Looking for a fridge to hold a conical

[hezagenius]

I haven't decided on a specific conical yet, but I like the ones I've seen from Spike, Blichmann, SSBT, etc. Whichever one I get will be stainless, hold at least some pressure, have a nice dump valve, preferably have TCs.

My bigger concern is finding a fridge to hold it. I have a kegerator I currently use to control ferm temps. That kegerator is your standard Danby/Kegco model that basically holds a half barrel with not much room to spare. It seems like the conicals I've looked at are just a tad too wide or a tad too tall.

So I'm trying to find a fridge will hold a conical with some room to spare on all sides but isn't a full size fridge. And preferably won't have shelves in the door. Basically I'm looking for a fridge that is slightly bigger than your standard dedicated kegerator size. Maybe 20" interior width and depth and 36" or taller height. Anyone have a fridge/conical combo they can recommend? Not super concerned about price as long as it does what it should.

 

[ITV]

Unless you have a small conical (5 gallon batches) you will most likely need a full size unit.

I use an upright Kenmore freezer that I bought used for $200. The cooling coil is I the rear, some units run the cooling coils thru the shelves which won't work for a fermentation chamber. I had to shave the front door to remove the shelves to allow the door to close with the fermenter in it. I have a 14 gallon Spike conical (CF10) which I recommend. Kenmore makes several different sizes of upright freezers so you can choose one that will fit your conical. Keep in mind that the Spike conicals on not meant to move full of wort, so I have to fill while it is in the freezer.

If I had to do it over again I might consider a beverage style unit with a clear glass door to show off the shiny conical.

 

[hezagenius]

It will be a conical sized for 5 gallon batches.

An upright freezer is fine, too. Forgot to mention that.

 

[metaltim]

Unless you have a small conical (5 gallon batches) you will most likely need a full size unit.

I use an upright Kenmore freezer that I bought used for $200. The cooling coil is I the rear, some units run the cooling coils thru the shelves which won't work for a fermentation chamber. I had to shave the front door to remove the shelves to allow the door to close with the fermenter in it. I have a 14 gallon Spike conical (CF10) which I recommend. Kenmore makes several different sizes of upright freezers so you can choose one that will fit your conical. Keep in mind that the Spike conicals on not meant to move full of wort, so I have to fill while it is in the freezer.

If I had to do it over again I might consider a beverage style unit with a clear glass door to show off the shiny conical.

View attachment 594209

I plan to do this at some point.. I currently have a thermo-electrically cooled more beer conical, but it's way too big to fit in an upright. I can use it most of the year.. a month or two in the summer and the garage is too hot for anything but a saison or other high temp fermenting beer

Question, can you heat it as well? I do lagers and need a method for diacetyl rest.. 4 months or so out of the year, even if I just left the door open, I wouldn't be able to get it to 60 deg.

 

[ITV]

Yes I have a small ceramic heater on the floor which I control with an Inkbird with separate heating and cooling set points. Since my fermentation chamber is in my basement I rarely use the heater. By increasing the cooling temperature I can reach diacetyl temp within two days with the door closed.

 

[hezagenius]

This one might fit the bill.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/PREMIUM...ndiser-Refrigerator-in-Gray-PRF90DX/302030690

Not as cheap as I'd like, and I'd prefer it not have a glass door, but beggars can't be choosers I suppose. At least the glass door ensures there's no shelving on the door.

 

[Baglorious]

Ever get that particular fridge? Pricey... but with a nice conical inside, that would look fantastic.

If you haven't bought... keep an eye on craigslist / FB marketplace, of course. Look for any upright freezer that has REMOVABLE shelves (inside... not just the door), and then just use a temp controller.

Most of the upright freezers I've seen are large, but still 'less than full size', meaning, 20%-30% or so smaller than your typical kitchen refrigerator.

Many of these upright freezers have the coils running under the interior shelves (or the coils are part of the interior shelves), making them unusable.... so look for the ones with removable main shelves. You end up with a ton of cubic ft. volume, and can hold sanke keg sized fermenters (what I have), plus room to spare.

I paid $100 for an older Kenmore upright, use it for my Sabco keggle fermenter (or a Spiedel 15.9g). I will eventually fit a half-barrel conical in it. (Haven't gotten there yet... but that's the plan.) Interior dimensions are about 44x19x18. I also left the top shelf in, and have a good amount of extra space in there. (That's where I dry-brined this year's thanksgiving turkey!)

But if I had $750 lying around and the wife would permit it... I'd love that glass door beauty. That would create a showpiece with a nice conical inside.

But (cheap) and useful alternatives are out there. Used upright freezer and a temp controller is my recommendation!

 

[Conehead]

I used our old fridge to hold my 14 gallon blichmann conical. I had to take the door shelves off to make it fit. Lots of duct tape. Been using it since 2005, still works great.

 

[hezagenius]

@Baglorious
Not yet! I did buy a Spike 5 gallon conical but so far I only have the heater and neoprene jacket. I'm still debating on whether I want to use a glycol chiller or a fridge/freezer setup. The glycol chiller will take up less space and can be used on multiple fermenters if I ever want to add one, but the fridge/freezer has a separate use while I'm not fermenting anything. My biggest issue (i.e. my wife's biggest issue) is the required space. I'd need to get creative with my brew area to make room for the fridge. But the dimensions of it look like they'd fit the bill for sure.

 

[DVCNick]

I went with the $100 Craigslist special chest freezer for carboys. When I got a conical I ended up doing this. It's not as elegant maybe but it sure works and is cheap. The liquid level is below the top of the insulation.... Ymmv. Insulation is a sheet from home Depot, could cut a piece to fit two fermenters.