Sol
Well-Known Member
Hey guys,
Living in So. Cal. we have relatively consistent temps in the winter that are pretty close to ideal for brewing beer (I have my primaries stored in my bar downstairs and they haven't strayed from 67-68 in weeks). In the summer it gets hot in my part of town...stupid hot. I frequently come home to 95 degree temps in the upstairs of the house.
I'm toying with the idea of using my wine cellar to ferment in. It's not a full blown cellar, but it's an independently air conditioned and insulated space under the stairs has a small walking aisle that's probably 2 1/2 ft. All of my long term storage wine is in the back of the cellar, so I can block it off without worrying about it.
The cellar is currently set at 59 degrees. I can toy with this a little bit but I've also got some very expensive bottles of wine in there that have to take priority over brewing. I'd feel comfortable bumping it up to maybe 61 or 62.
Enough with the chit-chat. 2 questions: I realize that different strains prefer different temps, but if the fermenting temp is generally going to be (at least IME) 3-5 degrees above ambient temp, what do you think about setting the cellar to 61? Is it more important that the fermenting beer be kept in an "ideal" temperature, or a consistent temperature?
Thanks!
Living in So. Cal. we have relatively consistent temps in the winter that are pretty close to ideal for brewing beer (I have my primaries stored in my bar downstairs and they haven't strayed from 67-68 in weeks). In the summer it gets hot in my part of town...stupid hot. I frequently come home to 95 degree temps in the upstairs of the house.
I'm toying with the idea of using my wine cellar to ferment in. It's not a full blown cellar, but it's an independently air conditioned and insulated space under the stairs has a small walking aisle that's probably 2 1/2 ft. All of my long term storage wine is in the back of the cellar, so I can block it off without worrying about it.
The cellar is currently set at 59 degrees. I can toy with this a little bit but I've also got some very expensive bottles of wine in there that have to take priority over brewing. I'd feel comfortable bumping it up to maybe 61 or 62.
Enough with the chit-chat. 2 questions: I realize that different strains prefer different temps, but if the fermenting temp is generally going to be (at least IME) 3-5 degrees above ambient temp, what do you think about setting the cellar to 61? Is it more important that the fermenting beer be kept in an "ideal" temperature, or a consistent temperature?
Thanks!