what size chest freezer do you have?

Homebrewtalk has an excellent, exhaustive thread with profiles of various chest freezers:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/chest-freezer-specs-layouts-377518/

 

I have a 14.7 cubic foot Frigidaire. Where it is mostly used a keezer, the thing has a ton of space and we have used it to ferment a lager once. Kegwise, it has the space to fit a single half barrel as well as up to 5 sixtels. Because cornies are narrower than a standard sixtel, 5 corny's fit with a half barrel as well.

Before purchasing, I suggest you measure the diameters of the objects you want to store, and then use floor planning software (there are many free apps out there) to move around and see what fits inside of a freezer's dimensions.

 

7.2 ft^3 chest freezer. Fits 2 x glass carboys (1 x 6.5gal and 1 x 5gal) not sure about cornys, etc. as I don't keg. I use it for controlling fermentation temp and for cold crashing.

 

“Where it is mostly used a keezer, the thing has a ton of space and we have used it to ferment a lager once.”

Did you simultaneously use it as a keezer and a fermentation chamber at the same time? If you dedicated it for the lager fermentation only, how did you serve your beer during that time period?

Cheers!

 

7.0 cu ft GE that fits 2x 6.5g glass carboys + has a tiny shelf (over the compressor) next to it. The shelf comes more in handy when I'm using the unit to crash cool / store kegs, as I can fit bottles and/or a 3 gallon keg on it.

I own 3 of these units. Bought them a few years ago when they were closer to $170 each

http://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-7-0-cu-ft-Chest-Freezer-in-White-FCM7SUWW/203547578?N=5yc1vZc3nr

 

7.1 Haier. 3-5 gallon kegs and one 2.5 gallon keg. 2-5 gallon kegs with 20lb c02 tank and also the 2.5 gallon keg. can only hold 2-5 gallon buckets/carboys and one 2 gallon fermentor.

 

Before we filled it to max capacity with kegs, we simply set the temp control to the correct temperature for whatever the lager needed. I don't remember the exact temps, but while it was lagering in the 35-45 range the beer in kegs came out fine. May not have been ideal for all of the beer styles, but we dealt with it.

 

I understand the duality of using your chest freezer as a keezer and a lagering chamber. How did you ferment your lager?

Cheers!

 

I convinced my wife with little effort that she needed an eighteen ft2 energy star upright freezer...my 11 ft2 mesozoic chest freezer is now my best friend

 

Don't know the sizes, but one will fit a 6.5 gallon carboy or bucket AND an eight gallon bucket. Note the eight gallon is shorter and wider and sits on the hump, and this won't fit in there with a standard airlock (would be too tall). The lid of the bucket is perfectly designed tho to take a small amount of sanitizer and keep it there without falling into the hole (which has a rubber grommet in it too). Then I cover the top with an upside-down sanitized plate. This has worked perfectly every time.

My other freezer will hold one of those buckets designed for ten gallon batches (and yes, I have one!).

Both freezers have the regular johnson controllers (non-digital, one-way). The beer getting too COLD is a very rare problem to have in Tx, so I didn't bother gettinig two-way controllers.

 

One thing to keep in mind about using chest freezers as fermentation chambers is that, regardless of it's size, it is only one unit capable of being set to one temperature at a time. That's why I decided to go with buying multiple 7 cu ft models that each perfectly fit 2x 6.5g carboys. This way each freezer I have is a "dedicated environment" to one brew day batch resulting in 10 gallons in kegs. Of course this approach is a luxury for somebody with the space/coin to have the option of having multiple chest freezers and multiple temperature controllers. If you do, I'd recommend it over getting one giant chest freezer that you plan on fermenting with. Now one giant chest freezer for cold crashing and cold storage is awesome of course.

 

Heck I'm installing multiple walk-ins, just to try and one-up koopa.

 

Just pulled my last lager from the 36*F 11ft3 chest freezer...now letting it drift up to ~ 60*F for some summer fermentations...everything left in there should handle 60*F real easy with only minimal condensation clean up.

 

I don't have access right now to exact details, but it was a Rauchbier brewed with White Labs German Lager yeast. Primary fermentation went about 5 weeks. Don't remember the pitching temp, but we slowly cooled it to 42ish for primary. Then after transferring to secondary, we kept it around 37.
I just remember that at no point during the process was any beer we poured from a keg either so cold or too warm where anyone cared.
If you are looking for more exact info I can check my brewing log when I get home.

 

“…we slowly cooled it to 42ish for primary.”

White Labs for German Lager yeast recommends a fermentation temperature of: “Optimum Ferment Temp.50-55°F (10-13°C)”

I personally ferment my lagers in the low 50’s (e.g., 52°F).

Cheers!

 

Mine is ~ 28 cu. ft. Holds 15 cornies and a 20 lb cylinder and a 5 lb cylinder.

 

^this guy is back, which is good to see. I thought you were long gone Fester.

the big kegerator is 6 1/2' long. don't know how wide, but wide enough for a half barrel and then some. i know the length because it fits into the back of the truck with no room to spare.

we recently had it loaded with 3 half barrels, 3 cornies, 1 sixtel and a 20# co2 tank. all 7 faucets were on.
loading full kegs is a good way to throw out your back, even with two people. impossible with one person.

usually we just keep 4 or 5 corny kegs on.

 

7.2 cubic foot. Fits two buckets or carboys side by side.

 

I was checking them out and thought 7ish cubic feet looked good.
No practical chest freezer experience. I got a fridge for free off craigslist 5+ years ago and it still works. Pretty loud though.

Probably not for long. Hence shopping for a new one.