Keeping my beer cool in this heatwave!

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Top Cat
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Keeping my beer cool in this heatwave!

Post by Top Cat » Tue Jul 17, 2018 9:31 pm

Evening brewers.
I never thought I’d be posting this. For the summer I managed to persuade my better half she needed a new fridge so I could have the old one for conditioning my ale. Unfortunately it only takes one keg at a time, and due to very warm weather I’m having to ferment in it with it linked to my inkbird. At this moment in time I have at least two cornies, one dispensing, one conditioning at 24c! Using a bucket, cold water and ice blocks helps temporary, but I was thinking of a chest freezer linked up to my ic 308, big enough to take at least 3 cornies to solve the problem. My question is will a chest freezer designed to go down to -24c be okay to run at about 12c? It seems a logical solution if possible.
Thanks in anticipation guys.

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gr_baker
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Re: Keeping my beer cool in this heatwave!

Post by gr_baker » Tue Jul 17, 2018 10:45 pm

Yes it will work fine. I do exactly this albeit with a smaller freezer. The only thing is that you're likely to get condensation forming in the freezer and you should have some mechanism to deal with it, even if that's just a couple of towels changed regularly.

Fil
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Re: Keeping my beer cool in this heatwave!

Post by Fil » Wed Jul 18, 2018 12:28 am

you may also need to add a little height/depth to the freezer to accommodate disconnects and trailing beer/gas lines with a wooden collar, this also provides for more solid thru the wall tap points too.
ist update for months n months..
Fermnting: not a lot..
Conditioning: nowt
Maturing: Challenger smash, and a kit lager
Drinking: dry one minikeg left in the store
Coming Soon Lots planned for the near future nowt for the immediate :(

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Jim
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Re: Keeping my beer cool in this heatwave!

Post by Jim » Wed Jul 18, 2018 7:27 am

As said above, it's fine. I used a small freezer to run my beer cooler at 12C (or so) for years.
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Top Cat
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Re: Keeping my beer cool in this heatwave!

Post by Top Cat » Thu Jul 19, 2018 5:56 pm

Thanks for your help guys. I’ll try my luck on eBay first, but one I’ve seen and measured internally in Curry’s just allows three kegs and enough height for my disconnects.

Top Cat
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Re: Keeping my beer cool in this heatwave!

Post by Top Cat » Tue Aug 07, 2018 10:59 am

Hi guys.
Just to let you know project finished, and well pleased with the outcome. Wish I had taken Fil’s advice to the letter, as not wanting to mess about making a collar I attempted to drill the sides very high up on the freezer to miss refrigeration pipes. BIG MISTAKE, one second hand freezer down the tip! After buying a another freezer off gumtree, I followed his advice.
For the sake of three or four hours and some wood and adhesive, job was relatively simple, and I’m drinking nice condition beer with just a pull of a faucet handle!

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LeeH
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Re: Keeping my beer cool in this heatwave!

Post by LeeH » Tue Aug 07, 2018 11:05 am

Top Cat wrote:Thanks for your help guys. I’ll try my luck on eBay first, but one I’ve seen and measured internally in Curry’s just allows three kegs and enough height for my disconnects.
Link?


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Top Cat
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Re: Keeping my beer cool in this heatwave!

Post by Top Cat » Tue Aug 07, 2018 6:54 pm

Hi LeeH.
I’ll post a link shortly, the freezer is a Logik model L200 CFW18 Approx 200 ltr capacity, price £179.00. I managed to get a second hand similar model in black.

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Re: Keeping my beer cool in this heatwave!

Post by LeeH » Wed Aug 08, 2018 10:31 am

Great thanks.


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Re: Keeping my beer cool in this heatwave!

Post by soupdragon » Wed Aug 08, 2018 9:26 pm

Top Cat wrote:
Tue Aug 07, 2018 10:59 am
Wish I had taken Fil’s advice to the letter, as not wanting to mess about making a collar I attempted to drill the sides very high up on the freezer to miss refrigeration pipes. BIG MISTAKE, one second hand freezer down the tip! After buying a another freezer off gumtree, I followed his advice
Hidden pipework? I must have been lucky when I did mine then

Cheers. Tom

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Re: Keeping my beer cool in this heatwave!

Post by Top Cat » Fri Aug 10, 2018 9:56 pm

I thought by turning the freezer on and watching for condensation on the inside walls, I could locate where the refrigeration pipes were. Condensation seemed to stop about 4 inches from the top so by drilling above that level should be ok. I got away with drilling the side with two small holes, one for gas in and one for my temp sensor probe, but as soon as I put a larger hole for my faucet adapters in the front of the freezer, disaster struck and I hit a pipe.
Unless you can find some way of finding out where these damn pipes are located, adding a collar is a no brainer. I agree with you Tom you were probably lucky!

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