3.5 CU Freezer Fermentation Chamber

[ninkwood]

I'd like to share my recently completed Fermentation Chamber as I've gained a ton of useful information off this forum and haven't been able to contribute much.

The freezer: Midea MRC04M3AWW Chest Freezer, 3.5 Cubic Feet Mini Freezer With Removable Basket, Adjustable Temperature, For Kitchen Garage Apartment Office, White

https://a.co/d/cEBDsG1

The link is for Amazon, but I bought mine from Costco (Canada) for $160 CAD including delivery as it was on sale.

Dimensions: It's 14⅜" x 16⅝" inside, I added a shelf the height of the compressor hump so that the floor is level. With the 2" x 8" collar there is around 28" in height. It fits my fermzilla all rounder with about half an inch to spare on the short dimension. I'm using a 20" x 10" seedling mat to heat and a inkbird controller.

I also added a ¼" MFL bulkhead to the collar so that I can vent fermentation gases outside the chamber. I can do open fermentation (if you count an open ball lock as "open" fermentation), I can run a blowoff tube by utilizing an oxebar keg with sanitizer above the dip tube, or I can slap a spunding valve on the oxebar and ferment under pressure. I can even use fermentation to purge kegs if I want. Since the room I have this in is ventilated, I don't have to deal with a freezer or basement full of c02.

 

[SkyPilot]

I'd like to share my recently completed Fermentation Chamber as I've gained a ton of useful information off this forum and haven't been able to contribute much.

The freezer: Midea MRC04M3AWW Chest Freezer, 3.5 Cubic Feet Mini Freezer With Removable Basket, Adjustable Temperature, For Kitchen Garage Apartment Office, White

https://a.co/d/cEBDsG1

The link is for Amazon, but I bought mine from Costco (Canada) for $160 CAD including delivery as it was on sale.

Dimensions: It's 14⅜" x 16⅝" inside, I added a shelf the height of the compressor hump so that the floor is level. With the 2" x 8" collar there is around 28" in height. It fits my fermzilla all rounder with about half an inch to spare on the short dimension. I'm using a 20" x 10" seedling mat to heat and a inkbird controller.

I also added a ¼" MFL bulkhead to the collar so that I can vent fermentation gases outside the chamber. I can do open fermentation (if you count an open ball lock as "open" fermentation), I can run a blowoff tube by utilizing an oxebar keg with sanitizer above the dip tube, or I can slap a spunding valve on the oxebar and ferment under pressure. I can even use fermentation to purge kegs if I want. Since the room I have this in is ventilated, I don't have to deal with a freezer or basement full of c02.

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View attachment 843249

Very late response but… I like it. May try it myself. Thanks for the posting.

 

[tracer bullet]

Yeah! Same. I never saw this originally, no surprise I don't see everything, but this is pretty cool and hopefully people got a chance to see it.

https://www.amazon.com/Midea-MRC04M...858875&sprefix=mrc04m3aww,aps,122&sr=8-1&th=1

Sold in the US, too. Hmm.

 

[ninkwood]

Thanks!

I'll post an update, as I've completed a handful of brews using this chamber. It's worked extremely well, with the only issue I've experienced related to the blow-off tube

Using a ball-lock on fermentations with high krausen that makes its way out of the fermenter made me nervous, so I fashioned a blow-off tube using a bottle cap and a rubber grommet with an airlock and some 1/2" ID tubing. The setup is in use right now but if anyone wants photos of the blow-off setup let me know and I'll take some in a few days.

My new process involves using a blow-off tube for the first few days unless I'm 100% confident that the fermentation won't risk clogging the ball-lock. Once the krausen starts to drop I add the ball-lock setup in the original post and I usually still have time to purge a keg with off-gas after the krausen has retreated.

This blow-off tube has been especially necessary for the Belgian Quad I made this weekend! Look at the colour of that sanitizer lol

 

[SkyPilot]

Thanks!

I'll post an update, as I've completed a handful of brews using this chamber. It's worked extremely well, with the only issue I've experienced related to the blow-off tube

Using a ball-lock on fermentations with high krausen that makes its way out of the fermenter made me nervous, so I fashioned a blow-off tube using a bottle cap and a rubber grommet with an airlock and some 1/2" ID tubing. The setup is in use right now but if anyone wants photos of the blow-off setup let me know and I'll take some in a few days.

My new process involves using a blow-off tube for the first few days unless I'm 100% confident that the fermentation won't risk clogging the ball-lock. Once the krausen starts to drop I add the ball-lock setup in the original post and I usually still have time to purge a keg with off-gas after the krausen has retreated.

This blow-off tube has been especially necessary for the Belgian Quad I made this weekend! Look at the colour of that sanitizer lol

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View attachment 855909

I am old and tired now (lol) I wonder how much trouble I’d have moving a full all rounder into and out of it? Maybe I would fill it in place in the Chamber and the use closed Co2 transfer to keg it.

 

[ninkwood]

You could probably get away with a 2x4 collar if you're not using a hop bong. There's quite a bit of clearance with the 2x6. I'm not going to lie, that part isn't fun, but for a 30 something weakling it's still easily manageable. Just make sure your handles are locked on and maybe buy yourself a second stand so you can use one outside and one inside!

I am old and tired now (lol) I wonder how much trouble I’d have moving a full all rounder into and out of it? Maybe I would fill it in place in the Chamber and the use closed Co2 transfer to keg it.