Secondary Temperatures

Even before I started my first brew, I was thinking about ways to control my fermentation temperatures. This time of year, the temperature in our apartment could be anywhere from 55-75, sometimes in the same day, so I knew this was going to be a problem. Turns out that my roommate's parents still had his old dorm fridge in their basement and wanted it out, so I grabbed that, added a Johnson Controls temperature controller, and have great control over my fermentation temperatures for $25.

The only problem here is that I can only have one brew going at a time this way. I know that controlling the fermentation temperature is critical, but what about after you rack to secondary? Will high/low temperatures, with occasional swings, be a problem there? If not, I think I'd be set for now, at least until I start doing lagers.

Its muuuch more important to control primary temps. For secondary, warmer temps will help the off-flavors clean up soon because the yeast is still in suspension. If you want clarity, cooler temps will help that yeast drop out of suspension. But if you can only control the temp of one, make it the primary...

Wrap the clearing tank to minimize temperature swings. Other than that, don't worry.

That's kind of what I figured. Thanks for the tip on wrapping the carboy, I didn't think of that.