ASK WHEEBZ -
I'm having a *really* hard time w/ the cold storage options - which is why I haven't purchased anything in this regard yet ...
It seems like a single space w/ a single temp doesn't really cover things at all, really ...
10 lb bags of ice at the corner gas station are $2.50, and I'm pretty sure that I can chill two separate 2 gals beer, 1x gal in ea sink basin, using 2-3x bags of ice depending on how low I need to take it down for what I'm trying to make ...
The Cool Brewer bag thingy costs like $65 I think, and it's not that bad changing out frozen 2L's of water to keep things cool ... I have definitely considered adding a small freezer and not modifying it and just using it to freeze 2L's of water to ferry back and forth to the bags ... it's not optimal, but it works, and I am here working, anyways ...
Given the ground-water temp factor, the time of year I'm heading into, the cost of pumps and chillers and kegs etc ... and the fact that I want to brew often in small batch for a while yet (at least) to be able to experiment, it just doesn't seem at all like time to work w/ kegging in earnest, BUT ...
I've been thinking about getting a single 3 gal keg to bottle small batches, to use w/ the Beer gun, but to still ultimately bottle condition - just bottle BETTER ... I figure I'll mix priming sugar and beer (not carbonated) in the keg - instead of using a bottling bucket. Then, I can purge the keg and put low psi in, and then use the co2 to push beer into bottles, and condition it normally in the bottle, with minimal o2 exposure ... as I'm not interested in competing on any level, a little sediment in the bottom of my beer is hardly a concern of mine. Shit, half of the bottles of beer I drink, I don't drink the last 10-15% of, regardless ...
In this regard, taking the temp here into consideration, as well as the groundwater temp, and that I do have relatively limited floor space available inside my house (more avail in carport, though) ... it really seems prudent to enjoy a half year to a year just doing an excellent job bottling (12, 16, 32, growlers etc) the beer I brew, as mentioned above ...
I picked up a couple length of high-temp tube to do some "no chill" ... and some yeast strains that are happy in my house's temp range ...
So, the question is ... do I really just want a second, normal household fridge? ... it would give me the ability to freeze like 6 or 8 2L's to use w/ the Cool Brewer bags, and provide an entire fridge for "other" activities ... but that's the thing, I don't know what those other activities really are yet ... cold crashing etc ...
Any input definitely appreciated ... this is one sub-topic I'm having a really hard time w/, and it's the least well-covered by homebrew supply store's ...