fridges

[Aussiekraut]

Finally ordered a chest freezer and another Inkbird to have a suitable place to lager 2 kegs, with a little luck even 3. And of course because I have 2 pluto guns, a spare gas bottle and a spare regulator, it might also be used to serve beer when needed  

[Malter White]

On 6/26/2022 at 7:00 AM, Classic Brewing Co said:

I was talking to my pilot mate ( with the new boat ) discussing a day out fishing 

I think your mate might be a sailor 

[Classic Brewing Co]

9 hours ago, MUZZY said:

I think your mate might be a sailor 

He is a Captain Pilot (PIC) but if he had his way he would be on the water more with his new boat, he lives at Glenelg & we catch up when he has time but the weather hasn't really been good enough to get out on the water.

[Aussiekraut]

I bought myself a small chest freezer for lagering and an Inkbird to go with it. Great to have the extra space to keep kegs cold and all. I only have one issue and that appears to be the power setting of the freezer.

My fridges are set to full power and things work pretty well, the variation in the temperature is fairly small and usually sticks to the limits. With the freezer on the other hand, it's set to 2C ,with a heating/cooling threshold of 0.3C each way, and more often than not drops well below that number, sometimes reaching minus temperatures. 

I take it I need to turn down the power on the freezer a fair bit to fix this. Not sure why since, power off means no more cooling but maybe there is still cold coolant in the system bringing the temps down?

Any insights? Never used a freezer for my beers.

[ozdevil]

Ok i am thinking of a taller style fridge i am either going to purchase soon the rapt fridge

but i am toying with an upright freezer  using the rapt  temp controller and heat belt


obviously i would not be setting a freezer to its coldest     

but i am leaning to just wait till i have the cash to purchase the rapt fridge from Kegland

[Shamus O'Sean]

On 7/18/2022 at 6:42 AM, Aussiekraut said:

I bought myself a small chest freezer for lagering and an Inkbird to go with it. Great to have the extra space to keep kegs cold and all. I only have one issue and that appears to be the power setting of the freezer.

My fridges are set to full power and things work pretty well, the variation in the temperature is fairly small and usually sticks to the limits. With the freezer on the other hand, it's set to 2C ,with a heating/cooling threshold of 0.3C each way, and more often than not drops well below that number, sometimes reaching minus temperatures. 

I take it I need to turn down the power on the freezer a fair bit to fix this. Not sure why since, power off means no more cooling but maybe there is still cold coolant in the system bringing the temps down?

Any insights? Never used a freezer for my beers.

I ferment in a temperature controlled chest freezer.  I have never adjusted the power of the freezer from when it was used to freeze stuff.  Once the temperature settles down, I find it stays within a fairly narrow band.  It is only when changing the temperature that there is any issues.  For example, cold crashing from 20°C to 1°C will often see the temperature drop below zero.  It is probably due to a temperature gradient between the walls of the freezer and where the temperature probe is.  By the time the probe detects the set temperature, the sides of the freezer are already below that temperature.  So, although the temperature controller turns the freezer off, the colder temperature of the walls still transfers to the air inside the freezer and ultimately the temperature probe.  But the temperature still comes back up again.  Either due to ambient temperature or due to the temperature of the wort.  I do not think it is too much of a worry. 

It will depend on where your temperature probe is: Hanging in the air, taped to the side of the fermenter, or in a temperature well inside the fermenter.  To address it when cold crashing, I usually drop in a couple of steps.  Say 10°C, then 4°C then 2°C then 1°C.

[Shamus O'Sean]

10 hours ago, ozdevil said:

Ok i am thinking of a taller style fridge i am either going to purchase soon the rapt fridge

but i am toying with an upright freezer  using the rapt  temp controller and heat belt


obviously i would not be setting a freezer to its coldest     

but i am leaning to just wait till i have the cash to purchase the rapt fridge from Kegland

I suggest waiting until you can get the Rapt fridge.  It seems like a much more purpose designed option.  I will eventually sell it to the Minister of Finance as being a better option than a second hand fridge because it will be new, it comes with a warranty, and it is not likely to burn down the house.

If you do go with the upright freezer option, check that it is not one with the cooling coils built into the shelves.  If you cannot remove the shelves, you might not fit a fermenter inside.

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 hour ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

I suggest waiting until you can get the Rapt fridge.  It seems like a much more purpose designed option.  I will eventually sell it to the Minister of Finance as being a better option than a second hand fridge because it will be new, it comes with a warranty, and it is not likely to burn down the house.

If you do go with the upright freezer option, check that it is not one with the cooling coils built into the shelves.  If you cannot remove the shelves, you might not fit a fermenter inside.

They certainly look the business, I like the options with the various units, even kegs but I don't think I can justify one just yet. 

