Fermentation Chamber Build - need some ideas on cooling

[Gremlyn]

So I am planning to build a custom cabinet for a fermentation chamber in my designated brew closet (which is walk in). The area that the chamber will go is a fairly good sized space, a mini fridge will easily fit in it and quite possible two would fit side by side.

My conundrum stems from the fact that I want to start fermenting in sanke kegs - two at a time if I can make the design work. I'm also about to build a new single tier brewing rig, which will allow me to brew 10 gal batches (hence fermenting in the sankes). I have no issues with being able to build the cabinet, how to insulate it, etc. I just can't figure out what to do to cool it. The space I have to work with is 49" x 26" and can be as high as I need to fit the sankes with fermenter conversions, so probably 2.5 to 2.75 ft interior height. I'd like to keep it as short as I can so that I can use it as a work top to put my stir plate and such on.

Note: I already have a wired up Ranco ready to use for this project and I'm dead set against using anything that I have to manually change out, like ice packs and such.

Originally I was thinking I would get and build a chamber using a plain old minifridge, but that was before I got the idea to brew 10 gal batches and ferment them in sankes.

Then I thought maybe I could get a minifridge that has the coils on the back and just use the compressor (which is currently my front runner idea), but that would likely be a lot more work. I think the window AC idea is out because the room isn't really well ventilated and I'm not sure how much heat it would throw out. I want to be able to leave full kegs at RT conditioning in the room.

The other idea I had involving a minifridge would just have it next to the chamber with some hoses pumping the air over as needed. I could then use it for yeast/hop storage in the room as well.

So does anyone have any other suggestions or comments about which of my current ideas might work best in my situation? I'll try to get some pictures up of the space this evening.

 

[Jethro]

I've got a ferment chamber that I built using an old mini fridge for cooling. The fridge was a $25 craigslist find (with the coils on the back). I took it apart and have the compressor and condenser coils hanging out the back of the chamber. This works pretty well for two 6 gallon Better Bottles for fermenters. It can take some time to ramp the temperature up/down though. I sometimes place a liter bottle of ice or hot water next to each fermenter to help change the temp more rapidly when needed.

 

[Gremlyn]

I've got a ferment chamber that I built using an old mini fridge for cooling. The fridge was a $25 craigslist find (with the coils on the back). I took it apart and have the compressor and condenser coils hanging out the back of the chamber. This works pretty well for two 6 gallon Better Bottles for fermenters. It can take some time to ramp the temperature up/down though. I sometimes place a liter bottle of ice or hot water next to each fermenter to help change the temp more rapidly when needed.

Do you have any fans inside? If I did the minifridge like yours I was planning on routing some ducting from the inlet with a 120mm fan pushing the cold air through the ducting to distribute it more evenly.

Any time you put a large mass inside an empty cooling chamber, it will take more to drop the temp. If I have the room, I could always store the conditioning corny kegs in there as well, which would help keep the temp inside more even.

 

[Jethro]

I built mine with a cooling chamber containing the fridge chiller plate and a fan to circulate air across a ferment chamber on each side. This way I have two separate temperature control zones. I had to add a "flapper" over the fans so air would not circulate backwards when one fan was on and the other off.

 

[bmckee56]

Building one now, but not quite finished. I use a fan inside the small refrigerator which is attached to my ferm. box. It is well insulated and I have a digital controller (programmable) monitoring and controlling the temperature.

I have not yet placed a full vessel inside, but the box will get down to 42 degrees empty. It has room for 2 primaries (carboys) and when only 1 is being used, I can reduce the inside space to provide better temperature drop.

No pictures yet, but I will post some very soon.

Salute!

 

[Gremlyn]

I built mine with a cooling chamber containing the fridge chiller plate and a fan to circulate air across a ferment chamber on each side. This way I have two separate temperature control zones. I had to add a "flapper" over the fans so air would not circulate backwards when one fan was on and the other off.

Pics? Is the chiller plate from a different style of fridge? Dual zone would be slick, and i have enough room for it...

 

[Dunerunner]

Note: I already have a wired up Ranco ready to use for this project and I'm dead set against using anything that I have to manually change out, like ice packs and such.

As long as you're controlling the air temperature, what about the temp in the kegs? Let the Ranco controller drive the Closet temp as a function of the FV temp. That way there isn't as much of a swing in the temperature of the beer in the FV.

Temp probe attached to the FV and Insulated.
Cooling to what ever you're using to cool the space (Window A/C Control Relay)
Heating to what ever you're using to heat the space (Space heater Control Relay)
Set the temperature differential between the heat/cool mode to 1 degree

 

[Gremlyn]

As long as you're controlling the air temperature, what about the temp in the kegs? Let the Ranco controller drive the Closet temp as a function of the FV temp. That way there isn't as much of a swing in the temperature of the beer in the FV.

Temp probe attached to the FV and Insulated.
Cooling to what ever you're using to cool the space (Window A/C Control Relay)
Heating to what ever you're using to heat the space (Space heater Control Relay)
Set the temperature differential between the heat/cool mode to 1 degree

I was thinking of using thermowells in the fermenters, probably this: http://www.brewershardware.com/American-Sanke-Keg-Fermenter-Kit-with-Thermowell.html

Definitely a smarter idea to control internal fermentation temp than just guessing by setting ambient. Unfortunately the Ranco I have isn't dual-temp capable, but since i live in San Diego, I also don't think I'll have any problems with the chamber getting too cold.

 

[Hang Glider]

Might be a little heavy moving the top one, but I bet you could fit two sankes in an upright freezer, control temps with a Johnson...and place this in a corner of your cold room.

 

[Bokonon]

I was thinking of using thermowells in the fermenters, probably this: http://www.brewershardware.com/American-Sanke-Keg-Fermenter-Kit-with-Thermowell.html

Definitely a smarter idea to control internal fermentation temp than just guessing by setting ambient. Unfortunately the Ranco I have isn't dual-temp capable, but since i live in San Diego, I also don't think I'll have any problems with the chamber getting too cold.

If you ever think its going to get too cold you can switch the plug into something to heat and change the setting to heat in the ranco. Though I'm not sure you would ever need to do this

 

[Gremlyn]

Might be a little heavy moving the top one, but I bet you could fit two sankes in an upright freezer, control temps with a Johnson...and place this in a corner of your cold room.

Yeah, not looking to be lifting that much weight that high on a regular basis. I had considered it, but rules it out...

 

[Bokonon]

Yeah, not looking to be lifting that much weight that high on a regular basis. I had considered it, but rules it out...

I don't lift my sanke fermenters unless they are empty. Pump wort into them and use co2 to push the beer out when done fermenting

 

[Gremlyn]

Updated in the first post, but the size I have to work with is 49" x 26".