretty. Would ice be a problem or would membrane be enough to keep humidity in?

 

Pretty cool looking. Do you have an access to used chest freezers up there? You can likely get one about the same price as the SOF will cost to build.

 

I just built a SOFC per spec. I've had an ale fermenting at 65 in my closet of 75-80f. It's doing what it's meant to do quite well. Humidity in my house runs in the low 40's typically.

There is a fair amount of condensation inside the cooler, as well as directly under it. I will need to put it up on risers to let air circulate and prevent damage to my laminate floor.
Based on what I've seen, I would expect shrouding it in wood to be problematic at some point.

 

I would have like to go with the MoFC out of a space question, according to the plan this thing takes up a rather small space not much bigger than two carboys + insulation all around (I planned on making it a bit smaller since I only have 6.5 gallon carboys)

I planned on putting the fermenter on wheels like I saw some guys do, making it mobile and aerated underneath.

 

Its definitely doable. I'm building a fermentation chamber right now, although I'm using the guts from a dorm fridge for the cooling so I don't have to mess with constantly replacing ice. Mine is a 2x4 frame, skinned in 1/8" plywood, and then fitted with 2" of foam board insulation on the sides, and 3.5" of foam board insulation on the top and bottom. I also used a piece of 3/4" birch plywood for the surface, which I will seal well and use as a worktop for beer related needs.

 

Would 1/4 Panels be strong enough to make the box, or should I bump it up to 1/2 inch ?

 

If you intend to shroud a frame that you can attach to, yes, otherwise you'll need something thick enough to shoot brads into without splitting. 1/2" would be a minimum for that IMO. You'll also need dead straight cuts/square and lots of big bar clamps.

 

I think I am going to go for 1/2 panels then, as I don't really want to build a frame, I intended the box to be it's own frame. I will probably use select Fir or something so it's pleasing to look at and just drill guide holes and then use 1.5 inch woodscrews to keep everything snug.

 

Sounds good. If you can, use wood glue and clamp it square. It will be much stronger that way.

 

Screws + glue or glue only?

 

Both. It's best to work one section at a time, glue, clamp tight and true/square, then run your screws in. Drilling pilot holes is a great idea. It's easy to split the edge grain...one split and the whole cut is ruined.

 

Sounds good, I'll post a pictorial once I get to building it. With summer ending, it's not a real need until summertime anyways.

 

Just want to throw another option at you...

I made this for an aquarium, but it could easily be scaled for use as a fermentation chiller. There's no furniture grade techniques/tools needed for this and materials are relatively cheap compared to hardwood. I sheathed this in beadboard (wainscot cheating!) paneling and covered all the seams with molding and baseboard.

 

I like the mofc for the dual carboys capabilities though. Care to post the sketchup file?

 

Not sure how/if I can post files here, but I can shoot it to you via email if you want to PM me an adress?

 

I like the MOFC too, but it was an isue of available space for me. I could have done it in my garage, but it gets way into the 90's in there for most of the summer, which is pretty long in the CA Central Valley. I was able to make the SOFC fit in my walk in closet without angering SWMBO...as long as it stays on my side and nothing stinks and/or explodes on her clothes...haha.

 

Credit where credit is due, the frame design is called a rocket stand and it's optimized for load bearing, not that you need that. It's The brain child of a well known aquarium enthusiast that goes by the name of Rocket Engineer.

 

I based my chamber off of past aquarium stands that I have built as well . Mine could easily hold several hundred pounds of weight on top if I needed it to. Overkill, I know, but 2x4's are cheap and then I can use 1/8" plywood instead of 1/2" or larger.

 

I built one, and it does very well in my opinion.

on the wort-o-matic site, it shows someone putting tubs of ice in the bottom, and the tubs are resting on their respective lids. this helps catch the condensation from the melting ice, and humidity is not a problem for me. I open it every day or two to change ice, and the way mine is built, i must open the top (large) door to open the bottom (small) door to replace the ice.

my house is 72F ambient (feels more like 75 in the room where my chiller is) and the chiller has no problems keeping things low 60's. I've read you can't lager in there, and I have no interest in trying.

here's mine:

 

Check out the link in my sig if you want to see what my Mother of ferm chamber looks like. Works great!

 

I did check, loved the wheels. It's a good way to move carboys without a breaking risk to boot.