Mini-fridge vs Mini-freezer. New to brewing..

[metalliholic123]

Thanks for your time,
I just brewed my first batch from a Cooper's IPA kit. I sampled it after two weeks in the bottle and it's "off." It tastes similar to beer, but not anywhere near an IPA. I followed proper sanitation and time-frames, but I think it fermented way too high. 78F room temp high (wort also took a while to cool). I live in south Texas in a 1-br apt, so dedicating a room to proper fermentation tempp isn't an option. I'm looking at a Johnson Control Digital Thermostat, but don't know what to couple it with. A mini-fridge or a mini-freezer? I have free space of 2.5'deep x 4'wide. Any advice is appreciated

-metalliholic123

 

[KeystoneHomebrew]

The Coopers IPA, and all pre-hopped IPA kits are more on an English style, although I dig the Coopers kit because it has Cascade hop notes.

If you are looking at fermentation temperature control, go chest freezer with a thermostat override. You'll save a crap-load in electricity expenses. Plus, it'll double as a kegerator!

 

[metalliholic123]

Thanks for the help!