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AmusedBystander · 06-01-2011, 04:45 PM

For all of you peeps who brew down south; Florida, Texas, etc., now that summer is here, what do you do differently as far as fermenting? Do you pull out more/different equipment than in the winter?

Im new at this and I just keep my primary in the darkest coolest room in the house, which still isn't really cool. Just wondering what you more experienced people do.

bottomofthebarrel · 06-01-2011, 04:48 PM

not anywhere close to experiance, but i got a wine chiller that can range from 44-64. my primary fits inside perfectly.

MonkHeDo · 06-01-2011, 04:49 PM

Well, Im not that experienced, but I'm here in GA, and I have my fermenter sitting in a plastic tub in some cool water with a wet-t-shirt over the fermenter bucket. I aim a little fan on it and that keeps my temp just below 70 on most summer days.

**Boleslaus** · 06-01-2011, 04:50 PM

Just looks up swamp cooler in the search. Thats what I use.

Seven · 06-01-2011, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonkHeDo

Well, Im not that experienced, but I'm here in GA, and I have my fermenter sitting in a plastic tub in some cool water with a wet-t-shirt over the fermenter bucket. I aim a little fan on it and that keeps my temp just below 70 on most summer days.

^^This is what I do also. Works like a champ. Just be sure to top-up the water in the plastic tub every few days because the air from the fan causes a lot of evaporation.

I also move full kegs that aren't in the keezer (my pipeline) into the house during the summer because it's too hot to store them in the garage.

Thankfully my girlfriend loves beer and brewing so she has no issue with me having equipment and beer in various stages of fermentation scattered all around the house.

**FunkytownBrewyard** · 06-01-2011, 05:09 PM

I've got a chest freezer, fermwrap, and dual temp control out in the shop for year-round fermentation exactly where I want it to be. My "coolest, darkest room" was the closet under the stairs, but I live in an pier-and-beam house from 1926...too much hot circulation under the house to keep below 74, typically, during the blistering months of continuous heat in Texas; hence the chest freezer, etc.

Erroneous · 06-01-2011, 05:13 PM

I have a fridge with an arduino temp controller on it. Works well, can set the temp on an SD card and get temperature logs from time to time. Look on craigslist for cheap or even free firdges, freezers, and wine coolers. You just have more possibilities and control than swamp coolers and pool/shirt/fans.

**TopherM** · 06-01-2011, 05:27 PM

I keep my house at about 74 and ferment. My fermentation temps seem to average around 76. The only drawback to this is that the high fermentation temps release esters that produce an off taste (a late sour note). However, the ester off taste only lasts about 3 weeks, so I generally just need about 2 extra weeks of conditioning to make good beer without worrying about maintaining fermentation temps.

That said, one of my next upgrades is going to be a temp controlled freezer converted into a fermentation chamber.

stat · 06-01-2011, 10:29 PM

Mini fridge and a johnson controls thermostat, otherwise I'd be fermenting beer near 78-80 degrees when it's 100+ outside.

SwampassJ · 06-01-2011, 10:49 PM

I did the swamp cooler method for like 8 months, then one hot day I was gone for something like 8 hours and came home to beer near 80. Chest freezer with controller all the way.