Summer Fun with fermentation temperatures

Hey all,
Anyone who knows me knows I hate summer. To hot to ski, to hot to go anywhere without sweating, and too hot for my fermentor in the basement. I brewed two weeks ago and unfortunately got hit with a heat wave the very same day. My basement temperature shot up from 74 ish to 82 during the primary fermentation. I have low hopes but am still hoping that the beer will be ok. It isnt a belgian or anything, is just going to be a hoppy special bitter for summer.

Anyway, I'm doing a new batch this weekend and the yeast I will be using will require 73 degrees at max. Anyone have any way to keep the thing cool aside from me going out and buying a chest freezer / mini fridge / ect?

I have a feeling that I'm going to end up having to buy one but it's a shame because i'm in new york and my cellar stays pretty cool most of the year.

Thanks in advance.

Dustin

search for "swamp cooler"

Basically you put your fermenter in a bucket filled with water, then either a) put a wet t-shirt over the fermenter and blow a fan on it or b) swap out bottles of frozen water a few times a day (or both) and that will keep your temps down substantially.

I brewed two weeks ago and also got hit with a heat wave that got up to 100*F. The swamp cooler kept my temps pretty much at 68-70*F but I was swapping bottles out like crazy because I have my fermenters upstairs where the potential for heat variation is greater than in a basement.