Managing fermentation during summer months

Hi, brilliant brewers,

My first-ever batch is sitting quietly in the basement, appearing to be doing its thing after Monday's brew day. The temps have been good for mid-July in Boston, meaning that the dark basement spot where the fermenter sits has been in the mid to low 70s while outside temps were in the 80s this past week. I noticed that it's supposed to climb into the 90s by Wednesday - should I worry about the fermentation? What would you recommend I do, if anything? We do not have an AC-controlled house. Thanks all - I feel like a nervous first-time papa with this batch!

-EC

What kind of beer are you making and what yeast did you use? A lot depends on those two items.

Generally speaking low 70's is too warm for most beers, especially during the early stages of fermentation. The beer probably will still taste OK but not the best it could be. If you are making a saison, however, those temps may be just fine.

For starters I'd go down to the hardware store and buy a big wash basin or tub (you know, the kind with the handles on the ends like great-Grandma used to wash clothes in). Put your fermenter in that tub, fill the tub almost full of cold water and then wrap a towel or T-shirt around the fermenter with the bottom of it in the water. The water will wick up into the cloth and keep your fermenter and the beer inside much cooler.

Cheers!

put your fermenter in a party tub or similar large container... Fill with water as high as possible (e.g. I can only go half way up because of stick-on thermeters... submersion will wreck those). Drape a towel over the fermenter that hangs down into the water.

Ta-da! Swamp cooler...

Add frozen water bottles to lower temps further. Point a fan at it to
increase evaporative cooling.

I can keep my fermenters in the mid to upper 60's with this technique in my small Pasadena, CA basement in 90F+ temps. I do need frozen water bottes, though. Changed out every 6-8 hours... more frequently when really hot. Low humidty here helps evaporative cooling. I don't use a fan.

Man... I need to build a temp controlled fermentation chamber

Thanks for the tips, guys! It's an English style IPA. I'll get right to making that swamp cooler.


- EC

It is noteworthy that the important timing of temperature control is the early stages of fermentation, from pitching the yeast to approximately when the kreusen falls. With a proper yeast pitch, this can happen rather quickly in say several days, after that it seems temp control is not nearly as important, if at all assuming a "reasonable" and typical environment.
IMO there is no need to temp control during the entire time the beer is in the fermenter, but concentrate on the first few days through the attenuative phase. Pitch temp is absolutely critical, with a proper pitch temp and a good healthy yeast pitch, it is not that difficult to keep the temps in check for a few days.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter8-2.html

Ok, thanks, Wilser. Looks like that ship has sailed, as I'm now almost a week on and the bubbling has stopped. Is this still worth doing? It is going to get quite warm this week. I really appreciate all the advice!


- EC

IMO the ship has totally sailed and is way over the horizon....it's all in the start and keeping control for the first few days IMO. Conditioning temps are somewhat irrelevant, by the time temps spike way up likely from a hot start, it is like putting water on a house fire that is totally ablaze as there ain't nothin to save...it's over Johnny

Don't despair, your beer may still be good, just perhaps not as good as it could have been.


Wilserbrewer
Http://biabbags.webs.com/

At this point I would let it ride. Temperature control, as mentioned, is really critical the first 3-5 days after pitching. If you pitched adequate yeast, aerated properly etc, the fermentation will take off pretty rapidly. As an example, a week ago this past Wednesday I made a Russian Imperial. After aerating with O2 and pitching my starter, the thing was going full bore the next morning. By day three, it was mostly done, and temps on the fermometer were actually starting to fall. I had the fermentation fridge set at 65, so I started bumping it up a couple degrees a day. By day 6 I had the temperature set at 71, and the fermometer showed 70, so most of the active fermentation was over and not a lot of heat was being created. Remember the swamp cooler on your next batch.

Sounds good, everyone, this has helped a lot. Also, it makes me want to get a fermentation fridge!

El_Condor said:

Sounds good, everyone, this has helped a lot. Also, it makes me want to get a fermentation fridge!

Click to expand...

no real reason not to IMHO. I was able to pick up a small fridge on CL for $20.00 that is just big enough for my ferm bucket. I added a temp controller on it for $50.00. I'm looking at a total cost of $70.00 for perfect fermentation temps.

Did you enjoy brewing the batch? Do you see yourself doing this a lot? If so, take my advice. Skip the t-shirt and fan, the bath tub with frozen water, the other swamp coolers, etc. Go straight to the mini freezer or fridge with a Ranco or other temperature controller. You'll save yourself money in the long run, and be on the track to consistency that much sooner. Plus, the beer you make will suddenly be amazing. It is that important.

wolfbrau said:

did you enjoy brewing the batch? Do you see yourself doing this a lot? If so, take my advice. Skip the t-shirt and fan, the bath tub with frozen water, the other swamp coolers, etc. Go straight to the mini freezer or fridge with a ranco or other temperature controller. You'll save yourself money in the long run, and be on the track to consistency that much sooner. Plus, the beer you make will suddenly be amazing. It is that important.

Click to expand...

+1 ^^^^^

In summer especially, controlling fermentation temps is critical. Until you can get a chamber and controller, use your bathtub as full as possible with water, and throwing a t-shirt over it will help, even without using a fan. Use what you have to improvise as best you can.

Backslide said:

no real reason not to IMHO. I was able to pick up a small fridge on CL for $20.00 that is just big enough for my ferm bucket. I added a temp controller on it for $50.00. I'm looking at a total cost of $70.00 for perfect fermentation temps.

Click to expand...

This is a great outlook on it. The cost of a single ruined batch of extract-brewed beer is around $60-70 depending on some variables... it's a good investment if you aren't able or interested in going for a bigger setup, IE 8 cu ft freezer and a dual stage controller.

Wolfbrau said:

Did you enjoy brewing the batch? Do you see yourself doing this a lot? If so, take my advice. Skip the t-shirt and fan, the bath tub with frozen water, the other swamp coolers, etc. Go straight to the mini freezer or fridge with a Ranco or other temperature controller. You'll save yourself money in the long run, and be on the track to consistency that much sooner. Plus, the beer you make will suddenly be amazing. It is that important.

Click to expand...

On the other hand though.... if done right, swamp coolers are VERY effective. I've been able to PIN my temps at 67 for ten days with no problems using a large, 40 gallon bin and a rotation of 6 plus 6 1 liter frozen bottles. The whole thing costs like $15. Hell, I've been able to cut 3 bottles out of the rotation and raise the temps gently a few degrees toward the end of fermentation too. It can definitely be done if you don't have a money or space for a fridge.

El_Condor said:

Sounds good, everyone, this has helped a lot. Also, it makes me want to get a fermentation fridge!

Click to expand...

Using a mini-fridge and ranco temp controller took me from making meh beer to making drinkable meh beer!!

Granted I live in South Florida where every month is the hot months.

All great info, amigos. Rest assured, I will be in much better control of my fermentation temp the next time around, thanks to you all.