Buying a freezer or refrigerator

I'm looking at biting the bullet to take control of my fermentation temperature.

Does anyone have recommendation for specific units? Where to look? Features that I might need?

Should I just grab the cheapest freezer I can find on craigslist and stop overthinking it?

Any advice appreciated. I already have a dual-stage inkbird. If it matters I'm currently using 6 & 7 gallon Fermonsters.

 

Consider the space available for the freezer and the size of your fermenters. Chest freezers work well but have limited depth and may need a collar to hold some fermentors. They also require you to lift the fermenter higher to get it in and out.

 

I have a large chest freezer w/ thermostat. The worst part is lifting glass carboys high enough. It's not a huge deal, but a minor pain nonetheless. I have no regrets. You won't regret the purchase. It's super cool doing lagers.

 

I went with a chest freezer, just in case I decide to do some lagers. My freezer is just big enough to hold 2 6 buckets (tight fit) so I may need to upgrade later on, but I couldn’t pass on a free freezer.

 

I have a refrigerator large enough to hold two fermenters; it also has a freezer compartment on top.

You can actually use it for two different batches, controlling ferm temp as long as the batches are staggered by about 2-3 days.

One nice thing about the freezer on top is, well, it's another freezer, and I put my beer bottles in there to chill prior to filling.

I also have a keezer; I really don't like lifting full kegs in there, and a fermenter is similar in weight. It's so much easier to lift a fermenter 4" into the refrigerator instead of over a collar nearly 4' high.

Here's a couple pics showing mine; no comments on the color scheme, please, I bought it used:

 

I went the same route even though it's harder putting the fermentors in and lifting them out. Another benefit is how the Co2 builds up and stays inside the freezer. Just don't breathe in too deep when fussing with the fermentors or the Co2 will make your nose feel like its on fire.

 

I use a chest freezer (holds 8 kegs) and I have no problems lifting full kegs over the top...and I don't even have to stop to rest it on the edge before setting it inside...and I'll be 64 in July.

I also use the on-line SOFC designs (modified...no center section or fan) and covered it in plywood (with a lid) and have it set on a dolly. I can fit 2 buckets/carboys inside and set the jugs (1/2 gal AJ bottles) of ice on top or around the buckets/carboys.

 

I have three full-size brewery fridges and a 13cf keezer. I prefer fermenting in fridges and dispensing from freezers.

As the dimensions of the 7 gallon Fermonster are nearly identical to my 6.5g glass I recommend finding one 17cf top-freezer fridge from Craig's List for each pair of fermentors that one intends to have running at a time (and "batch-overlap" matters).
I run as many as four fermentors at a time in the two 17cf fridges I picked up for a total of $250 - and one of those had never been used (still had all the blue shipping tapes in place) while the other was just two years old.

Keezers are great dispensing systems but hefting fermentors in and out can be a chore, plus they can get swampy in the humid months because they only know how to make sub-freezing air so condensation can be epic. Top-freezer fridges don't suffer the same malady, especially self-defrosting models (which are nearly ubiquitous)...



Cheers!

 

I use an upright freezer but I have a 14 gallon conical that goes right in. I can do lagers and cold crash with no problem and it is fairly easy to lift and put the conical inside when full. You may want to think about if you are going to get a conical down the road. If you do you can still use your current fermentors now in an upright freezer. Mine works perfectly with a temp controller.

John

 

I currently have an 8cf chest freezer keezer, a 7cf chest freezer for wine storage, and a 10cf chest freezer fermenter, all bought new, controlled with a Johnson digital, an Inkbird, and a DIY STC-1000 respectively. Previously I have bought at least eight craigslist or other used freezers and refrigerators and the most I've ever gotten out of one is 3 years of use.

