Hello all

[Megabrew]

Hello everybody

I've been reading this forum for about a year now and brewing for the same amount of time. The forum is a great place to learn about other people's experiences and gain new ideas.

I've previously made some country wines using fruit from the garden but with limited success!

I have mainly been doing kits (coopers and festival). I don't have much spare time but last year I managed to build some basic all grain kit for very minimal cost. I managed to get my first all grain done before Christmas. The process went very smoothly but there are a few things I will change next time round.

I have recently completed building a temperature controlled fermentation fridge which means I can now brew in the garage.

I'm going to do more all grain brewing soon and I'm looking at a
Kolsch beer and Tribute clone. I am also trying out some wine kits to keep the Wife happy.

I'm looking forward to a lot more brewing and sharing experiences here.

Cheers

:

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Welcome to the forum :

 

[Smileyr8]

Welcome Mega share your experiences.........

 

[BeestonHop_John]

hi there, welcome to the forum

 

[Bunglebrewsbeer]

How did you build the fridge?

 

[Megabrew]

There are some good threads on here on how to make a decent fermenting fridge. They are not too difficult to build and can be quite cheap. I followed these steps:

1) Get yourself a fridge! This should be of the larder variety e.g. with no freezer or top ice box compartment. An under counter type fridge should be fine but mine just happens to be a bit bigger. You can pick them up quite cheaply on eBay or from your local free ads such as Fridayad etc. Mine was free to collector. It needs to work!

2) Buy a heater tube from eBay or toolstation. You are looking for a 65 watt variety which is about a foot long and comes with brackets. Cost should be about £12.

3) Buy an STC-1000 temperature controller from eBay for about £15.

4) fix the heating tube to the bottom of the fridge with the brackets in a horizontal position using screws or strong glue such as aryldite. I then drilled a whole just big enough for the heater power cable through the side wall of the fridge. Some people take it out the back, it's up to you.

5) wire up the STC 1000 to the fridge and heater tube. You can do without but it is best to use a small project box and some standard 3 pin enclosed sockets. Cost about £6. There are some good easy to follow videos on this process on utube. If you are not too handy with electrics then ask a friend to help.

6) finally you need to build a cage or supporting structure over the heater tube. Most fridges have a step arrangement at the base/floor to accommodate the compressor gear at the bottom on the outside. You need to create a level surface on which you can stand your fermenting bin. This should ideally have some gaps in to let warm circulate from the heater tube. I used some wood from an old wooden bed frame that I had lying around and just screwed together semester struts and sections. The design is up to you just make sure it is sturdy and strong enough to hold your fermenting bin when it is full of 23 litres of liquid!

Plug in and power up. Again there are some good threads on how to operate the STC 1000 which will enable you to set the desired temperature of your fridge.

The whole set up means you can maintain constant fermenting temperatures which is one of the most crucial and important aspects of successful brewing. It also means you can brew in cold places like the shed or garage without a problem.

Hope this may be of help.

 

[Bunglebrewsbeer]

Sounds very good. My knowledge of electrics though is not the best. Plugs at present are Prob my limits.