Refrigerator for lager fermentation

[guitarpat]

What's the smallest size refrigerator that you can fit a 5 gallon carboy in for fermenting lagers. I don't have room for another fridge. I see 4.2 cu ft models on craigslist for cheap. Are they big enough? I figured someone on here has one that "just fits". Thanks Pat

 

[Homercidal]

I *think* a 4.2 would work. I don't have one, but I think, depending on the layout, they are big enough.

It also depends on which fermentor you are using too, so measure your needs, and try to get the model number or interior dimensions and a photo to make sure it will work.

 

[kombat]

When I was looking, I found that it was impossible to find a small fridge with room for both the carboy and an airlock. Most of the time, the freezer was the problem, but you can't remove the freezer because it contains the cooling coils.

I ended up going with a small, square chest freezer as my fermentation chamber. It fits a carboy perfectly, or 3 corny kegs with a 5 lb CO2 tank on the hump.

 

[Homercidal]

When I was looking, I found that it was impossible to find a small fridge with room for both the carboy and an airlock. Most of the time, the freezer was the problem, but you can't remove the freezer because it contains the cooling coils.

I ended up going with a small, square chest freezer as my fermentation chamber. It fits a carboy perfectly, or 3 corny kegs with a 5 lb CO2 tank on the hump.

This may be a problem, but you can modify the airlock to help make it fit. This is why measuring is important.

Instead of placing the airlock directly into the top of the fermentor, you can use rigid plastic, heated and bent, to go UP from the fermentor, ACROSS the top, and DOWN the side.

From there you can use a container like a blowoff does, or bend the plastic tubing up again and mount the airlock on it using a drilled rubber bung.

I've even drilled my fermentor on the side, near the top, and mounted an airlock so it is flush with the top of the fermentor. You risk clogging that way, so watch the krausen!

 

[hunter_le five]

I use a 5cf for mine, and it's got a bit of extra room. I would bet 4.2cf would be fine, but you would be best served getting internal LxWxH dimensions and comparing them to your fermentation vessel, just in case.

Avoid the models with a freezer shelf. They take up lots of valuable space.

Look into small chest freezers, like Kombat said. They are very space efficient inside and out.