I have a large chest freezer with a temperature control. Although I make all styles of beer, I far prefer making lagers. The chest freezer is perfect for that. However, if I already have kegs of beer in the chest freezer, it becomes very challenging when I am fermenting a new lager. I then have to raise the freezer to about 48 F and leave it at that temperature for a couple of weeks (if I'm not doing a diacetyl rest). That temperature is too warm for either lagering ot serving the other beer. I do not want to purchase another chest freezer to allow for two different temperature environments. Has anyone seen or come up with any creative solutions for somehow compartmentalizing an existing chest freezer, and adding a heat element and a separate temperature controller to an insulated chamber within it to allow for fermenting a separate lager at a warmer temperature?
A recent thread: https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/all-in-one-kegerator-and-fermentation-chamber.491849/ Cheers!
Ya, you may want to get a mini fridge to do fermentation in, and keep your chest freezer for serving.
I only ferment lagers in the winter...in an old broken chest freezer or commando in the garage if temps are cooperating...I move them indoors (~5 ft for me) for a D-rest and then back out to my temp controlled chest freezer for lagering along with my ales.
While 48 degrees may not be ideal for lagering or serving your kegged beer, for just two weeks during a fermantation period I'd not bother trying to set up a dual-temp arrangement.
I too only brew lagers in the wintertime. My lager fermentation 'chamber' is my basement. I have an 1896 Michelob primary fermenting right now at 52 degrees F. Cheers!
Drinking my 1961 Michelob I brewed in early Dec. In reality, it's lighter and more hoppy than any Michelob, but tasty nevertheless
Thanks - similar situation, but it refers more to using an upright refrigerator rather than a chest freezer.
I've been doing something very similar. I had an old chest freezer in the garage that worked until about a month or two ago ago. It can (and has) be used in such a manner, even though it doesn't work anymore, but it's still very dependent on outside temperature fluctuations.
That's two weeks of serving warmish lagers to friends! They'll never come back :-) I guess I could bottle enough to last for the two weeks.
My basement "cold room" rarely gets colder than about 55 F. Also, the temperatures here can fluctuate significantly. The temperature can easily fluctuate 35 F degrees in a matter of days, as it has recently.
Same for me but my basement stays fairly constant; by no means a 35 degrees F swing. Also the concrete floor operates as a very efficient heat sink. Cheers!
