hsiddall

Recipes 

In in northern Il. I don't mind brewing outside in cold temps and I'm still new to ag so I want to keep trying as each brew gets better. My ambient indoor temps seem to stay about 66 to 68 for fermentation. Haven't done any lagering yet. I've also heard about using lager yeasts in ale styles due to ferment temps?

Billybrewer09

Recipes 

Brew anything you like. I would suggest getting your fermentation temps down.
Fermentation temps can be 10° warmer than ambient room temps.
You can brew an ale with lager yeast. You will not get lager characteristics though.

duboman

Recipes 

Holiday ales, scotch ales, ambers, porters and stouts are all great cold weather beer styles.

You should look into controlling your Ferm temps, even a swamp collet with cold tap water and some ice bottles will go a long way, your ambient is too high and uncontrollable.

You can brew an ale using lager yeast, it's called a California common or steam beer, like Anchor Steam. IME though you still want temps in the high 50s or very low 60s. I ferment mine with WY2112 at 58 and its a huge favorite!

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tgmartin000

Recipes 

Spring beers! I made a classic American pils with California lager yeast that was great.

RM-MN

Recipes 

I brew whatever I want in winter. It's my slack time of year and I can't afford the time to brew when it's the busy season. I also have a room in my house where I can keep the temperature in the low 60's which works out great for fermenting.

revco

Recipes 

I primarily have brewed ales all spring/winter/fall since these are times of year that I traditionally can keep my fermentation temps in the low 60's without the use of a fermentation chamber. When it's still a bit warm, I'll use a swamp cooler, but being in a similar climate as you, you'll find that your unassisted ale brewing season is quite long. I don't have any locations in my house that consistently maintain lagering temps...it either gets too low or too high...but your situation may be different.

Now that I've moved my brewing out-of-doors, I want to be able to go during the summer too. I'll be purchasing a freezer for fermentation sometime this year so I can do whatever brews I want at whatever time of the year, including lagering.

wickman6

Recipes 

Sept-Dec are my busiest brew months. I try to mix it up, so I have some nice ales ready around the holidays, and some lagers stored in the cold garage most of the winter, to be ready for spring.

You might try Kaiser's Altbier. You can ferment mid 60'S, then lager it for a few weeks if you have a garage or somewhere cold to let it secondary. That's the last brew I did, and I can't wait till its done!

Like others have said, try a swamp cooler setup. Mine is a $4 storage bin from menards, filled with cool water with the fermentor parked inside. Keeps my brew right at 63 deg with no ice, with ambient temp at 68.

Hope this helps!

JonM

Recipes 

Got a basement or other lightly heated place? Kolsch beers like mid- low 50s and they'll be great to have around when spring rolls around.

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ardonthorn5

Recipes 

I'd say brew whatever you like. Depends on how many you knock out a month...maybe a beer that has a long conditioning time, then a shorty. brewing in the cold and snow is pretty fun ... especially if you have friends willing to take part.

hsiddall

Recipes 

Sounds like I need to go swamp cooler route! So i can still use ale yeast. I was curious cuz I've had some long slow fermentation a but I think that's due to higher(accidental) mash temps. And not ferment temps. Thanx for the help and keep advice coming.