Turning freezer into lager

[Whops]

Hey brewers, first post ever for me right here. I want to make an Oktoberfest and currently have no means of lagering, however, I do have a freezer that's kinda shotty. It's cold on the bottom and warm on the top. I was thinking if I could circulate the air with a fan, I could have my lager. Would this work? Or is there a whole slew of things that I also need to do?

 

[Bellybuster]

you really need temp control for lagering. Ink bird sells some ready made affordable temp controllers

 

[Kent88]

Are you referring to keeping it cold during primary fermentation, lagering in secondary, or both?

Keeping the fermenting beer at the proper temp keeps yeasts happy, and happy yeasts make good beer. There are some strains, like Wyest 2124, that are supposed to work well even at higher temps. There are also hybrid yeast strains that work best in the 56F to 62F range. If you can't find a spot in your house that is cold enough for a typical lager primary fermentation, you have some options with those.

If you are referring to a cold secondary, if you have an extra fridge I think it would work better than an uncontrolled freezer. Have you stuck a couple of thermometers in the freezer while it has been running? If so, what temps were you observing?

 

[Whops]

I'd like something that could do it all you know? I want to make some awesome lagers in the future.
-The temperatures are weird. at the bottom I get like 18f at the top it gets to about 35f. I think i'm going to stick a fan in there to see what temperatures I can get. Otherwise I'll have to ferment my Oktoberfest as a lager in the coolest spot in my house, which gets to about 60f.

 

[Kent88]

If you have a spot in the house that consistently stays in the upper 50Fs, I'd recommend you use a hybrid yeast, like Wyeast 1007, and leave it in that cool spot. It isn't exactly a lager, but I've used that yeast myself and it will make some good lager-like beer. As long as it isn't for a contest you're fine.

When you try it with the fan in there, maybe put in a small plastic water bottle and see if it freezes after it runs overnight or something. Just a little test run before you put beer in there to lager for a couple weeks or months. You've got time while it sits in primary.

Obligatory reference to this forums favorite short-lager method (even though it really doesn't have much to do with the equipment side of things): Brulosophy