Bad News for Me

jeffpn

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A while back I bought a 5 cf chest freezer to use as a fermentation chamber. It didn’t take me long to realize that lagers take much longer to make than they take to drink. I told my wife that I could really use another 5 cf chest freezer so that I could have 2 lagers going at a time. Part of my plea deal to con her into letting me get a second freezer was offering to let her use it a couple times a year to use for Christmas baking, etc. Now is another time of year that she needs extra freezer space, for an upcoming festival. But alas, that freezer is half full of sausage now. I hope I don’t have to give up the other freezer too!
 
Haha. I get nervous around the holidays when the wife starts talking about turkeys and hams, pies and cookies...(I know deep down everyone really wants homebrew) I feel your pain from time to time. I've got a line on another small unit I may bring home sometime this week for this very reason. I would only be able to fit one fermentor in it, but at times of the year when needed, I could move all the cans and bottles I also keep into it and free up some space...for food...
 
A while back I bought a 5 cf chest freezer to use as a fermentation chamber. It didn’t take me long to realize that lagers take much longer to make than they take to drink. I told my wife that I could really use another 5 cf chest freezer so that I could have 2 lagers going at a time. Part of my plea deal to con her into letting me get a second freezer was offering to let her use it a couple times a year to use for Christmas baking, etc. Now is another time of year that she needs extra freezer space, for an upcoming festival. But alas, that freezer is half full of sausage now. I hope I don’t have to give up the other freezer too!

I know the feeling. A number of years ago the upright freezer I used for fermentation crapped out. The wife had been wanting a new fridge for a while and was eyeing a 27 cf stainless side by side, so I made her a deal. I got the old fridge and a 5+ cf chest freezer and she got the new side by side. I put a 2 tap tower on the chest freezer and used the fridge for fermentation. I also got some room for hops in the new fridge. That room shrunk considerably when the holidays rolled around.

Long story short: I upgraded my keezer to 7+ cf which holds 4 kegs plus the CO2 tank and has a second compartment for canned/bottled beer and got a 5+ cf chest freezer for hops and such; I now have maybe 1.5 cf storage in the main freezer for hops and it's shrinking.
 
It may only be homebrewers that think that 3 freezers and two fridges in a home for 2 adults just isn't enough! :)

We are deer hunters and gardeners as well as purchasers of grass-fed pork and beef, and my husband has the nerve to commandeer two freezers for FOOD. The nerve he has. The struggle is real.

That said, I have given up one keg spot in the kegerator to him each Thanksgiving for him to thaw and then brine the turkey. I mean, I have to bend a little sometimes. :)
 
I have 3 fridges (Kitchen, basement, garage) and a 15cf Keezer right now, we're discussing getting an actual chest freezer for meat and other things. My family raises cattle and pigs so we're looking getting a half of each and we need somewhere to store the meat. The garage fridge is hops storage along with pop for when we're not drinking beer.
 
Yup, I can't think of any beer that wouldn't go with some kind of sausage as a good pairing.
 
I have 3 freezers, one is a keezer only and servers 4 taps, one is for food only and the other is a split between overflow food and beer stuff, hops mostly but also wort and a frozen bucket of water I use to chill with, now that freezer I have to rearrange to get my bucket in 3 days before brew day, always something in the away
 
Well last night I may have finally scored. We got our annual beef and packed our 15 cf chest freezer. My wife commented on how much she hated the chest and wanted a stand-up. I couldn't have come to attention quicker! I'm pretty sure my right eye sparkled in fact. I've got a strand up fridge that I can comfortably fit 3 corny kegs, 4 if I was ambitious.
The wheels are turnin!
 
Well last night I may have finally scored. We got our annual beef and packed our 15 cf chest freezer. My wife commented on how much she hated the chest and wanted a stand-up. I couldn't have come to attention quicker! I'm pretty sure my right eye sparkled in fact. I've got a strand up fridge that I can comfortably fit 3 corny kegs, 4 if I was ambitious.
The wheels are turnin!
oh Bravo Bravo how did you angle this one dropping them little hints making it feel like it was their idea in the first place:).
 
oh Bravo Bravo how did you angle this one dropping them little hints making it feel like it was their idea in the first place:).

The convincing was rather easy actually haha. She gains a stand-up freezer AND basically an entire refrigerator.
I'm almost to the point I need more convincing as all I'm starting to see is more work on top of my home remodel, and $$$. We would gain a lot of extra space in the our large laundry/mud room by moving out the chest freezer and putting in a stand-up. But I will lose room in my homebrew area. I'm not necessarily complaining, but when it comes down to it, I'm seeing more dollar signs and work. All worth it I suppose, but my set up now is simple and cheap to maintain. Sheeesh. I can't believe now I'm a bit hesitant to seal the deal!
Am I seeing all this wrong, or am I the receiver of bad news as well @jeffpn ????? o_O
 
The convincing was rather easy actually haha. She gains a stand-up freezer AND basically an entire refrigerator.
I'm almost to the point I need more convincing as all I'm starting to see is more work on top of my home remodel, and $$$. We would gain a lot of extra space in the our large laundry/mud room by moving out the chest freezer and putting in a stand-up. But I will lose room in my homebrew area. I'm not necessarily complaining, but when it comes down to it, I'm seeing more dollar signs and work. All worth it I suppose, but my set up now is simple and cheap to maintain. Sheeesh. I can't believe now I'm a bit hesitant to seal the deal!
Am I seeing all this wrong, or am I the receiver of bad news as well @jeffpn ????? o_O
youll get used to your new brewing surroundings mate chin up think of all that freezer space;). man id kill for a 6 keg keezer but its a paitence game this brewing good things come to those who wait eh?:). i did start out small but bit by bit my brew hardware is taking over out patio all in a row ive got my ferm chamber keggerator brew kettle then my brew shelves to store all my bits and bobs id say its 5 meters long. trick is to keep it all neat and tidy then she dont mind:cool:.
 
Sweet Niblets! Upgrading to ss shanks and Intertap or Perlicks about quadruples the price instantly. I may have to go chrome to start and upgrade as time passes. I may also have to also start with 4 taps and add more later. I could drop a grand easy doing everything "right" up front, but I can't stomach nor afford that much coin at once.
 
i did picnic tap:p but its kicked me in the but now as the seal is sus on them...
 
Yeah, my current 3 tap system was pretty cheap considering...Picnic taps don't cost beans and I get nice pours. Opening the refer door for every pour is just a minor inconvenience.
 
Yeah, my current 3 tap system was pretty cheap considering...Picnic taps don't cost beans and I get nice pours. Opening the refer door for every pour is just a minor inconvenience.

When i built my keezer it had a couple of picnic taps with a piece of foam taped neer the end until i collected enough coin for intertap spigots. With proper taps and proper hose lengths pours are much better now though.
 
When I first started brewing cider, rather than adding another faucet, I used a picnic tap. If cider was on the menu, I just hung it out of the keezer as long as needed. When the wife decided that cider was a permanent fixture I changed out the tower and added a 3rd tap. I have no problem with picnic taps. Definitely a low cost alternative, whether due to budget constraints or just priorities.
 
The first keg set up I saw, over 20 years ago at my neighbor’s house, had a CO2 tank in an upright fridge, 2 kegs and 2 picnic taps that were about 8” long each. They always foamed up while pouring. That inspired me to use a 3’ line for my picnic tap, which is part of my portable set up. It pours almost foam free.
 

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