Cold Basement

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Barley_Bob

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2013
Messages
991
Reaction score
476
Location
Mahomet
Hey gang! I've been reading a lot of great material in this forum and it's finally time for me to make my first post. I have what I hope is a fairly simple problem. I'm getting ready to brew my first batch in the next couple of weeks. I'm prepared to do a Dusseldorf Altbier and a California Common. I bought WLP036 and WLP051, and I intend to do the Altbier followed by the California Common a couple of weeks later. So far, so good.

The plan all along has been to conduct my primary and secondary in my basement. A few days ago, I put little cups of water all over the place, and I went today with a liquid thermometer to check the temps. The warmest spot is 59*F! That's under the stairs. I'm not going to call this a crisis, but it's an issue.

So, the big question - can I just put my primary under the stairs at 59*, or, failing that, is there a way I can keep it warmer? I've thought about maybe enclosing it more by walling off the underside of the stair with cardboard or something. Once it starts fermenting maybe it will provide some of it's own ambient heat. Once thing is for sure, cold conditioning the California Common is not going to be a problem.

Let's go ahead and rule out moving it upstairs now. I don't have a convenient place, my wife would be pissed, and my kids would be into it. Let's also rule out waiting until spring. That would be a bummer.

WLP036 - 65-69* (although I read on their website even 62* is okay)
WLP051 - 66-70*
Thanks for the help!
Your friend,
Barley Bob
 
With those temp ranges,59F would be a bit too cold. Maybe get a heating pad or some similar devoce to keep the temp in range?
 
I think you'll be ok as is at 59. I ferment in a fridge with a temp probe and I usually set my controller to 59-60 and my Carboy typically ferments between 66-70. Since fermentation normally raises temps 7-10 I think you'll be good. I would just try to pitch at the temp you wan it to ferment at since you'll be placing the Carboy in a colder spot.
 
My initial ferment temps usually only go up a couple degrees if the room is cool,like this time of year. At least wrap an old winter coat or quilt around it. That help a couple degrees.
 
Remember the fermentation will raise temp. In my experience its about 6-7 degrees. You're looking at a ferment temp around 65 degrees. A base temp of 59 is perfectly fine. I ferment all my ales at 64 degrees and they come out nice and clean. At that temp, the yeast will not go dormant. Go for it!
 
Not sure what all the issue is, I ferment my common steam at 60 all the time and it turns out fine, go for it, the temp will bump a bit when active and the beer will ferment perfectly fine and then cold condition as well.
 
Thanks for all your help, guys. I'll stop worrying, and, if the temp is a hair low, I'll wrap it in a blanket or something. I will definitely keep a close eye on it. Adding a heater would be good, but, as I'm just starting out, I'm not eager to sink cash into the added piece of mind. It would be a good investment down the road.

I really didn't realize how cold my basement got. If I had, I would have set out to do lagers from the beginning. I do love a good Oktoberfest. Anyway, my storm cellar is 33* right now, and I'll bet money it stays cold enough to lager through summer.
 
I agree, it should be fine. I find that a two gallon batch in my 59' basement only gets to 61-64, but a five gallon batch gets into the upper 60s. Raising it off the floor helps it warm, the cold concrete saps heat, which helps in summer.
 
I would suggest getting it up off the floor at least 2". Most people have a heating pad somewhere, and they work fine as wort heaters. You will need a controller for any heat/cooling source control, and a lot of us use the STC-1000controller with no complaints. It's a DIY thing.
 
I think you should try to get around the temp the yeast MFR recommends. Lots and lots of yeast do great from 60-70. Back in the day they used caves deep in the rock, because the beer liked it there. Use your cave wisely my son.
 
You'll be fine. Just make sure you don't cool your wort down too far. Get it to the mid 60s and pitch. The room temp sounds perfect as fermentation gets going, it's going to bump the temp a bit. My basement always sits around 60, + or - a few degrees. I've never had a problem. Just make sure you pitch good healthy yeast and it will be golden.
 
My "cold" room is very close to that temp (60-61F). I have had good results with US-05 this fall (very clean flavor, high attenuation) by leaving the fermenter there for the first week, then moving it upstairs (ambient temp ~68F) for the second week. The OP might try something like that if stalling is a concern.
 
Good deal. I actually found a spot that bottoms out at 60* and even goes up to 62* at times. So, I am ready to roll. Once the last of my supplies come in to my LHBS, I'm off to the races.
 
If you bottle condition that basement will not do. I agree with a bunch of people here, 59F ambient is fine for fermentation. I too have a cool basement and my fermentations are fine but I had four cases of brew that did not bottle condition at 64F (my basement temp). I brought them upstairs and they are all nice and carbed. Just a foreshadow; unless you keg, then hopefully someone will benefit from this.
 
Good point Wis. I've had trouble with batches trying to carb on a cold ceramic tile floor. They did much better on top of the hutch. I'm carbing in the basement now, but next to the heater it's a bit warmer.
 
59 is a little too cool for ales and a little too warm for lagers, but just about perfect for things like Kolsch and Scottish ale yeasts. Look around for other yeasts that do well in that range and you'll be fine.
 
You could buy a electric heating pad and a controller for less money than the heat mat they sell at Northern Brewer. Their heat mat needs a controller too.
 
Someone said this, you can cut open an air duct and install a vent with a damper. Just don't hit the evaporator coil and make sure it's in a supply. Do it off a short run for a room that gets too much heat as it is, one that close to the furnace. If you don't feel comfortable doing it, it's a cheap thing to get done by a pro.
 
I pitched my yeast Friday afternoon with the wort at around 73* (recommended to start between 70 and 75) and placed the carboy on a small towel on the basement floor. Fermentation had begun by Saturday morning, and went strong all weekend. This morning (Monday), fermentation has really slowed, but the temperature of the wort is still 62*, and there's a lot of yeast in suspension. The wort smells great - like yeast and very good beer. There aren't any off odors like sulfur (which White Labs warns can result from cold-stressing this yeast strain). I've now wrapped it in a blanket to be safe, but it seems like everything has been fine. It looks like most of the fermentation has taken place, and I'm going to let it chug along to about the two week mark before transferring it to a secondary to cold condition.
 
I ferment in my basement all the time, where it will range between 60 and 68 degrees depending on the time of the year, and whether we have our air conditioner on or furnace.

Definitely let it go for at least 2 - 3 weeks at that temp, and then take a hydrometer reading.
 
A lot of people talk about fermentation times like they are written in stone, as we all know they are not. I am of the school of thought, don't hurry your beer. At two weeks take your first hydro test, wait three days, hydro again, and if no change, fermentation is done. It appears you may be fairly new to brewing, based on your number of posts.Your beer will be fine in the fermenter, it doesn't need to be moved. Besides, if a little something funky occurs, there will be plenty of yeast to clean it up. The more you transfer your beer, the greater the risk for infection. Leave it alone, and when it is done, cold crash and move to bottling bucket. Just my $0.02
 
I just had a glass of this beer the other day and it's great! It's not perfect, but it is a solid, drinkable beer. It has excellent texture - a surprisingly creamy feel. ...And I'm hooked.
 
Back
Top