Side by Side fridge large enough?

[ChiN8]

I was recommended to take my question up with the big dogs over here in the equipment section!

As we are entering the beautiful summer of North Carolina, there is no way I can ferment properly in this heat.

So my question is;
would a side-by-side be able to fit a 5 gal Better bottle on the freezer side and the ~50 bottles bottled from a 5 gal on the fridge side?

 

[jedIPA]

I'm just guessing here but I think you would be better off using the freezer side for the beer and fridge for fermenting. Ranco makes a 2 Stage temp controller http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300422803738&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT With the proper shelving in the freezer you should be able to put well over 50 12oz bottles. On the fridge side I think you should be able to fit 2 fermenters, maybe more. Curious to know what you end up doing. Good luck.

 

[oceanselv]

I use a side by side for my fermentation, grain and hop storage. The freezer is too small to a 6 gallon carboy in. The fridge side is certainly large enough for a fermenter and the shelves to hold the 50 bottles, but you won't get anything else in there. If you have not bought a side by side yet, I would look at craigslist for a chest freezer. These will hold more and with a temperature controller you can ferment lagers or ales. If you are only brewing ales over the summer you may want to find a nice cool closet and place the fermenter in a water bath with a wet t-shirt over it.

Regarding the 2 stage temp controller, I don't think this will work on a refrigerator freezer combination as these typically only have one compressor for both units. For the freezer to be cold enough the fridge has to be cold as well. For instance if I set my fridge temp to 64 for a typical ale fermentation, my freezer temperature will be above freezing.

Really in hot climates like we have in North Carolina the best option is to have a unit to store your finished beer in either bottles or kegs, grain and hops in if you are an all grain brewer and a separate unit with adjustable temperature control for your fermentation chamber.

 

[ChiN8]

I was hoping it would be as easy as throwing the Carboy in on the freezer side and bottles on the fridge side, but the Carboy probably won't fit in the freezer side.

So I think I am going to purchase 2 mini/dorm fridges like 4.3 CU and throw my carboy in one and bottles in the other.... Would have been a lot easier with the side by side.

 

[jedIPA]

You should be able to stack the mini fridge combo if space is a problem. Thus taking up much less space than the side by side.

 

[ChiN8]

Space isn't the issue, it's A) money (I could probably find a cheap side by side for less than 2x Minis) B) energy consumption (I don't know what I'd be looking at with 2x Minis hooked up compared to 1 side by side)

 

[BrewBeemer]

This is a great topic as I have a big side by side sitting outside me thinking what to do with it? With the single compressor I want to carefully gut it out keeping only the complete refrigeration system with ther gas still in the system. Add this to fermenting conicals lids with cooling coils inside the fernenters plus insulate the exteriors. This or call the scrap man but R12 is the only reason I have future plans for it.

 

[jedIPA]

I'm sure you could find a couple of mini fridge's right now on Craigs list. College is over and there is a load of kids unloading these things before/after graduation. As far as power goes I don't think it's going to cost more but I can't back that up. With two minis I'm quite sure you can use the Ranco 2 stage to control them.

 

[BrewBeemer]

Get a mini dorm fridge with the rear mounted condenser coils vs built in slab sided condenser units, they remove the heat more efficently plus you can box the 3 exposed sides with wood covering. I have Berkeley near me and watch Craigs List.

 

[bodhi314]

If you are brewing 5 gallons at a time - the side-by-side works very well.

If i was starting over, would seriously consider a freezer, depending on your space available -

My $0.02 - https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/side-side-fermanator-177212/#post2051114

Happy fermenting! Look forward to the updates.

 

[rcrabb22]

I was recommended to take my question up with the big dogs over here in the equipment section!

As we are entering the beautiful summer of North Carolina, there is no way I can ferment properly in this heat.

So my question is;
would a side-by-side be able to fit a 5 gal Better bottle on the freezer side and the ~50 bottles bottled from a 5 gal on the fridge side?

Check out this thread