Greetings - I am a new home brewer and this will be my first time brewing during the summer season... I also live in a warm climate. So my plan is to pick up a mini fridge for use during active fermentation for ales, pilsners & lagers. Here is my concern / question: If I put my 6 gallon carboy in the refrigerator during active fermentation, will there be enough air space to disperse the expelled carbon dioxide? Does the fermentor need ventilation? Or, would it be alright to set the temperature and just leave it in there for a week? Thanks for your response in advance. T
It's going to have an air lock right? Why not drill a hole through the door and run some tubing to the hole for the airlock and mount the lock on the outside?. You can always cork up the hole later
Or you could just open the door once in awhile. How are you going to control the temp of the wort fermenting? Just an FYI i tried to use a mini fridge and controlled the ambient temp in the low 60s but the fridge kept turning on and off so much causing water puddles I got mold. I recommend using a heat wrap to warm the wort up while keeping the fridge at a cold constant temp.
P.S. I typically blow off into a half full growler of tap water. Some days that I don't care, I'll use an empty/clean yogurt container. It doesn't have to look pretty.
There is no need to vent the fridge. Just use a conventional airlock on your primary and the fridge interior will easily off-gas the CO2 through the door seal. Major Caveat(s): You really want to regulate the temp of the wort and not boresight on the air temp. Expect anywhere from 4 - 6 degrees rise in wort temp once it actively starts fermenting, then this will gradually drop off. Best way to do this is a thermometer in a thermowell . . . lots of brewers get by with placing a temp probe on the side of the primary covered heavily in bubble wrap. Your fridge is not designed to stay at normal beer ferm temps. You'll be looking for something in the 60s and it just won't go that high. Many of us use an external controller that overrides the fridge thermostat. These are not too expensive (if you're a DIY'er you can get by for under 20 bucks). Remember, to keep your wort at a constant temp you'll need to vary the fridge temp over a period of days depending on how actively it's fermenting. Do a search in this Forum and in Home Bar for some good tips about external controllers. Properly regulating your fermentation temp is one of the best positive moves you can make.
My fermentation fridge, fermwrap, usb fan and a renewable mini dehumidifier makes controlling fermentation temps easy. Using the inkbird Itc-308 to control temps. As others have said no need to vent the blow off, I've also found that the fan and then mini dehumidifier have really help with mold.
Carefully measure the dimensions of your mini fridge. Most dorm fridges will not hold a 5 gallon carboy or bucket much less 6 gallons. The hump for the compressor limits the floor space and the ice shelf limits the height. You can do a fair amount of careful modifications, but it's really not worth the headache. You do need an outboard temp controller. That part is mandatory for any electric fermentation chamber. You do not need to vent CO2. The build up of CO2 inside the fridge is not anything to be concerned with, just don't go sticking your face inside immediately after opening the door or you will breathe in a lot of CO2 and no oxygen, which is a bad thing. Cheers.
