Hello from the Texas heat

[michael sullivan]

I started brewing back in the 90's. Houston had a great shop - DeFalco's - that I would frequent. That was back when you couldn't find in stores what you could brew. I stayed with it up until about 10 years ago when I slowed my brewing down - doing occasional batches since then. But the garage got full and I had little room or time (or $).

I never went to kegging - buying CO or lines and kegs, had nowhere to keep them, etc. My brewing expereince was boil in a 7.5 gallon SS kettle, mash in a 10g cooler I put a false bottom on, sparge from a 5g cooler - use gravity and muscles. Counter-flow chiller. Ferment in a plastic 7g bucket in the guest bath, then rack to secondary for 2 weeks, then rack - add priming sugar, bottle...
Tedious (a bit). I also got to watch buddies get into brewing and get better toys and make better beer. Not complaining - I got to DRINK that beer.

We've moved. I have room - a big garage, though still plenty of other stuff.

I'll research changes I can make on the 'hot side' (mash/boil), but my main point is to see what I can do on the fermentation/cool side in that HOT garage...

I have a full size fridge all my own for brewing. I am looking to add a CO2 line in there for kegs. BUT I'll need to ferment in there as well... I am thinking of a small power line along with the CO2 line (female in the fridge/male on outside). I can set up an Inkbird (or other brand temp control) outside the fridge.

When I have beer in kegs the fridge is on. If I have a fermentation at the same time, I can plug in a heat blanket inside the fridge and put some insulation around that. That heat blanket would be plugged into the power I've put on the fridge - then to the temp controller.

If I don't have any kegged beer I'll plug the fridge into the thermostat control - the more common set-up for many (with a mini fridge).

My questions are many...
First, is a 30 watt heat blanket and insulation going to cut it against being inside a fridge - or simply no way to keep that in fermentation range? I'm OK turning the fridge temp to its highest setting, but would like to still be able to drink what's kegged.

How concerning is a power source/plug in the fridge?

How do you put you temp probe into the fridge - through the door? Worth it to drill a hole - create some type of 'port'? My guess is where that probe is placed when there's kegged beer and the fridge is ON matters a lot - NOT under the blanket, but against the fermenter, maybe at the base?

Then I get to decide if I continue doing a glass carboy (saves $), or is it worth buying something like a Fermzilla and allowing me to ferment under pressure, faster fermentations (if the cold isn't too much to overcome), eliminate O2 on the beer, punch beer into kegs, etc.

 

[JohnSand]

Welcome aboard!
I don't think I have seen a setup with beer fermenting alongside serving kegs. You might manage if you use lager yeast and serve your beer about 50f. Or ferment in the hot garage with Kveik yeast, or in a cooler with ice packs. Even a glycol chiller system using the fridge to chill the glycol. Before I had electric temperature control, I brewed seasonally. I don't think I would try a heat pad inside the fridge, though it might work, similar to the way a small freezer does in a dorm fridge. Let us know what you do, and how well it works.

 

[mashpaddled]

I spend the first ten years of brewing in Fort Worth primarily fermenting in the guest bath. Fermentation temperature control was a big upgrade to the quality of my beers.

I'm not an expert on fridges but I don't think this plan works well. Trying to keep a 10-30F degree temperature difference in the same fridge is going to be difficult if not impossible. If you can make it work, you're probably giving that fridge a short lifespan by forcing it to run more to combat the heat source inside. Depending on your brewing and drinking schedule, it may be easier to alternate temperatures and keep some beer in growlers in the kitchen fridge when you're fermenting. If space is available, you could build an insulated chamber next to the fridge and run glycol lines from the fridge to the chamber and wrap around your fermentation vessel with a separate temperature probe. At that point, seems like it might be easier to find a used kegerator or dorm fridge on fb or craigslist and about the same price as buying everything for a DIY alternative.

 

[lumpher]

Welcome from the other end of the state. I'm up between Longview and Texarkana so I know the Texas heat. Been in Texas for almost 30 years. I have a keezer for serving and a chest freezer with inkbird temp controller for fermentation. Only real workable solution in this climate for me, really.

 

[TexasTea]

Howdy from 30-40 miles nw of houston. Yep, like lumpher, I am going the temp control route for Texas. I'm trying the inkbird, chest freezer route, especially for summer.

 

[ncbrewer]

Then I get to decide if I continue doing a glass carboy (saves $), or is it worth buying something like a Fermzilla and allowing me to ferment under pressure, faster fermentations (if the cold isn't too much to overcome), eliminate O2 on the beer, punch beer into kegs, etc.

I'll side-step the comparison question. As for the glass carboy, here is something to consider: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/broken-glass-carboy-horror-stories-compendium.376523/