#brewfridge

[midgardbrewhouse]

Brewfridge

Well my trusty brew cupboard has served me well over the last few years but temperature control was a little dependent on the weather and heat of the house. It wasnt too bad in winter as I was able to keep it warm, but my decision to brew a Helles this month lead me to the realisation that if I wanted to lager it properly and ferment within the traditional parameters I was going to need a brewfridge. I got an Inkbird control unit off Amazon and then appealed to the local facebook advertising group and low and behold a very nice lady in our village had an old fridge that was surplus to requirements. I exchanged a few bottles of homebrew wine and it was dead easy to convert. All I needed to do was unscrew the chiller inside and peel back some of the putty sealant to get the Inkbird sensor in and then fix a sturdy bit of wood at the bottom. A very quick job. So cooling is my priority at the moment but I did add in my fairly lights which I’d used as heating previously just to balance the cool/heat exchange and they seem to do the trick when trying to maintain 9c. I just need to look into calibrating the settings on the Inkbird to see if I can keep it more stable. And when it comes to more excessive heating requirements I’ll probably pick up a tube heater at a later date. So for now I now just need to find some time to start this Helles. It’s going to take about 3 months before it’s ready so the old BrewCupboard will still have to suffice for my other planned brews, but if you have the technology for lagering it’d be silly not to give it a go at least once and the Helles should be ready for mid summer so that’s perfect!

By the way I didn’t ask my daughter to clean the fridge, I just came through to find her sat inside with a wet dishcloth, lol.

[midgardbrewhouse]

Cawood Brewery Upgrade

Last week I picked up another second hand Fridge, not bad for £35 off ebay. I wired in an inkbird, fixed a tube heater to the door and a wood support to the base like my other brewfridge. I’ve tested it and so far it seems to be working well at holding around 20c, although there is a little bit more drift than my other fridge. Probably to do with the time it takes for the tube heater to warm up and cool down. The heat lamp bulb I have in my other one is quite instant with its heat output. But with my other fridge take up with lagering my Kolsch the true test of this will be when I get my brew on with it in the next couple of weeks.

I’ve already got ingredients in to do a Red Rye but also a Sour Black Wheat with a proper mixed culture, so expecting both Fridges to be very busy over the next couple of months. Now I can be less inclined to rush beers or not have the right temperature controlled environment if I want to leave mixed fermentation or wild beers for longer than a regular beer takes. I can also keep them nicely separated.

To fit the Fridge in I've also swapped my big stainless cupboard around, fitted some new shelves and sorted out my existing shelving cupboard to fit my new kettle. The Brewery section of the Kitchen is starting to look a bit more neat and tidy now, it’s very satisfying to have more kit but better stored so it looks like less to the missus, lol.