Hello,
I’m new to homebrewing and would eventually like to brew lagers and the like. I’m looking for a way to rig up a fridge or deep freeze to maintain the desired temps during fermentation. I’ve seen quite a few different designs. I’m looking for the best way to be able to essentially set it and forget it as I don’t have a lot of time to keep constant check on it. I figured you guys would have knowledge/experience and be able to point me in the right direction. Thank you for your time!
We’ll if you don’t already have a fridge for a fermenter buy one off craigslist unless you wanna pay for a new one. You can buy a Johnson digital temp controller from just about every homebrew website. Just follow the directions and you got a fermentation chamber. But I am pretty sure you can make a temp regulator if you don’t wanna buy one. There not that expensive though, maybe $70 bucks.
http://www.amazon.com/Johnson-Digital-Temperature-Controller/dp/B0064O93L8
Id get the digital version, but there is an analog version made by Johnson. The digital version can be set so there is less temp difference (+/-). There are other brands but this seems to be the most common. i have mine hooked up to an old college mini-fridge to store hops and another setup to a chest freezer to hold at 40F. works great! Any decent LHBS should have them in stock.
Thanks guys. I already have a deep freeze. Will I need something to heat it if the temp drops too low?
I recommend a dual stage controller so that you can heat or cool. I currently use a kegerator as a fermentation chamber with a heating wrap inside it. I have the temperature probe from the controller inside a Thermowell which is siting in the fermenting beer. That way it is measuring and controlling beer temperature, not the air surrounding. With this setup I control the temperature of my fermenting beer within a one degree fluctuation.
Sounds good. I’ll need to be able to heat and cool because I live in Arkansas. Monday the high was 11 degrees. Today is Sunday and it’s 65. Lots of fluctuation