New fermentation chamber build

[blackwaterbrewer]

two heads, how low of a temp will your rig hold? have you tried a lager fermentaion yet? i am in the middle of building my version of your ferm chamber, will post a pictoral. thanks for the inspiration!

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

two heads, how low of a temp will your rig hold? have you tried a lager fermentaion yet? i am in the middle of building my version of your ferm chamber, will post a pictoral. thanks for the inspiration!

Not sure how low it would hold yet. I've had it down to 58F, but that's it. I'll be figuring this out soon enough, because I plan to do a couple lagers soon. I don't imagine it will be a problem to hold 45F for fermentation, but any lower and I might be pushing it. Cheers!

 

[jboehle]

Update on mine. Finally was able to find some time tonight to make good progress. Got the wheels installed, door installed (need smaller latches, though. All wood cut and installed, and 3 of the 6 sides of foam insulation are cut and installed.

I added 6 new pics to my gallery for this project at: jboehle Album - HomeBrewTalk Gallery

I think if I had another good night of free time I will be able to finish it up. Need to get some foamed insulation in a can to fill the big gaps, glue the floor, ceiling, and door insulation on, install the latches, seal all the small seams with silicone, mount the Ranco temp controller.

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

Update on mine. Finally was able to find some time tonight to make good progress. Got the wheels installed, door installed (need smaller latches, though. All wood cut and installed, and 3 of the 6 sides of foam insulation are cut and installed.

I added 6 new pics to my gallery for this project at: jboehle Album - HomeBrewTalk Gallery

I think if I had another good night of free time I will be able to finish it up. Need to get some foamed insulation in a can to fill the big gaps, glue the floor, ceiling, and door insulation on, install the latches, seal all the small seams with silicone, mount the Ranco temp controller.

So did you ever finish the chamber???

 

[NoisufnoC]

TwoHeads, you mentioned somewhere about airspace behind the insulation...what's the benefit of that?

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

TwoHeads, you mentioned somewhere about airspace behind the insulation...what's the benefit of that?

A small gap between the insulation and the "skin" of your chamber (in my case, the plywood"), will increase the R rating. The air is just one more barrier between the hot outside air and the cold air inside the chamber. Same principle as a Thermos or double-paned windows. It's a lot harder for the heat to be conducted if there is no physical connection between the hot air and the cold air.

 

[NoisufnoC]

A small gap between the insulation and the "skin" of your chamber (in my case, the plywood"), will increase the R rating. The air is just one more barrier between the hot outside air and the cold air inside the chamber. Same principle as a Thermos or double-paned windows. It's a lot harder for the heat to be conducted if there is no physical connection between the hot air and the cold air.

cool, thanks for the info.

if you dont mind, i'm going to copy your design and build in that space i described in my DIY thread.

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

cool, thanks for the info.

if you dont mind, i'm going to copy your design and build in that space i described in my DIY thread.

No problem, and feel free to copy! You'll be following in the long tradition of copying others great ideas for a ferm chamber. Can't remember which one I saw first for my inspiration, but mine is certainly not original. Good luck, and be sure to post back with some pics of the build!

Cheers!

 

[NoisufnoC]

so if i understand correctly, you put the thin strips of framing that are on the floor on the back wall also, yes?

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

Not necessary on the back wall, it's an insulated and shared wall with my house.

 

[NoisufnoC]

Not necessary on the back wall, it's an insulated and shared wall with my house.

hmm. my back wall is an insulated exterior wall. do you think its necessary?

what did you use to adhere the insulation to the wall and plywood? liquid nails or something similar?

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

hmm. my back wall is an insulated exterior wall. do you think its necessary?

what did you use to adhere the insulation to the wall and plywood? liquid nails or something similar?

I wouldn't worry about it if the wall is insulated. I used liquid nails to stick the insulation on the plywood.

 

[NoisufnoC]

cool. thanks for all the quick replies. i'm going to start prepping my area tonight and measuring for a trip to the store

 

[marshallwms]

Some questions:

Not sure how low it would hold yet. I've had it down to 58F, but that's it. I'll be figuring this out soon enough, because I plan to do a couple lagers soon. I don't imagine it will be a problem to hold 45F for fermentation, but any lower and I might be pushing it. Cheers!

How did your setup do for lagers? I assume you don't use it for lagering.

What size (and maybe what make and model) mini-fridge did you use? I don't want to overkill it, but I don't want to undersize it.

Any need for heat in your setup to keep up to ale fermentation temps?

I just finished an outdoors room and I am ready to build a fermentation chamber. I have looked at several and yours looks like one of the most practical for my needs.

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

Some questions:



How did your setup do for lagers? I assume you don't use it for lagering.

