It's 90 friggin' degrees in the apartment...

I live in Buffalo. I like the colder weather. This is killer.

Anyways...I've got two 5 gallon batches about 10 days into fermentation. One batch has pretty much stopped and the 2nd (Cheesefood's Caramel Cream Ale) is still bubbling away. Question is...should I try moving these carboys down to the basement? I know I'll end up sloshing the beer around carrying it down 2 flights of stairs. Or should I keep it where it is in the 90 degree heat? What's the lesser of two evils?

I'll probably rack to a secondary in a couple of days when I have some time. Should I try moving it to the basement then?

Thanks in advance. I'm going to go melt like a marshmellow now.

Brian

i'd say go for the sloshing and get them to cooler temperatures, leave them there for secondary. just don't hurt your back

I would put them in the basement, although whatever damage you are in for is probably done. In the future, I would keep them in the basement the whole time, the temp is probably pretty constant there.

- magno

Surprisingly, even though the thermostat is reading 91F the thermometer on the carboys has never gone above 78F. I've been watching them pretty closely. I moved them into the bedroom for now with the fans on and will move them downstairs tomorrow.

Is there a good shot my beer has been FUBARed?

No way. What kind of beer are you making? I like brewing hefe's in the summer because I like fermenting them warm and getting a lot of banana and clove nose. Other styles may be a little different warm fermented, but different does not automatically mean bad.

An applewood aged IPA and Cheesefood's Vanilla Caramel Cream.

I fear for that IPA. It was a kind of a i'm a lil' drunk & i'm gonna throw a little bit of everything into the brewpot kind of beer. We'll see though. Maybe it'll be delicious.

Cooler is better. Your brews will be OK but try to keep them in the temp range for the yeast if possible.


It's a balmy 56 degrees here at the moment. Great weather for brewing.

I would definitely move them to the basement. Actually I would do it ASAP. Beers that ferment too high, come out tasting like fruit. One of my first brews was fermented too high and came out tasting like stale grape juice. So you should ask yourself this. "Is it worth the five minutes it is going to take me to take this brew to the basement to prevent my beer that I spent this much time and money on from tasting like stale grape juice?" If the answer if yes, then move it to the basement, and put it in a tub of water if you have to.

It's not really the effort that worried me, it was all the sloshing around. Isn't getting the wort oxygenated after it's started fermenting not desirable as well? I was just wondering which was worse.

Thanks gents.

Assuming you have a handle or a carry strap, you should be able to minimize the sloshing. Just go slow and steady. Most of what's in the carboy is CO2 anyway, so even if you slosh a little it will be fine. For the move, replace the airlock with either a solid stopper or a sanitized piece of plastic wrap.

I vote move em too. Move them carefully and since they are likely still airlocked and the head space is co2, you don't really have to worry all that much about introducing oxygen into the beer.

I vote move them. The air space in your fermenter is filled with CO2 so little chance of oxidation and as mentioned hot temps are not good for beer.
I always ferment in the basement because the temps are cooler and much more consistent. My fermenters are still hovering in the lower 60s despite the recent heat waves.

Craig

I bet your IPA will be terrific. Sometimes your experiments turn out to be your best beers, but take good notes or it'll be the first and last time you make that beer!

I feel for ya with this heat. I have my carboy in the basement inside a rubbermaid tub half filled with water. Everyday I add in some ice, just to keep everything in the low 70s in the carboy.

Orpheus said:

I bet your IPA will be terrific. Sometimes your experiments turn out to be your best beers, but take good notes or it'll be the first and last time you make that beer!

I feel for ya with this heat. I have my carboy in the basement inside a rubbermaid tub half filled with water. Everyday I add in some ice, just to keep everything in the low 70s in the carboy.

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isn't it gross outside today?

98EXL said:

isn't it gross outside today?

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It is friggin' disgusting outside today. Too hot to brew. I think I'm going to go run some indoor errands.

I know it's supposed to be 92 outside, inside my house it's 75-ish, beers are between 75-79...should they go into the basement? The lager there is at 68 as of last night?

98EXL said:

I know it's supposed to be 92 outside, inside my house it's 75-ish, beers are between 75-79...should they go into the basement? The lager there is at 68 as of last night?

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If you could, I think I'd do it. 68 would be perfect.

can't hurt....leaving for Blacksburg in less than 12 hours for a few days, I guess I should stick them there for 'safe keeping'

Plastic bins with water...keeps you from moving them.

I refill water bottles as I drink them and freeze them. Place them in the tub with the fermenters and switch out every day I need to.

homebrewer_99 said:

Plastic bins with water...keeps you from moving them.

I refill water bottles as I drink them and freeze them. Place them in the tub with the fermenters and switch out every day I need to.

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That, my friend, is a really good idea. Just need to find some big bins now...

well, I just stuck my 77 degree carboys with the 68 degree one in the basement before I brought up some more HB to stock the fridge. I have people coming over to try some of the brews. I expect the temp to drop to 68 on the other carboys by the time I get home from work.

muses_motors said:

That, my friend, is a really good idea. Just need to find some big bins now...

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Target. Get them in the storage department. I have like 5 of them.