My Ferm Chamber Project

[Eighty2Fifty1]

The SWMBO is moving in with me in a few weeks, and she doesn't like the idea of her pantry being full of fermenting beer.

004 by eighty2fifty1, on Flickr
So I decided to make a fermentation chamber to put in my man cave (the garage).

It had to be big enough to hold several of those 15-gal conicals, so I decided to make it 24x80x54." The Minibrew conicals are 18" diameter and 48" high.

We built the frame out of 1x2" furring strips, since they were dirt cheap.

074 by eighty2fifty1, on Flickr

And added a fold-down front and an opening top.

080 by eighty2fifty1, on Flickr

083 by eighty2fifty1, on Flickr

Since I'd been deployed for 6 months, I had no homebrew to drink, so we had to rely on store-bought swill to get those creative juices flowing. Not that I'd describe Deschutes as swill...

078 by eighty2fifty1, on Flickr

For insulation, I chose 1/2" styrofoam insulation sheets, no idea what the R-value is. I figured that since I live in the PNW, I won't have that big of a temp differential to deal with. I mainly do ales, so 68*F is my target. It probably would have doubled the price to use the thicker sheets, but it was $7.25 per 4x8 sheet of that, so that's what I went with. We used some leftover aluminum tape that my buddy had from another project and Great Stuff to seal the seams and gaps.

I also used it as an excuse to buy a new tool. I seem to recall that tools do not count in the overall cost of a homebrew project...

085 by eighty2fifty1, on Flickr

086 by eighty2fifty1, on Flickr

Sealing up the bottom

087 by eighty2fifty1, on Flickr

And here is the finished chamber (minus the heating and cooling)

001 by eighty2fifty1, on Flickr


002 by eighty2fifty1, on Flickr


003 by eighty2fifty1, on Flickr

I'm at $100 for the project thus far. Remember, the $100 staple gun doesn't count.

084 by eighty2fifty1, on Flickr

So now I have to figure out how to control it. I'm bidding on one of the aquarium temp controllers on ebay right now, so I figure I'll hook it up to a 100 watt bulb or two, and go from there. If it turns out I need to cool it, an ice chamber and computer fan should work nicely.

Questions, comments, suggestions would be appreciated

 

[duckredbeard]

Welcome home (and Go Navy)! I'm jealous that your primary purpose of this project is to warm the chamber. I miss that about the PNW (I lived in Anacortes and Oak Harbor WA). I'll be building a chamber soon and had not estimated the expenses. Thanks for the DIY.

 

[Eighty2Fifty1]

Thanks a lot. It's good to be back, we didn't get a lot of quality beer in Japan. I have a lot of beer to brew for my wedding in August, and I'm hitting the ground running.

I was also thinking about using Arduino for temp control. I think it would be pretty cool to be able to monitor and control temps from my phone, not to mention have the chamber tweet me temp updates.

 

[carlisle_bob]

Hi

I suspect that you will run into trouble with stuff punching through the foam. Put another way - does stuff ever happen in the garage?

The easy solution is a sheet of particle board. Still dirt cheap and much more sturdy than the foam. Just have Home Depot slice it up into the sizes you need and staple it on over the foam.

Bob

 

[duckredbeard]

Regarding the photo of the "pantry"...you found time to brew 3 batches but haven't made it to the grocery store since your return. And you made a ferm chamber. You, my friend, manage your priorities well and don't succumb to frivolous desires.

 

[Eighty2Fifty1]

Hi

I suspect that you will run into trouble with stuff punching through the foam. Put another way - does stuff ever happen in the garage?

The easy solution is a sheet of particle board. Still dirt cheap and much more sturdy than the foam. Just have Home Depot slice it up into the sizes you need and staple it on over the foam.

Bob

I hadn't considered that. That's a good idea, especially since I want to put a dartboard on that wall too.

 

[Eighty2Fifty1]

Regarding the photo of the "pantry"...you found time to brew 3 batches but haven't made it to the grocery store since your return. And you made a ferm chamber. You, my friend, manage your priorities well and don't succumb to frivolous desires.

There's another one cold crashing right now too. I also made a keggle. But to be fair, there are a few cans of tuna and a box of cereal in the pantry that you can't see