What size (and maybe what make and model) mini-fridge did you use? I don't want to overkill it, but I don't want to undersize it.

Any need for heat in your setup to keep up to ale fermentation temps?

I just finished an outdoors room and I am ready to build a fermentation chamber. I have looked at several and yours looks like one of the most practical for my needs.

I haven't used it for lagering yet...but I have crash cooled some batches down to 40F. The fridge was on for a LONG time getting the carboys down that cool, but once there the thermal mass held temp just fine even in the hot garage. When it comes to winter I will definitely need to add a small space heater or maybe a fermwrap, in addition to a dual temp controller...I'm thinking the pre-wired dual stage Ranco. It only gets to about 45F in my garage during the winter, but still I'll need some extra heat in there through December and January.

 

[marshallwms]

Thanks for the update. That sound encouraging. I don't know how cold my room will get but I assume I will need a heater of some type in the chamber.

Any information on the size / type of mini-fridge you used?

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

Someone was looking for the plans to the workbench I built, and I finally found the article online that I used. Pretty cool workbench, very easy to build but with a lot of cool features. I've since taken out a drawer, the miter saw bay, and some shelving to make room for the fermentation chamber.

http://www.rd.com/17667/article17667.html

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

The current state of the workbench w/ Fermentation Chamber:

 

[Sithdad]

I have garage envy.

Nice OP, btw. I am gonna start looking at where I can fit in one of these ferm. chambers in my garage.

 

[carolinaeasy]

Awesome! I am in the process of making this!

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

Right on, I'd love to see your build thread when you're finished!

 

[Orfy]

Bump - published.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/project-locator-69953/#post722650

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

Bump - published.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/project-locator-69953/#post722650

Nice, thanks. And just as an update; it's been into the high 30's here at night recently, which results in a temp of about 45F in the garage. But, thanks to the insulation in the chamber, temps inside have barely dipped lower than 60F. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I won't have to add a heater at all to this unit.

 

[NoisufnoC]

Nice, thanks. And just as an update; it's been into the high 30's here at night recently, which results in a temp of about 45F in the garage. But, thanks to the insulation in the chamber, temps inside have barely dipped lower than 60F. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I won't have to add a heater at all to this unit.

Yeah, I'm using mine for fermenting two 5 gallon batches right now, but w/o the fridge running. Air temp inside the chamber is around 70ish and air temp in my garage is in the low 60's. hopefully things stay somewhat stable, although I could go back into the house for the winter months. The objective of building mine was for the summer.

 

[kristfin]

cool stuff.

do you think that this design would work for a kegerator. i have a small fridge that can maintain 4°C, but i was planning to double its volume using this design and use as a kegerator.

 

[liljimmynorton]

Just saw the plans for the worktable. That thing is great. I am going to size it for my garage. Living in a townhouse is hard when you have woodworking tools and nowhere to use them. Thanks for the link.

 

[balvey]

Nice, thanks. And just as an update; it's been into the high 30's here at night recently, which results in a temp of about 45F in the garage. But, thanks to the insulation in the chamber, temps inside have barely dipped lower than 60F. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I won't have to add a heater at all to this unit.

Great work, I was looking for something really close to this. Just wondered if you've had any issues with this since last posting, I'm in dire need of something like this and was thinking of doing a combo serving/fermenting chamber along these lines.

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

Great work, I was looking for something really close to this. Just wondered if you've had any issues with this since last posting, I'm in dire need of something like this and was thinking of doing a combo serving/fermenting chamber along these lines.

Nope, this ferm chamber works great and even holds lagering temps fine as well. It takes a few hours to get down to temp, especially in the summer heat, but once there it holds the temp easily. I think it would also work as a kegerator, but definitely plan on 2" of insulation sheathing if that's what you intend. It really will run a lot if it's not insulated and sealed up well. Cheers!

 

[balvey]

Nope, this ferm chamber works great and even holds lagering temps fine as well. It takes a few hours to get down to temp, especially in the summer heat, but once there it holds the temp easily. I think it would also work as a kegerator, but definitely plan on 2" of insulation sheathing if that's what you intend. It really will run a lot if it's not insulated and sealed up well. Cheers!

any suggestions on how to make it a dual purpose serving & fermenting setup? I was thinking just putting a plywood wall as a divider with a couple of holes and fans setup to a thermostat to kick on and blow cold air into the fermenting chamber.

 

[rcrabb22]

any suggestions on how to make it a dual purpose serving & fermenting setup? I was thinking just putting a plywood wall as a divider with a couple of holes and fans setup to a thermostat to kick on and blow cold air into the fermenting chamber.

Different build and a different solution to address the dual temp issues here