Shed Conversion

[Vossy1]

110liters! Upgrade this man from "piss artist" to "god".

[StrangeBrew]

This is a project I started back at the beginning of summer, firstly for a workshop/fishing tackle shed but now looking to use it for brewing too.





I'm a bit concerned about controlling tempretures for fermenting and conditioning during summer and winter, how does everyone else cope with high and low temps in a shed? I've insulated and boarded the walls and put a partition wall half way (door at either end) but with out insulating the roof and constantly having the heating on, it's gonna get cold in the winter, already dropping down to 5c at night! Summer will be the opposite with excessively hot days.
Any advice/ideas?

[RabMaxwell]

You can control Fermentation temperature easily with a temperature controller and an under barr beer cooler and a light bulb. I bought my controllers from ebay.But i see Hop & Grape also have controllers these days
http://www.hopandgrape.co.uk/admin/larg ... 202160.JPG
Don't know if this one does heating and cooling but there is plenty that does. Hear are some pic's of one of my fermenters.

Fermenter

Light bulb for heating

Heat exchanger bringing cold water from the beer cooler

Temperature controllers

[StrangeBrew]

Very nice RM but I was thinking of something on a smaller scale.

Would it be possible to build a dual purpose heating/cooling unit out of a domestic fridge for fermenting and conditioning 5 gallon brews?

[Frothy]

The RabMaxwell Microbrewery
That fermentor looks huge rab?

Matt

[RabMaxwell]

Hello StrangeBrew if you can get an old fridge that your fermenter will fit in & a controller similar to these http://www.hawco-refrigeration.co.uk/pr ... %20Control. Look for one that does heating & cooling they are about £60- £70. Although i got my controllers from E-Bay but there hard to come by or try .
Tel: 01204675005 or Google. I think but might get corrected that Pid controllers would be to sensitive and burn your fridge compressor out.For heating you can use a small reptile tank heat bulb or fish tank heater or a demijohn heating belt endless options. You won't need much heat even in cold weather as the fridge is well insulated and heat created by fermentation.Cheers

[Andy]

Or just get a replacement thermostat from RS

Clicky

Vossy used one like this for his Kegerator and I'm going to get one for my beer fridge.

Great for summer, doesn't help much in winter though!

[RabMaxwell]

The RabMaxwell Microbrewery
That fermentor looks huge rab?

Matt

The insulated box is a little bigger than it needs to be as it used to have a fridge motor built on to it that i striped from an old fridge.But the compressor gave up after 10 years so i cut it off and now use near freezing water pumped from a beer cooler. Those double walled insulated Stainless pots on E-bay would be good for people with less room but weren't available 10 years ago. Cheers

[Hoppkins]

RabMaxwell,

I hope you dont mind me asking but....whatever do you do with all that beer? O_o

Do you supply pubs? 230 odd pints per barrel is a lot of beer

An incredible operation you have going.

[Matt]

I've wondered about Rab's output, but concluded its best not to ask Hoppkins

[eskimobob]

I think but might get corrected that Pid controllers would be to sensitive and burn your fridge compressor out.

Good point Rab. All that on and off is not likely to agree well with the fridge motor. Incidentally, for people using fridges for beer stuff, you might want to look into getting one of these:

Savaplug link

[Vossy1]

Interesting EB

I'll be looking into a few of these