How to Ferment Lagers in Fridge

[Stingo]

Can anyone point me to any past threads on the use of an old refrigerator to control temps in fermenting lagers?

I live in Chicago and the fridge I have to use is in the unheated detached garage.

1) If temps get into the 20s with chicago winters am I screwed? I cant add heat to my fridge I assume.

2) What is the best way to control temps on the fridge to get them down low enough for lager fermentation, thermostat equipment, sources, procedures for hooking up, etc.

3) Is this a bad idea in general and must I convince my wife to bring the refridgerator indoors?

Thanks in advance!

Stingo

[b3s]

i can't remember where the article was, but what the person did was use 2 temperature controllers. one controlled the cooling element, the other controlled a heat lamp.

[BucksBrew]

Johnson Controls makes a temp controller I think with a heat/cool controller. Not 100% sure of model.

Google Johnson Controls

[danno]

I'm not sure of the model number either, but you'd be looking for a dual stage controller. the problem with a single stage controller is that there's no "off" position, so if you ran both heating and cooling it would simply switch back and forth between heating and cooling, which would be terribly inefficient... however, from the limited shopping I've done for a dual stage controller, you'd be better off buying two single stage controllers because it's cheaper than one dual stage.

that's one problem. the second problem I see is that for true lagering, you want to get as close to freezing as possible, and unless you can isolate and bypass the fridge's internal thermostat, it's likely an older fridge isn't going to get to 32ºF on its own. (that's why freezers are better for this...)

for my garage chest freezer, I just wait until the daytime/nighttime average temp gets below 40ºF, and I disconnect the freezer compressor, and plug in a small ceramic heater. I can get through a long Minnesota winter this way with no freezing up... you could do the same thing with your fridge, but it makes precision lagering difficult in the fall and spring...

hope this helps somewhat...

[Dropzone]

This is where I got my thermostat controller:

http://pivo.northernbrewer.com/nbstore/action/search-do?searchTerm=johnson+controls

I don't trust the dial temp, though. I keep a mercury thermometer in the fridge for accurate temps.

[paul84043]

I picked up a Ranco ETC-111000 single stage controller for 35$ at my local Johnstone supply (any decent industrial supply should carry these)
It was a snap to wire up. Instead of doing the two stage setup with a heat lamp, I just put a small candle warmer in the door tray under a brick (to absorb and dissipate the heat) to add a load to the refrigerator, that keeps it from dropping too low, but doesn't add so much heat that the fridge is fighting it constantly.
It works beautifully.

[Stingo]

Tell us more about the candle warmer you mention, is that a small heat lamp?

[toneyc]

Thanks, Stingo, I was hoping somebody would ask that!

:D
Toney.

[Stingo]

Or is it some kind of hand knit woolen candle cozy? :D

sorry, couldnt resist.

[paul84043]

Aw c'mon, just ask your wife, or G/f's, they'll know what it is...

It's basically a small hotplate, the smaller diameter ones only run at about 15 - 20 watts. I thought about a light bulb, but I don't want a light source in the fridge. I also considered a heat lamp, but they put out too much power. The hotplate (candle warmer...) with the brick on top of it worked perfectly.

[Stingo]

Thats not a bad idea. Thanks.

[paul84043]

So...have you made any progress??? It's really easy, but Lagers take a LONG time....You'd better get started right away!!

[Stingo]

Well unfortunately no progress in the lager set up arena.

I did brew a pale ale this weekend all grain to get back into the groove. Found I definately have to upgrade to a 40qt kettle, I just cant handle the unknown of using four different kettles to brew my 5gal

[paul84043]

You brew in 4 different pots?

I use a 7 1/2 gallon stainless steel pot, it works perfectly for nearly full wort boils. I usually fill it to 6 1/2 and after all is said and done, only need to add about a quart to get my 5 1/4 gallons.

I transferred two yesterday, an Amber ale, and a Black & Tan, both from my local HB shop. Wow, did they smell good!!!

[Stingo]

I have a 16 Qt pot that is just not big enough anymore. I never boiled all my water before, just added cold tap water to fill carboy. NOw that I want a full wort boil all I had were stove top pots... When I boiled everything I lost a lot 1.5 hr boil.

Anyway, maybe one more batch with bigger pot then on to lagering.