Brew fridge/conditioning chamber options

[Hudson1984]

Hi all,

so, I got my under counter fridge for £20, turned it into a brew fridge and it does indeed do the trick,

however, I’m brewing more, and being as the garage itself isn’t temperature controlled....yet I’m struggling for space to condition brews

I can put kegs in the house I suppose but that’s not really the intention. The garage is the brew house so that’s really where I want things to stay.

Now the current fridge won’t take a conical. And even if it did, it wouldn’t fit anything else after.

is my only viable option a larder fridge or similar?

what I’d like to be able to do is have one unit for brewing, I.e will take a conical, and another for storage I.e will take 4 cornies.

I’ve seen these:
https://www.geterbrewed.com/ferminator-basic/
now they’re of course more expensive than my little £20 fridge however, with one expansion block it’ll still fit under my counter and take a conical if reasonable size, and a second one would sit on my worktop, take 4 cornies that can be conditioning.

now the second one might not be purchased- next year I’m planning on adding ac to the garage and temperature controlling it so I’ll just keep the whole space at a permanent conditioning temp, no problems then....I think....unless I should be conditioning at 30degrees!

but wondered if there are other options - I really don’t want another larder fridge or a freezer. I’ve got 2 larder fridges and an under counter as it is, I just need to find equipment that makes better use of the space allotted really.
Hopefully you can all help :)

 

[Buffers brewery]

I may be misunderstanding what you’re saying here but sounds like.

1. You want a brew fridge that will take a conical = larder fridge+inkbird, cost new c. £200.
2. You’re considering a Fermenter basic that costs £194 and houses a conical or cornys.
3. You don’t want another larder fridge even though to get what you want you need to buy something the size of a larder fridge?

I think to achieve your desired outcome you’ll have to acquire an additional bit of kit. If you go down the larder fridge route (that is your un-preferred route) you could buy new, or secondhand and save a bit of cash left over. Buying a Fermenter basic is on a par with a new larder fridge in cost and footprint.

Got a coin to flip?

 

[Hudson1984]

Ahh sorry, the fermenter basic with 1 expansion will fit under a counter which I can’t do with a larder.

indeed if I added more expansions it then becomes on par with a larder fridge, but in basic form with one expansion it’s no bigger than an under counter fridge but I more usable internal space

 

[Hudson1984]

I think having looked at the garage again, I need to find room for another larder fridge....be a garage of fridges!

I’ll then use my under counter to condition kegs, and the larder fridge for fermenting....

Buying this used will still of course be cheaper than the fermenter thing I’ve listed with the benefit of being WiFi with InkBird. Ah well another fridge to look for

 

[Buffers brewery]

Can never have too many fridges! And they come in handy at (normal) Christmas time for storing all the extra food and drink!

 

[Hudson1984]

Come up with a more viable (meaning wife approved) option;

turn the current overflow fridge into a ferm fridge - it’s a larder, so taller and wider than my under counter.

replace the cheapy undercounter with a new one that will serve as the new overflow fridge.

only real issue I have then is conditioning but again, I’m planning on putting ac in the garage so will just set it to a half decent temp or at least a “don’t let it get colder than x and no hotter than y” and the whole room can be for conditioning.

problem solved....sort of

 

[Buffers brewery]

You can always put an inkbird in the new “overflow” fridge while it’s not overflowing and use it for conditioning

 

[Hudson1984]

Very true. I’ll probably keep the old one for a while, just have to make new shelves. Add another inkbird and Heater to the larder one and I’m done. Loads of flexibility then