I have an old refrigerator I want to use for ageing after bottleing. It doesn't get higher than about 45 degrees. Is this to cold? I always read less than 60 but nobody ever says not colder than (?). Can someone suggest a bottom limit.
Crhoff
I have an old refrigerator I want to use for ageing after bottleing. It doesn't get higher than about 45 degrees. Is this to cold? I always read less than 60 but nobody ever says not colder than (?). Can someone suggest a bottom limit.
Crhoff
I have no experience with it but I have read that refrigerators are a very bad way to store wine. The vibration is suppose to be bad or something. Then again maybe this is a rumor started by people who sell wine storage units.
Ray
I think given the choice, an old refrigerator is preferable to your unused broom closet.
Since temperature (and temperature swings) are the biggest concern wine aging, while vibration is the least concern. (with humidity being between the two.
I have been following this thread because next year I plan to crank up my white wine production to about 25 gallons. I am thinking of getting a second (new) refrigerator for the basement where my wine cellar is located. One of my reasons of thinking about a refrig is that I thought I could use it for cold stabilization because the temp could be cranked down low enough. I do not know if this is possible or practicle for the wine storage units. With a refrig with a freezer, I could also store some frozen berries from my berry patch. Any thoughts?
Don't know about the suitability of using a refrigerator for aging wine (re: the other posts), but you can get an external temperature controller for the fridge and set it to any temperature you want. They run around $50-$75. One model is the Johnson Controls A419. Ranco is another brand. Most on-line homebrew shops and/or appliance places should have them.
You could also use a regular timer, but you'd have to experiment to get the temp approximate.
Paul E. Lehmann wrote "I am thinking of getting a second (new) refrigerator for the basement where my wine cellar is located. One of my reasons of thinking about a refrig is that I thought I could use it for cold stabilization because the temp could be cranked down low enough. I do not know if this is possible or practicle for the wine storage units."
Paul - I have a big chest freezer and an external thermostat that makes it possible to set the temp. inside the freezer at any temperature. I use it for fermenting lager beers at 50F, lagering these beers at 32F and cold stabilizing all of my wines at 28 to 30F. It's one of the best wine and beer making investments I've made. You can get the thermostats at homebrew and winemaking shops...probably other place too.
Only problem with a chest freezer is lifting carboys out. I don't do that. I have a peristaltic pump that moves my beer and wines out of the freezer to fresh carboys. The pump will move 5 gallons in about 8 minutes. Easy to keep clean and very easy on my back.
Bill Frazier Olathe, Kansas USA
Thanks for the information, Bill. Where did you get your pump and what is the approximate cost for such a pump?
Paul - The peristaltic pump is a MasterFlex pump. I bought mine from the Barnant Company. I talked with a sales engineer, explained what I wanted to do. They were quite helpful. The pump, motor, speed control and tubing were about $300 at the time.
Bill Frazier Olathe, Kansas USA
Thanks to everyone for their help and suggestions. I'm gonna give my old fridge in the garage a try. At it's warmest temp it's
45 so guess I'll try the timer route since they are cheap.Crhoff
Bill -
I have an Amtek peristaltic pump that I've used for many years for precoating the septum in my DE setup. It's ideal for that purpose because abrasive content doesn't faze it. It's also very gentle on the wine.
Tom S
thanx for the information Bill and Tom. I have sent email to MasterFlex to see what they have.
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