[Aussiekraut]

5 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

I ferment in a temperature controlled chest freezer.  I have never adjusted the power of the freezer from when it was used to freeze stuff.  Once the temperature settles down, I find it stays within a fairly narrow band.  It is only when changing the temperature that there is any issues.  For example, cold crashing from 20°C to 1°C will often see the temperature drop below zero.  It is probably due to a temperature gradient between the walls of the freezer and where the temperature probe is.  By the time the probe detects the set temperature, the sides of the freezer are already below that temperature.  So, although the temperature controller turns the freezer off, the colder temperature of the walls still transfers to the air inside the freezer and ultimately the temperature probe.  But the temperature still comes back up again.  Either due to ambient temperature or due to the temperature of the wort.  I do not think it is too much of a worry. 

It will depend on where your temperature probe is: Hanging in the air, taped to the side of the fermenter, or in a temperature well inside the fermenter.  To address it when cold crashing, I usually drop in a couple of steps.  Say 10°C, then 4°C then 2°C then 1°C.

The probe is taped to the "step" in the freezer. 

I have set the temp to 2C and a threshold of 0.3C either way, so cool at 2.3 and warm at 1.7 (no heater is in place). I saw temperatures below 0 a few times. I upped the temp to 3C now in order to prevent negative temps. Atm, the temperature reading is 1.3C, a far cry from the now threshold of 2.7. Maybe I should attach the probe to one of the kegs in there.

[Shamus O'Sean]

5 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

The probe is taped to the "step" in the freezer. 

I have set the temp to 2C and a threshold of 0.3C either way, so cool at 2.3 and warm at 1.7 (no heater is in place). I saw temperatures below 0 a few times. I upped the temp to 3C now in order to prevent negative temps. Atm, the temperature reading is 1.3C, a far cry from the now threshold of 2.7. Maybe I should attach the probe to one of the kegs in there.

Yes, I would attach the probe to one of the kegs. They are what you are wanting to control.

The step in my freezer has a cold spot.  When it is cold crashing, a circle of frost, about 10cm diameter, forms on the surface. The inside surfaces of the freezer are probably at inconsistent temperatures. 

Don't forget, a bit below zero will not effect the beer anyway.

[Hoppy81]

19 hours ago, ozdevil said:

Ok i am thinking of a taller style fridge i am either going to purchase soon the rapt fridge

but i am toying with an upright freezer  using the rapt  temp controller and heat belt


obviously i would not be setting a freezer to its coldest     

but i am leaning to just wait till i have the cash to purchase the rapt fridge from Kegland

Get the RAPT fermentation chamber mate, i am running 2 and they are bloody awesome, yes they are more expensive than what you can build yourself but totally worth it in my opinion. I will be getting another 2 shortly so i can get rid of the other 2 fridge's i use as well.

[Stickers]

22 minutes ago, Hoppy81 said:

Get the RAPT fermentation chamber mate, i am running 2 and they are bloody awesome, yes they are more expensive than what you can build yourself but totally worth it in my opinion. I will be getting another 2 shortly so i can get rid of the other 2 fridge's i use as well.

i've been thinking of saving towards a RAPT ferm chamber myself, nice to hear some good feedback on it.

[Hoppy81]

14 minutes ago, Stickers said:

i've been thinking of saving towards a RAPT ferm chamber myself, nice to hear some good feedback on it.

They are a neat bit of gear mate, no messing around with heat belts and temperature controllers etc, as I said you could do all that and save a fair bit of coin building your own but if you are looking for something that just works out of the box with no messing around then grab a RAPT

[Classic Brewing Co]

5 minutes ago, Hoppy81 said:

They are a neat bit of gear mate, no messing around with heat belts and temperature controllers etc, as I said you could do all that and save a fair bit of coin building your own but if you are looking for something that just works out of the box with no messing around then grab a RAPT

Hey Hoppy I will have a couple just throw them in the back of the Ute when you come down next.  

Seriously I have checked them out on KL's site & they look like they are awesome.

[Hoppy81]

7 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Hey Hoppy I will have a couple just throw them in the back of the Ute when you come down next.  

Seriously I have checked them out on KL's site & they look like they are awesome.

I'm only using them manually at the moment as my internet in the shed is pretty much non existent, ill be running a hard line out to a router in the shed soon to get them running on the portal to have full auto control over them. You'll need to lease out the unit next door with all these upgrades you are getting Phil haha

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 hour ago, Hoppy81 said:

You'll need to lease out the unit next door with all these upgrades you are getting Phil haha

All good Hoppy I have just told the dear old girl next door she will have to go in the interest of increasing beer production in Phil's Bar & Grill.

[kmar92]

I was tempted to buy a KL fermentation chamber a few months ago when I had to replace my fermentation fridge but I opted to go with a conventional all-fridge that can take 2 FV's. I am a little wary of KL fridges, I have had  KL kegerator for about 2 years and so far it has worked fine, but there are a lot of instances of them failing at quite a young age. The build quality is not great, but they are at a good price point.