Tips For Good Fermenting Locations

I am in Massachusetts and this time of year the temperature in my house remains between 61-66 degrees which means it's difficult to get my batches to prime fermenting temperatures. Any suggestions for enclosures, locations or other tips to get my batches a bit warmer this time of year.....I am not able to raise the actual heat in the house much higher. I tried wrapping a blanket around the carboy but that didn't seem to do much good.....beer did ferment but very slowly as the batch temp remained around 65 degrees.

Thanks.....

What types of beers are you fermenting? 60-65 degrees is an excellent temperature range for most styles of ales (Belgians and some wheats excluded). On top of that, beer ferments warmer than the ambient temperature, so you are definitely in range.

My newb-ness aside, I believe that that is the perfect fermentation temp range...hotter and you get more esters, fusels, etc. Cooler and fermentation starts to drag a bit....roll with it and see.

I was brewing an IPA that calls for fermenting temps between 65 and 75 degrees. On average I was probably sitting between 64-65 but at times it would dip to about 62. Again...it did ferment but it took a good 3 1/2 weeks before the SG was good for moving to the mini kegs. This just seemed a bit slow to me but I haven't brewed any IPAs before so maybe this was normal??

I shoot for the low 60s with my ales, at least for the first 5 days. Even if they ferment slower they're still done well before I'm going to bottle them, and the lower ferm temps produce a cleaner flavor. I wouldn't change a thing.

If you pitch a healthy supply of yeast and aerate sufficiently even at 62F the beer should finish fermenting in 4-5 days. My basement never get much above 65F and drops to near 60F this time of year and I have not had a problem getting a beer to ferment. They are all done inside a week.

If you are using liquid yeast make a starter. If you are using dry use the higher quality yeasts that come in 11g or 11.5g packs not the cheaper varieties in 5g packs. And in both cases aerate well before pitching.

Craig

I'm glad to read these comments about the temps as I can only get my apartment to stay around 63-65 on my digital thermometer that is near my carboy. I suppose if I had a thermometer stuck on the bottle it might be a little warmer than that. Now I just hope I aerated well enough...my bubbling has slowed a bit already and today is day 4 in the carboy. My kit instructions said two weeks to ferment.

OK, this is my first post, but I have similar conditions to you, and I think things are going well. I'm brewing an American Amber Ale and I keep the pail in the upstairs bathtub which is never used. The sticky thermometer read 64/65 for the first few days, but with this cold snap in Michigan, it has been 63/64.

I still saw bubbles on day &, but they were close to a minute apart. Since Day 9, I've noticed no bubbles, but have just been trying to keep the temps constant and figure I'll bottle after 3 weeks or so.

Since my thermostat goes down to 60 at night, I close the bathroom door and turn on a 300W painting light to add some heat to the room overnight. The temp stays pretty constant, unless I don't get in there before the morning heat has been on awhile, when it has risen up to 66 in the morning.

My local brew shop sells an electric blanket sort of think for pails that costs about $20. I thought about getting one of those for the next batch, and then I can just keep the pail in the basement where it is a very steady 60-61 degrees this time of year, no matter the time of day.

ssabin said:

My local brew shop sells an electric blanket sort of think for pails that costs about $20. I thought about getting one of those for the next batch, and then I can just keep the pail in the basement where it is a very steady 60-61 degrees this time of year, no matter the time of day.

Click to expand...

I too am considering getting the one of the ones that warp around the bucket (looks like a belt). I would be interested in hearing feedback from those who use them.

Thanks,

you can try a heat belt, should work .. Or build yourself a Fermentation chamber. I built one out of some old cabinets. I wired you a heat lamp that runs off a thermostat. I but the batch in set the temp and forget about it.

I'd love to have those temps! Sounds like about right to me.

It was -22F this outside this morning.

+1 to those saying your temps are ideal. I've got an IPA going gangbusters at 63F. I do pitch from a starter though. The cooler it is the more careful you have to be about pitching the right amount of yeast. Another thing to check is the temp. vertically. It can be quite a bit cooler at floor level than at table height. I move mine up and down to help keep the temp where I want it.

Homercidal said:

It was -22F this outside this morning.

Click to expand...

-22F ?!?!?!?!?!

That's insane!

Thats the perfect temp for fermenting ales! Im even jelous! Even in "winter" here in Monterrey, México I still have to use a fridge to get my temp between 60-65 because my house stays at around 70-72.

Well I guess I can really complain about "winter". today we are having a nice day: sunny, 50 min 70 max, and it should stay like this for the next 2 months! (after that, hell is cooler!)

Homercidal, we're also having a 22 degree day, the only difference is that my degrees are celsius and above 0!!!!

0202 said:

-22F ?!?!?!?!?!

That's insane!

Click to expand...

It's -28F here with the wind.. supposed to go to -35 by the weekend..