Ferment in Kegerator?

[NarrowsBrewCo]

Hey everyone,

I've seen a few posts about this, but still looking to see what my options are. I currently have a chest freezer I ferment in. I live in South Texas, so there aren't many times of the year when I don't use it. Summers are so hot I can't even brew.

Due to this I want to turn it into a Keezer, can keg some local beers in the summer then brew in the fall/winter with the same device.

My only question though, has anyone fermented beer while also having some kegs on tap? Does the keg beer go bad if I turn the chamber up for awhile to allow fermentation of my new brews?

I've also heard of people using a FermWrap on their carboy while keeping the keezer at kegging temps.

Any thoughts? Anyone done this? I don't have the space for now, so I'm trying to figure out what would work for me to keep brewing, but also be able to keg.

Thanks

 

[timdillon36]

I have not done it but have read and heard of and talked to people that ferment in the same fridge/freezer that they serve from. They all vary a bit but if serving temp is 38 and u want to ferment at 62 use a ferm wrap or other heat source heat pad (oil pan heater, nos bottle blanket, baby warming pad, electric blanket) then insulated it from the cold.

It's like trying to keep your mash warm I guess now that I think about it.

Will your MT fit in your kegerator? Ferment in that and add a small heat source to it that could be used both during fermentation and mash.

I'm really just typing while thinking out loud. But I think I might b on to something I might build. I'm thinking of using a freeze plug block heater as the heat source.

I don't know if I helped you but u put my mind on a path of a lot of good ideas. TY

 

[Rockn_M]

I'm in North Texas and I use a chest freezer that I use to ferment and when not in use I drop the temps to 35 and use it to carb\age the beer I just fermented. I have a keg of Oktoberfest that wasn't finished last year waiting. Every once in a while I'll pull a pint and it tastes pretty good. I think you'll be fine. It just takes a little bit of juggling.

 

[NarrowsBrewCo]

Great thanks guys! @timdillon36 it sounds like you might be onto something!

 

[55x11]

Hey everyone,

I've seen a few posts about this, but still looking to see what my options are. I currently have a chest freezer I ferment in. I live in South Texas, so there aren't many times of the year when I don't use it. Summers are so hot I can't even brew.

Due to this I want to turn it into a Keezer, can keg some local beers in the summer then brew in the fall/winter with the same device.

My only question though, has anyone fermented beer while also having some kegs on tap? Does the keg beer go bad if I turn the chamber up for awhile to allow fermentation of my new brews?

I've also heard of people using a FermWrap on their carboy while keeping the keezer at kegging temps.

Any thoughts? Anyone done this? I don't have the space for now, so I'm trying to figure out what would work for me to keep brewing, but also be able to keg.

Thanks

the problem as others pointed out - you may want to serve beers cold, like 35-40F, while fermenting at much warmer temperatures - maybe 65F for ales, and 55F or so for lagers. So just sticking a keg or fermenter into the keezer won't work since yeast will go dormant. You need a separate temperature control of some sort, to keep fermenting at, say 60F, while keeper is serving beer at say 40F. A heater and a temperature probe, and a lot of insulation. OR you could warm up entire freezer to 60F, but then you are serving beer too warm (and you may not be able to force-carb it at those temperatures since you will need a lot higher pressures).

 

[NarrowsBrewCo]

Thanks for the info. Yeah I've read some people will just fill a growler and throw it in their fridge to coom down any beer they want to drink while fermentation is going on. I'll Probably go this direction til I see a cheap mini fridge that I can convert