Fermenting Outside???

I had a odd question. I live in an apartment and I want to try to brew a lager beer.

1. I'm not sure what kind of lager to make. (Still have to do my homework on that)

The main question I have is - Can I Brew my lager then ferment it outside in October?
I have a Glass carboy and a plastic bucket. The spot outside would be under my window and in the shade.

Any advice would be great!!!


Background: I live in Albany, NY.
I've brewed 4.5 batches.
(2 Red ales, 1 Cherry Wheat, 1 pumpkin ale and
a Hard Cider which turned out very bad)

Yeah, that's not going to work.

I've done a lager outside. The thing is you're going to have wild fermentation temps swings which isn't really good for yeast and the resulting beer. Since "lagering" means you have to store the beer at least a month as cold as possible, without freezing, after fermentation it won't really taste like a lager. If you want to try it, then I suggest putting the carboy in a big tub or container with water almost covering it so as to minimize the drastic temp swings. But still we're talking at least 6 weeks till it will start exhibiting true lager characteristics and in that time I'm sure you'll get temp swings of 10-15 degrees F. If it was me I'd scrap the idea til I got a proper ferm chamber though if I was dead set on it I'd use a german ale 1007 yeast, that way even if my temps got a little warmer my lager would be a hybrid and not too far off from that lager taste. But, for me, it would just be too much of a hassle for a beer that probably wouldn't be all that great. My 2 cents.

I did a lager in a garage once. I put the carboy in a larger tub of water to keep the temp swings down, and brewed it a bit later in the year to try to hit the temp drops for primary to secondary.

It turned out good. They used to brew like this in the old days.

LandoLincoln said:

Yeah, that's not going to work.

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Sounds like a challenge. You're obligated now.

In New York? It could maybe work. It wouldn't work in Georgia in October.

Cover it up and keep it away from light.

a friend of mine did it once in jersey. brewed it end of october and as the temperature dropped it reached typically lagering temperatures by november. came out pretty good

LandoLincoln said:

Yeah, that's not going to work.

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Of course it will.

I've fermented ales in my garage when the mercury drops to an ideal range. A rope-handled bucket filled with water will curb the temperature swings. Cover the whole mess with a couple of blankets to block any sunlight and further insulate the temperature. As long as the average outdoor temperature is in the butter zone for the yeast strain you're using, go for it!

I used to ghetto lager all the time in my loft's garage...as long as it's cold and you can prevent the beer from freezing, and keep the light away, you're golden.

The biggest thing is to wait til you are consistantly cold....Living in Michigan in the winter that is easy....

Now I don't live where I used to and I need to try something different using my GF's sunporch. I was going to do it last winter but with the surgery that got put on hold.

I plan on using a rubbermade brute garbage can that I am going to insulate the hell our of,and put the fermenter in there and I am going to create a dead space in the insulation and use either a brew blanket or some rope lights to keep the fermenter above freezing, but not too warm....

You could also use water and an immersion coil (like for tea) or two in the bath, with maybe an aquarium pump to keep the water moving.....Folks manage not to freeze their Koi in the dead of winter in back yard ponds with usually nothing more than an aquarium pump to keep the water moving in part of it.

But folks have been crudely lagering their beer, since they began making lagers....even before electricity....usually in caves.

You don't need a fancy temp controlled place to lager....just some creativity.

I came across this thread but see there isn't a conclusion. Did you ever try this? I got basically the same idea this morning when I stepped outside and it was 45. This is just a cold front, but I figure by the time I'm ready to brew again it will be mid November and those temps will be pretty consistent. I figure I can mitigate any temperature swings with the combination of frozen water bottles and an aquarium heater. I already use the bottles for ales with marginal success (I held a kolsch at 55-57 with 72 ambient.)

Any thoughts?

dlvc1007 said:

I came across this thread but see there isn't a conclusion. Did you ever try this? I got basically the same idea this morning when I stepped outside and it was 45. This is just a cold front, but I figure by the time I'm ready to brew again it will be mid November and those temps will be pretty consistent. I figure I can mitigate any temperature swings with the combination of frozen water bottles and an aquarium heater. I already use the bottles for ales with marginal success (I held a kolsch at 55-57 with 72 ambient.)

Any thoughts?

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Read posts #8 and #9.

CANT?? never heard that word. all of the above...

I ferment outside all the time!!!

Of course, my fermentation chamber is outside, so that really just depends on your definition of "outside"

The most important part of fermentation is temperature CONTROL, as in consistency. You don't want temperatures to fluctuate a lot during fermentation. Fluctuation strains the yeast, strained yeast produces off flavors.

I'm pretty sure that you will still make beer, it's just a question of what it will taste like and how close that taste is to what it's "suppose" to taste like.

BierKoning said:

You don't want temperatures to fluctuate a lot during fermentation. Fluctuation strains the yeast, strained yeast produces off flavors.

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Big damn tub of water. Done and done.

bigbeergeek said:

Big damn tub of water. Done and done.

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I concur. I have a thermostat that I dial into 48F. I fill a 20 gallon trash can (it might be 30 gallon?) halfway with water, put some sort of pedestal on the bottom for a carboy to sit on, drop the carboy in, and attach the thermostat's probe to the carboy underwater, then drop a 100 watt aquarium heater in. A lid tops it off.

I have fermented lagers with this setup for a couple years now, and had it endure 18F nights and 60F days. It sits in the shade, on the north side of my house.

The key is to have thermal mass. More water surrounding the beer will help absorb the inevitable temp swings better. My lagering season goes from late October through April, usually. As long as your outdoor average temp is below 50, it should work.

I fermented outside for many years. Winter is best because it's way easier to warm liquid up slightly than to cool it down. I use the garbage can full of water method. Put the fermentation vessel in the water so that it just barely floats.

To maintain constant temperature in Winter, I use an ultra-cheap aquarium heater. Test it ahead of time without the fermenter to see what setting maintains the desired steady-state temperature. Low power is better if you want to keep things just above freezing.

Summer is harder but doable. I float the fermenter in the same trash can and add 2 liter soda bottles filled with water and frozen. With an old cast-off water heater blanket as insulation, the ice lasts a couple of days.

It's a pain in the ass, so I made a heavily insulated, refrigerated/heated chamber (which I keep outside). But you certainly can make perfectly delicious beer outside using the water-filled trashcan method.