I would like to start off by saying, Living here in Arizona makes it difficult to temp control fermentation to say the least, summer is 120+ deg and winter is 34 deg.
So I decided a temperature controlled fermentation chamber would be best, to help me regulate stable fermentation temps and help me brew better beers.
(My wife made the Brew Room sign, how cool is that! it was my anniversary present, we always make each other our anniversary gifts.)
I had every intention to build a 5 cubic foot chest freezer fermentation chamber, so I priced everything out, it came out to around $300 to build a 5 cubic foot chamber, This is a new freezer $220 + tax $17.90 total $237.90, a temp controller $30, brew belt $25, grand total it came out to $292.90
And before people start saying I should have picked up a CL freezer for only $20 bucks, I looked for months, you can't find a good used $20 freezer on CL where I live. people here think they are made out of gold for some reason.
All that being said, and after pricing out a 5 cubic foot freezer build at almost $300 bucks, and a 7 cubic foot freezer build add another $70 to the price, now I was kinda bummed out because I had aspirations of being able to ferment/condition 3 or 4 or even 5 five gallon batches at a time, that meant I would needed 2 of these fermentation chambers.
(The humble beginnings)
One night my wife and I were sipping on a home brew and this crazy Idea popped into my head, I said to her what about a temp controlled fermentation room? I could build one in the back yard, Her reply was why don't you use that extra room (her office) it would work great, and I will just move my office into the spare bedroom, I thought and said wow! that works out great for everyone.
So I priced out converting the spare room into a temperature controlled fermentation chamber and I was shocked at what it was going to cost, a total of $326, later I added $14 of mood lighting making the grand total $340
So here is what I did for my temp controlled fermentation chamber/TheBrewRoom.
I insulated over the window $30, purchased a cabinet/shelve unit at a county auction for $36, and installed a new 6000 btu A/C unit for summer $220 and a $20 small heater for winter, I can set the room to stay at a constant temp anywhere from 65 deg up to 85+ all year round, right now I have the room set at a constant 70 deg for age conditioning my beers, I still use the old fashion swamp cooler method for primary fermentation on ale yeast to keep them at 65 deg, and in winter if I want to lager I turn off the heater, the room stays around 40 deg and during these times to keep my ales going I use the swamp cooler with $20 a fish aquarium heater set at 65 deg.
I also added mood lighting $14 behind the top row of bottles, so I can turn off the main lights and the bottles dimly light the room, its kinda like being in a dimly lit bar.
And yes even when its 120 degrees out that A/C unit can hold the room to 65 deg.
Total Cost for a 5 cubic foot temp controlled chest freezer $300
Total Cost for my 676 cubic foot temp controlled Brew Room is $340
(looking into the Brew Room from the doorway, left)
(...to center)
(...to right.)
I like the idea of being able to share my crazy idea (reality now) and a side by side price comparison along with the information I learned from this build, its nice to be able to help others make a informed decision on what will or might work for them, maybe someone that would not have thought they could ever do this, just might now.
Some times I just sit in the Brew Room having a Home Brew, listening to music and smelling the smells of a Brew Room, last weekend we picked up 400+ lbs of grain so the room smells really, really good, add the smell of a fermenting beer and its heaven.
It has been quite a lot of work, but I love it.
I have to say Thank You to my Wonderful Wife and brewing partner for all her support.
Cheers to all that brew !
-WiliECoyote
So I decided a temperature controlled fermentation chamber would be best, to help me regulate stable fermentation temps and help me brew better beers.
(My wife made the Brew Room sign, how cool is that! it was my anniversary present, we always make each other our anniversary gifts.)
I had every intention to build a 5 cubic foot chest freezer fermentation chamber, so I priced everything out, it came out to around $300 to build a 5 cubic foot chamber, This is a new freezer $220 + tax $17.90 total $237.90, a temp controller $30, brew belt $25, grand total it came out to $292.90
And before people start saying I should have picked up a CL freezer for only $20 bucks, I looked for months, you can't find a good used $20 freezer on CL where I live. people here think they are made out of gold for some reason.
All that being said, and after pricing out a 5 cubic foot freezer build at almost $300 bucks, and a 7 cubic foot freezer build add another $70 to the price, now I was kinda bummed out because I had aspirations of being able to ferment/condition 3 or 4 or even 5 five gallon batches at a time, that meant I would needed 2 of these fermentation chambers.
(The humble beginnings)
One night my wife and I were sipping on a home brew and this crazy Idea popped into my head, I said to her what about a temp controlled fermentation room? I could build one in the back yard, Her reply was why don't you use that extra room (her office) it would work great, and I will just move my office into the spare bedroom, I thought and said wow! that works out great for everyone.
So I priced out converting the spare room into a temperature controlled fermentation chamber and I was shocked at what it was going to cost, a total of $326, later I added $14 of mood lighting making the grand total $340
So here is what I did for my temp controlled fermentation chamber/TheBrewRoom.
I insulated over the window $30, purchased a cabinet/shelve unit at a county auction for $36, and installed a new 6000 btu A/C unit for summer $220 and a $20 small heater for winter, I can set the room to stay at a constant temp anywhere from 65 deg up to 85+ all year round, right now I have the room set at a constant 70 deg for age conditioning my beers, I still use the old fashion swamp cooler method for primary fermentation on ale yeast to keep them at 65 deg, and in winter if I want to lager I turn off the heater, the room stays around 40 deg and during these times to keep my ales going I use the swamp cooler with $20 a fish aquarium heater set at 65 deg.
I also added mood lighting $14 behind the top row of bottles, so I can turn off the main lights and the bottles dimly light the room, its kinda like being in a dimly lit bar.
And yes even when its 120 degrees out that A/C unit can hold the room to 65 deg.
Total Cost for a 5 cubic foot temp controlled chest freezer $300
Total Cost for my 676 cubic foot temp controlled Brew Room is $340
(looking into the Brew Room from the doorway, left)
(...to center)
(...to right.)
I like the idea of being able to share my crazy idea (reality now) and a side by side price comparison along with the information I learned from this build, its nice to be able to help others make a informed decision on what will or might work for them, maybe someone that would not have thought they could ever do this, just might now.
Some times I just sit in the Brew Room having a Home Brew, listening to music and smelling the smells of a Brew Room, last weekend we picked up 400+ lbs of grain so the room smells really, really good, add the smell of a fermenting beer and its heaven.
It has been quite a lot of work, but I love it.
I have to say Thank You to my Wonderful Wife and brewing partner for all her support.
Cheers to all that brew !
-WiliECoyote
