I started brewing about a year ago and when I started, I was living in a second floor apartment. I would stick my carboy in the bathroom closet. I had no temp control and I know this affected my beer, especially in the summer. Well, we moved to a twin in Dec. w/ a basement. I was so excited knowing that the basement would be optimum in the summer. However, This is a old house (probably about 100 yr. or so) and has been cold all winter; the temp throughout the house averages anywhere from the upper 50's to low 60's. Nowhere do I have a place where I can brew an ale right now and I don't have a fridge to be able to do a lager correctly.
Here's the thing: in the basement is a 50 year old Ben Hur freezer (it looks almost exactly like this, but it's much older). My father-in-law convinced me to plug it in and the thing did turn on, but there is no freon in it. We rent and I don't own the fridge, so there is no way I'm gonna pay to have someone come look at it, even if it could be fixed, nor do I have enough know-how to try and modify it myself. But it is a perfect place to stick my carboy due to the fact that is insulated so well (the basement temp currently fluctuates between 52 and 58 degrees). I'm looking for a way to add some sort of heat source to the freezer that I can control well enough to maintain a temp high enough to brew ales. Any ideas? Someone at my HBS recommended setting a light bulb in it, but it has only raised the temp to about 60. Any ideas?
Thanks in advance for the help.
Here's the thing: in the basement is a 50 year old Ben Hur freezer (it looks almost exactly like this, but it's much older). My father-in-law convinced me to plug it in and the thing did turn on, but there is no freon in it. We rent and I don't own the fridge, so there is no way I'm gonna pay to have someone come look at it, even if it could be fixed, nor do I have enough know-how to try and modify it myself. But it is a perfect place to stick my carboy due to the fact that is insulated so well (the basement temp currently fluctuates between 52 and 58 degrees). I'm looking for a way to add some sort of heat source to the freezer that I can control well enough to maintain a temp high enough to brew ales. Any ideas? Someone at my HBS recommended setting a light bulb in it, but it has only raised the temp to about 60. Any ideas?
Thanks in advance for the help.