My Fermenting 'chamber'

[MEB]

Due to the fact that my fermenters get placed in my 'office' and it has a portable air con unit in here i don't have trouble keeping them at fermenting temps. But it means the room is quite noisy and it's next to our bedroom. So i've decided i'm going to build a big chamber in the workshop that will hold the air con and 4-5 FV's.

I have 5 sheets of ply left over from a project so i thought i'd put them to good use.

More to follow, inc pic's.

 

[Vossy1]

Looking forward to it MEB

 

[A T]

Looking forward 2 i built one last year but it only holds 25 L

 

[MEB]

I've been building my FC today. I have the carcass and shelf finished. I'm pleased with the progress. When finished it will be big enough to hold 4 x 25L FV's and my air con unit. I took some piccy's and am just sorting them out, so will post them in a few minutes.

 

[Buzz]

You big tease you... let's have those pics :)

 

[MEB]

Er, sorry for the delay. I got pulled away to drink beer with a friend who turned up.

Here's the space i cleared to make some room for the chamber. It was a corner where i stored some bags of concrete and off cuts of timber. Wasted space really...

It's also conveniently placed to the left of my brewery area. I thought i'd make it sufficiently big enough so i could store my sacks of grain in there too.

 

[MEB]

First i removed the glass from the window and replaced this with a piece of hardboard. This is where the air con unit's outlet will go. It will also save me drilling a great big hole through the inner and outer of my workshop and means i can put the window back in when we come to sell.

 

[MEB]

I had a load of decking boards that were left over from a few projects so i thought i'd utilise these for the carcass. They proved to be ideal and as i already had them, free. The corner here is not square at all. How builders can cock up something as basic as this is beyond me? So with a little jiggery pokery i got it reasonably true on the faces. The concrete floor is not level either(same builder?) so i had to do more messing about to get the floor level.

As the area is about 7' tall i have placed a shelf halfway up. This is only 24" deep to allow plenty of airflow between the two areas.

 

[MEB]

This was about as far as i got due to all the messing about with out of square workshop and wonky floors. I'm going to get stuck into it again now. I should be able to get the floor, ceiling and side panel on. The door will take a bit of messing about with as i'll have to build a frame and then the door itself. The sheets of ply are all wonky and bent so the door will need to be clamped, glued and screwed and left to dry before i can hang it. As the temps here are slowly creeping up i'd like to have this finished before monday.

I plan to put the AC unit where the big FV is. This will then blow cool air towards the door and being high up should help keep the chamber a uniform temperature-hot air rising and all that. My biggest concern is the lack of power outlets in my workshop. So i may have to take a spur from an existing outlet and run it to the outside of the chamber. The AC unit has no trouble keeping an area 4 times the size of this at 16C during the height of summer here so it should be a breeze(excuse the pun ) to keep the chamber at 18C. Which is my goal.

 

[MEB]

Hopefull i'll have the next installment for you guys when your all back from your snoozing. Off to play now.

 

[MEB]

I managed to get a bit more done but not as much as i'd have liked due to interuptions. :x
I got the side on and the floor in. It's going to be quite a big space, which is good. I've measured up for the door and have a good idea how it's going to go. I have a day filling dive cylinders tomorrow so i should be able to get stuck in again. I'm loathe to do another brew before my chamber is ready as it hit 23C today and my brews i have fermenting edged up towards 22C.

SWMBO said it looks a bit 'rustic'? I guess it does but it's not supposed to win any competitions for it's looks. It's a fermenting chamber and as long as it stays at the temps i'm after in there that's all it's supposed to do. It certainly won't fall down, it's very solid.

 

[Vossy1]

I think it looks pretty good so far MEB, coming along nicely :thumb:

 

[Buzz]

SWMBO said it looks a bit 'rustic'?

Cheeky mare, If I'd have built something like that. I'd be over the moon. Looking good MEB

 

[Wez]

Looks great so far :grin:

 

[BrewStew]

that looks quality mate :mrgreen:

 

[BillyB]

That looks BIG ! :shock:

 

[MEB]

Thanks guys. I'm keen to get this finished today as i want to get brewing again. It seems summer is nearly here and it's a nice hot day already. I like the lovely hot days but it's not too conductive for brewing.

I built it big, room for lots of FV's and a few sacks of grain. A good place to hide too. :lol:

 

[BillyB]

Thanks guys. It seems summer is nearly here......

Yeah - we've been saying that for the last 5 months! Never happened.

 

[MEB]

Thats because the UK doesn't have summers anymore. One of the reasons i live in NZ. Beautiful summers and not too hot. Just about right with av summer temps around 26-28C. I do like rubbing it in. :lol:

 

[Vossy1]

I do like rubbing it in.

Fair dinkum mate.....but 4-5 fv's on the top shelf...Im looking at the pic above and they've gotta be baby size fv's :lol: