Cask Beer Storage - Larder Fridge with Mechanical Timer

[Pudding]

There is an alternative for storing 5 gallon plastic casks with your finished beer for dispense at the correct (13 deg C) temperature.

Cheaper than a temperature controller, (inkbird etc), is to plug your fridge into a Mechanical Plug-In Timer (available Maplin £5).
You will need to experiment as to how long the selectable pins on the timer are engaged, (dependant on room temperature). With a room temperature of 18C, I found that with one pin (15 minutes) selected on a 90 minute cycle, it would keep the fridge cabinet temperature between 10 and 13 degrees celcius. Due to the high thermal mass of the beer in the cask, the beer temperature will fluctuate less than this.

Research your Larder Fridge volume carefully. Some will accommodate a Budget Barrel (2" cap), but not a King Keg.

[Jim]

Interesting thought! Though I wouldn't trust it for fermenting.

[Pudding]

For fermentation, I have a commercial under-counter fridge with fan-assisted cooling. It has a maximum temperature of 18C. (No timer required).
Such fridges are difficult to obtain these days, and well beyond the reach of most home brewers, (£500+).

For fermentation purposes, a fan-assisted fridge is preferable, as it removes heat from the skin of the fermenter more effectively than a statically cooled domestic fridge. The temperature rise caused by the yeast in the fermenter is around 3C in a 20 litre brew.

I do not have experience of using a temperature controller with a fridge, and am thus unable to comment.

[jaroporter]

it's easy enough to wire in a small fan with a temperature controller to a domestic fridge, though. and then you can use any temperature you like (above 18C too, especially with a heater).

regards the OP, i can certainly see places where a rough timed cycle could be useful, but to be honest, here, for an extra fiver you could have a one-time-set-and-forget thermostatic controller..

[Fil]

also when you power on a fridge initially it will draw a higher than usual running load, switching a high load can fuse mechanical timers and the more frequently they are switched the higher the risk, and buying a more robust 16a version will be more than the £7-£8 of a basic 1 way thermostatic controller.

fwiw i fully agree with the comments on air movement within a fridge. since getting my brewfridge with a blower over the cold radiator and noticing the difference, ive cable tied a pc fan to the underside of the top shelf in the kitchen fridge to blow over the cold radiator.. no more ice ups, and it seems to run a lot less frequently too..