Tony
Well-Known Member
I dont have a whole lot of room (driving my wife crazy as it is) and am trying to keep my equipment on the small size. I brew indoors, and usually only do 5 gallon batches and have a 9 gallon Italian Kettle w/spigot, dual Rubbermaid cooler grain set up,and use my gas stove which has commercial type grates and burners. Also, to save space on bottles everywhere, I recently converted a Sanyo 4912 to a kegerator. But unfortunately other than in winter months, I haven't been able to make lagers because of lack of temperature control, and Im not lugging carboys up and down 2 full flights of stairs to have a freezer/refrigerator in the basement and have them sit for a day or so to settle again. Maybe for storing kegs later on, but at least they would be filtered and pressurized.
So, neccessity always causes me to try new things, and my latest space-saver is a Haier 20 Bottle Wine Cellar HVFM20ABB. I thought about finding something that I could fit carboys into for lagering, and started looking to wine cellars. On a whim, I watched a couple on eBay, and somehow one slipped by everyone and I picked one up for 70 bucks. Usuallly they go for $200+. The seller had others and they went for big bucks.
Anyway, it has the perfect amount of room for a single carboy, (13" deep and a curved out door) with extra room to the side and on the compressor hump for bottles, supplies etc... The temperature range is 45-60 and with a temp overide, would be able to condition ales at set temps as well. It might not be cold enough for some people when they lager at temps around 35, but it should do a good job.
So, for anyone needing a small conditioning fridge, try to find one of these small wine coolers on sale. Inside floor space needs to be at least 12 3/4". My local Home Depot had a bunch of Magic Chef wine coolers on sale for $99, but I didnt get a chance to measure the bottoms when I was in last time. Worth checking out if space is short.
So, neccessity always causes me to try new things, and my latest space-saver is a Haier 20 Bottle Wine Cellar HVFM20ABB. I thought about finding something that I could fit carboys into for lagering, and started looking to wine cellars. On a whim, I watched a couple on eBay, and somehow one slipped by everyone and I picked one up for 70 bucks. Usuallly they go for $200+. The seller had others and they went for big bucks.
Anyway, it has the perfect amount of room for a single carboy, (13" deep and a curved out door) with extra room to the side and on the compressor hump for bottles, supplies etc... The temperature range is 45-60 and with a temp overide, would be able to condition ales at set temps as well. It might not be cold enough for some people when they lager at temps around 35, but it should do a good job.
So, for anyone needing a small conditioning fridge, try to find one of these small wine coolers on sale. Inside floor space needs to be at least 12 3/4". My local Home Depot had a bunch of Magic Chef wine coolers on sale for $99, but I didnt get a chance to measure the bottoms when I was in last time. Worth checking out if space is short.
