My DBF died over the weekend. Lost everything in the freezer and had to throw out some antiquated homebrew and cheesemaking supplies. Also found some ginger beer plant in there which I had misplaced. Bought that puppy, a Whirlpool 18cf with no icemaker, in 1994 and then moved it to our house in 1998. We got a larger fridge in the kitchen in 2002 so it found a new home in the garage. Most of the beer inside was vintage SN Bigfoot and Belgians or Belgian styles. I've done a pretty good job over the years of drinking most of my cellar so I don't think any of it will suffer from a little time without refrigeration.
At one time our town accepted white goods at the curb, but they no longer pick them up. Figured out the multi-material recycling was about 4 miles away so I loaded up the fridge and took it there. Big shout out to those folks as they took care of me less than a minute from pulling in the fridge was on it's way to recycling.
Not too sad to see it go. We've been building a new home for the last few years and this fridge was going to have to find a new home somewhere anyway. I figured I would give it away or convey it when we sell the current house. I guess it decided to go out on it's own terms.
The new house has power and the fridges are already operating. Because of the pandemic and lead times on items I first got a garage fridge there. In addition to our kitchen and pantry fridges we put a fridge in the downstairs wet bar. Next week I'll move the DBF beer to the new home. Likely most of it will end up in the garage or wet bar. Both are 18cf fridges so neither will be packed.
What's bad about the new abode is I don't have a great spot for fermentation since the entire house is finished. I may eventually get an upright freezer for temp control and shove it in the mechanical room/storage area. I made my best homebrews when I had an upright freezer for fermentation and serving. Of course I could just use my old Grisette recipe and ferment at room temps. I guess I'll decide later, once we finally move.