To extend the lifetimes of the ones bought used, with only limited temporary success, I have cleaned condenser coils, replaced thermostats, start relays, control boards, and installed 3n1s. Maybe I'm just unlucky but I've finally made up my mind that when I need a fridge or freezer I'm going to buy a new one at Lowes or HD that has good reviews and a warranty. </$.02>

 

If you can find a refrigerator large enough to handle the number of fermenters you need that is the way to go, imo. Fridges are meant to operate around lager fermentation temps so you aren't putting as much of a strain on your compressor by constantly cycling on and off like you have to with a freezer to maintain temp.

 

Just to report back on how my freezer works. On mine the compressor comes on when it first needs to get the temp of the beer back to the set point (I have the beer at the correct temp or a little lower most of the time when I first put the conical into the freezer). After that it will hold virtually all night or all day only coming on once or twice the most in 12 hours. It must be the good insulation but it holds the temp really well. After fermentation slows way down the freezer may not come back on for a full 24 hours or more. It does cycle on and off more when I cold crash and want to keep it at lets say 34 degrees for a few days before kegging. Then it comes on several times in 12 hours. But before the cold crash it hardly cycles. So this has been my experience but I bought the freezer new and it has served me well so far.

John

 

I went upright to avoid lifting glass as well. But now I have a conical and I’m even happier I did upright so it fits vertically. A chest freezer would require a collar. Check out a Sears or the like for floor models. I got mine at half price and had never been plugged in. The scratch on the side was easily covered with a few brewery stickers.

 

I use a chest freezer with a collar. I am not a "set it and forget it" kind of guy, and less cold air escapes on a top opening than a side one. I check in at least once a day during active fermentation and every 2-3 after that.

 

Great advice everyone, thank you! I'll be keeping my eye open for a good deal.

 

One thing to watch out for on Craigslist, I bought one a few years ago, put it on my covered back porch and cleaned it up. It all looked great! About a week later I was fighting a serious roach infestation as the thing must have been full of eggs. If I had known, I would have sprayed it and wrapped it in plastic for a couple weeks.

 

I used what I had and it is way too small I can only do one bucket and a couple of gallon jugs

 

I prefer a refrigerator over a running freezer at fridge temps

Freezers were always prone to dampness and condensation IME, leading to mold and funk while a refrigerator stays dry and clean.

 

The very first time I went to use my little chest freezer for my control temp Brewhouse I made a 6 gallon batch of cider using k1v 1116 for the first time. At the 24 hour mark I opened the freezer and pulled the lid on the eight and a half gallon fermenter bucket and stuck my wine whip in the bucket to give it a degassing and then to step feed it afterwards. Let me just say I am glad it was in the little freezer because now I have a 5-gallon batch instead of 6! The 71b or the d47 yeast I normally use I never had such a problem and I learned real quick that k1v 1116 creates quite the volcano

 

I am happy with my mid-sized refrigerator. I use it with a 7gal SS conical. The refrigerator can also reach -1C for cold crashing. In addition to fitting a connical and ease of moving fermenter in/out of refrigerator, I wanted access to the dump valve to drop yeast/trub so I could secondary for longer durations but I haven't actually done this yet.

https://theschmidts.wordpress.com/cold-side-setup-process/

 

All the upright freezers I see have cooling coils in the shelves. Where did you find one that did not? I don't like the idea of bending the shelves down and risking a tubing pinch or break. Thanks!

 

Bought a top-freezer fridge from a local used appliance retailer.

Unfortunately on my first run it tripped the GFCI in the garage outlet and was a while before I noticed so it got way too warm.
I replaced the GFCI with a normal outlet, hopefully better next time.

 

I went with a Fisher and Paykel active smart I had from when I upgraded the kitchen fridge. This thing is a top freezer and since its computer controlled (made around 2000) and only cools the freezer then transfers cold to the fridge as necessary with a fan and it works well as I hooked in the STC1000 to fool the fridge sensor it is either too hot or too cold and the freezer is still usable. Keeping a usable freezer may be useful for hops etc but you need the right fridge/freezer to do it. I know the F&P activesmart derived ones can do it as on my youtube channel but there are likley other brands that can be similarly modified. searching the internet for service info can yeild the needed info

I have used it as both a fermentation chamber or a kegerator.