dorm fridge

[big7ben]

Does anyone know of a dorm size fridge or mini fridge that would make a good fermentation box. All of the ones i've found wont fit a carboy.

[Pleepleus]

There are several options for expanding it:

This one is taken to the extreme: http://www.wortomatic.com/articles/Knew ... -the-Beast. I made something similar, but quite a bit smaller, and the bottom is completely enclosed for a beer cooler. When there is a fermentation happening in the top chamber the compressor runs almost constantly, but now that I'm lager in the bottom it's doing much better.

These are probably a bit more realistic though:

http://picasaweb.google.com/benuntu/Fer ... onChamber#
http://picasaweb.google.com/benuntu/FridgeProject#
http://www.brewboard.com/index.php?show ... linearplus
http://www.franklinbrew.org/members/sj/ ... amber.html - this is with a larger fridge, but could be scaled down

Or you could always go for this hideous thing, but you'll need to break out your :

http://homebrewjapan.wordpress.com/cate ... n-chamber/

[BeerPal]

You want a 4.9 CF (or larger) with no freezer section. The Sanyo 49xx series is popular. I use one for my conical and I removed the shelf insert from the door to make room for it. I think a carboy will fit if you do the same.

[Evan B]

I really need to get one of these for lagering so I can have a way to not tie up my chest freezer for 2 months. That Sanyo looks like it might be perfect

[mmBrew]

I found a wine fridge that fits my 5 gallon carboy with like a quarter inch to spare. It's the Avanti EWC280B. The cooling unit is on the back so it doesn't have that annoying shelf on the bottom like most mini-fridges do.

It probably won't get you down to lager temps in the middle of summer, but I just fermented a hefe and this thing kept it at a constant 62 while my apt was over 80. I read some reviews about it breaking down, so I think getting insurance on it is a must.