Building a dual fermentation closet.
Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 6:27 pm
Hey all,
So we've decided to take the next step in our home brewing addiction. The thought was to build a room that could house ales in one portion and lagers in the other. This came about because recently we've been having big temp variations during fermentation of mainly our ales and decided to do something about it. We bought two 1.6 cubic feet mini fridges (one for the lager room, one for the ale room) that will be keeping cool identical spaces measuring 3'x4'x3'... So 36 cubic feet? the walls are skinned on the outside with 1/2 inch plywood, 2x4 studs, R-19 and R-30 insulation between studs and where ever we can stuff it, and skinned on the inside with 1/2 inch ply. Their will be an opening for the fridge (door taken off) to fit in and caulked around to seal. We also are insulating the roof of the closet and separation shelf with insulating foam board. So the question is... Will these fridges (mainly the lagering fridge) be able to keep up with the low temp required? Are we insulating the room enough, or do we need more? Any suggestions would be very welcome. FYI: The two rooms are stacked on top of each other, lagering on the bottom, ales on top. Fridges remain outside the closet except for the opening. Doors are also foam board insulated and weather stripped. Two of the walls are exterior walls but get no direct sun. All seams will be caulked and all surfaces will be painted with waterproofing floor paint. Thanks in advance.
So we've decided to take the next step in our home brewing addiction. The thought was to build a room that could house ales in one portion and lagers in the other. This came about because recently we've been having big temp variations during fermentation of mainly our ales and decided to do something about it. We bought two 1.6 cubic feet mini fridges (one for the lager room, one for the ale room) that will be keeping cool identical spaces measuring 3'x4'x3'... So 36 cubic feet? the walls are skinned on the outside with 1/2 inch plywood, 2x4 studs, R-19 and R-30 insulation between studs and where ever we can stuff it, and skinned on the inside with 1/2 inch ply. Their will be an opening for the fridge (door taken off) to fit in and caulked around to seal. We also are insulating the roof of the closet and separation shelf with insulating foam board. So the question is... Will these fridges (mainly the lagering fridge) be able to keep up with the low temp required? Are we insulating the room enough, or do we need more? Any suggestions would be very welcome. FYI: The two rooms are stacked on top of each other, lagering on the bottom, ales on top. Fridges remain outside the closet except for the opening. Doors are also foam board insulated and weather stripped. Two of the walls are exterior walls but get no direct sun. All seams will be caulked and all surfaces will be painted with waterproofing floor paint. Thanks in advance.