Lager/Ale Duel Chamber Fermenter

[nickbrew]

I am looking to build a fermentation chamber where I can use some sort of refrigeration in one lagering chamber and use some of that cooling power to also keep a secondary temperature at fermentation temperature.

The picture shows the most basic idea of what I want to do:

• Control temperature in both chambers with one controller?
• Insulated chambers
• Some type of cooling engine in the bottom chamber
• Keep low condensation

Efficiency and accuracy are my top priorities. I have seen some examples of fermentation chambers that use fridges but I would like to avoid that if I can. Other suggestions for refrigeration?

What type of set-up could I use to get the top chamber cool without putting too much additional strain to keep my bottom chamber stable?

Any concerns? I'm not an expert at all so I have no idea about how the two pressures of different temperatures chambers might play into this or the need for forced air or method of circulation or anything like that.

Thanks for all the help! Finally getting back into brewing after a year hiatus.

 

[nickbrew]

Anyone? Would this generally be better if the two chambers were horizontal instead of vertical? I was just thinking of space saving.

 

[stlbeer]

I'm putting together a 3 chamber "chill box". It has the functionality you are describing, but with a "holding" chamber as well.

The rightmost chamber is the holding chamber. It contains a 5100BTU A/C. Grains and beer for conditioning go here.
The middle chamber is for lager or ale fermentation. It is the next warmest chamber. A 4" ducted fan will transfer cold air from the holding chamber to here. Warm air will be pushed to the holding chamber.
The leftmost chamber will be for ale fermentation. It will be the warmest of all the chambers (I suspect). A 4" ducted fan will transfer cold air from the holding chamber to here and warm air gets pushed back to the holding chamber.

This is controlled with a BrewPi, which is a Raspberry Pi running a version of Linux called Raspbian and 3 Arduino UNO's, 3 relay boards, temp probes and a bunch of wires and code.

The chamber itself is right at 6'4" wide and 34" tall. It will hold 2 6 gallon carboys in milk crates in each ferm chamber for a total of 4 and will accommodate about 12 pinlock corny kegs. SO my solution is horizontal instead of vertical.

 

[stlbeer]

Forgot the pic

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1476130180.920646.jpg

 

[nickbrew]

Forgot the pic

View attachment 373174

Very interesting. I think we're going for the same idea theoretically, and I think that a horizontal build might be a little bit easier. What is the A/C unit you are using? I'd just like to know how big it would have to be to work in a space that size efficiently.

 

[stlbeer]

I'm using a 5100BTU Haier A/C. It will get to ambient less 30*F. The other day it was putting out 35.6*F air. It should do just fine except in the heart of the summer when it's +100 in my garage. But when it's that hot I don't brew anyway.

Here's a pic with the A/C installed.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1476329718.385226.jpg

And of the current progress.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1476329853.815406.jpg