sanyo 4912 for fermentation control

[kappclark]

Has anyone used a Sanyo 4912 to control fermentation temp ?

Will a standard "Ale Pail" fit (including airlock ) ?

 

[DaleJ]

Yes, I use an Sanyo 4912 as my fermentation chamber.

You'll have to cut out all but the outer edge of the door panel. But then a pail or a carboy will fit, with room to spare height wise.

I use a Ranco dual stage digital controller on it. The cool side running the fridge, the hot side running a heating pad under the pail.

Fits in a closet. It's great.

 

[kappclark]

Good news - Thx for the post

Can I just remove the interior door panel and replace with styrofoam ?

Who sells the Ranco controller, and what temp do you use for ales (65 deg ?)

I was thinking I wld start at 65ish, then after the 1st week or so, drop the temp down to the 50's. I am thinking that controlling the fermentation environment will give me more consistent results .. maybe the geek in me since I am pretty pleased with how my beers are turning out

 

[Funkenjaeger]

Personally, considering the cost of a 4912, I'd be much more tempted to build an insulated fermentation cabinet and use one of those really cheap minifridges to keep it cool, then you could fit more than just one bucket/carboy in there. That, or get a used chest freezer.

But I guess that depends on how much space you have available, and whether you actually care about fermenting more than 5g in there at once.

 

[kappclark]

OK - I am game -- wondering best way to do that .. I know you can get those minifridges for next to nothing ...

any plans on HBT for such a beast ? Maybe the chest freezer is a better idea .. probably the same or less cost ...

I don't have THAT much room, unless I move to the basement ! (or do what EdWort did !)

 

[Funkenjaeger]

OK - I am game -- wondering best way to do that .. I know you can get those minifridges for next to nothing ...

any plans on HBT for such a beast ? Maybe the chest freezer is a better idea .. probably the same or less cost ...

Off the top of my head, I can envision a foam insulated cabinet with either:
a minifridge (with door removed) stuck against the side of it, with a new controller running the fridge compressor for temp control, or...
a minifridge sitting next to it, with a couple holes drilled in the door with some air ducts going to the fermentation cabinet with small fans in them - this way, run the fridge at regular temperature (even go ahead and store bottles of beer in it), and then use a controller to cycle the fans to run cold air from the fridge into the cabinet. This would basically be a refrigerated version of "son of fermentation chiller" type ice-cooled design.

I know I've seen at least one picture of someone doing the first option in a cabinet under their bar, though I'm not sure if it was for fermentation or for serving kegs.

 

[kappclark]

VERY interesting ... I wonder how cool the mini-fridge can get ... certainly 65 degrees shouldn't be a plm !

I will investigate son of fermentation chiller ...

Later,

 

[ebeer]

For me it's hard to beat the 4912. $199 standard price, $179 on sale, or possibly VERY cheap if you can find one at a garage sale or craigslist (I got one for $100 a few months ago). No building and no rotating ice. I believe my mini fridge said $29yr to operate...pretty cheap.

 

[kappclark]

That's a nice setup - I assume the 7.5 gal conical ...

question - how long do you keep in 4912 ? 2 weeks ? Also, after first week of active fermentation, do you lower temp ?

 

[ebeer]

Well with refrigeration and a temp controller, you can do whatever you want.

Like ferment an ale to FG, drop yeast, and crash cool. Transfer to a keg and carb it up. Or, lager at 50F to 75% completion and bump temp up (natural rise, heating pad, or similar) 10 degrees for a D-rest.

Point being you have ultimate control.

 

[kappclark]

I guess I am wondering how long that nice conical stays tied up ...

I guess you can do the secondary in the keg, in another freezer etc ?

 

[ebeer]

Sure, you can secondary in a corny. Move the corny to another fridge/kegerator, get another batch fermenting. That works fine.

Or....you could buy two 4912's and always have two different 5g batches fermenting simultaneously

Yep, a bucket fits just fine too.

 

[EdWort]

A 5 cu. ft. chest freezer at Sam's club cost $147 and will work nicely too.

 

[kappclark]

I wondered about the chest freezer thing ---

Sam's club ... do you need a menbership ? Forgive my ignorance, but will a 5 cu ft chest freezer handle 2 pails ?

 

[SourHopHead]

Sam's also has a 7.0 cu ft for $177.74, should fit in that and yes you'll need a membership. You can keep an eye on craigslist. A bunch of chest freezers popping up around here lately.

 

[kappclark]

Good idea abt Craigslist .. Thx

I don't think there is a sams club nearby, but BestBuy is in NH (no sales tax)

Although I am not much of a carpenter, I saw a pretty good page which has my vision for keg storage.

www.mikebeer.net/chestfreezer.htm (you may have seen this)

He uses a 7 cu ft chest freezer which fits 4 cornys. Will a 5 cu ft hold 2 cornys ? I supposw I cld get a bigger tank in the 7 chest freezer.

I also notice that his Sanyo has the tank outside, so he didn't need to modify the door, but I might still need to fit pails and/or conical.

This can be a fun project ..

Now all I need is to find the time to drink all this brew I plan to keg !