Greetings and High Temp Fermentation

Hi to all,
I've just joined this valuable forum and I'm a hb newcomer.
I've only 2 batches under my belt, both extract only:
a weird-tasting Common California and a "promising" English IPA
pitched no more than 3 days ago (so yes, it's actually 1 batch ).

I've studied a lot since my first experiment (both Palmer and
Papazian's bibles, a lot of posts here on HBTalk and other around
the net) and now I would like to make a step further and try E+G hb.
But, here come my problems.

I live in Italy and is hot here, even in the spring, with the temp
around 64-75F (18-24C) in these days. I've just pitched the IPA
and I'm gonna let it stay in the fermenter for a total of 2 weeks, so
my next attempt will be around the end of April.

I've just started to do this alchemy called hb and I don't want to
spend more money on a dedicated fridge and, btw, I've no space
in my kitchen. Additionally, my girlfriend barely tolerate that
bubbling bucket in the kitchen, she just allow me to play for the sake
of love. She don't even drink beer, we're Italian remember? It's only
about wine here! So forget icy-bottles, wet t-shirts and other messy
things like that. They're not an option.

So, after reading here and there I've come to the conclusion that I should:

1. brew anyway :rockin:
2. brew a Belgian-style beer, "they" said it's the most suitable style for high temp fermentation
3. use one of those "warmy" yeasts listed at the end of this post
4. brew a low gravity wort, less body and booze but it seems less fusels too
5. try to cool the fermenter bucket at least during the initial growth phase
6. double the pitch rate. I literally don't know why and, sadly, I can't remember the source of this tip
7. let the wort stay in the fermenter for an extended period (3-4 weeks) to let the yeasts to eat-back their bad-tasting stuff
8. RDWHAHB

So, what's your opinions?

Thank you very much in advance.

kb

Warmy yeasts:
WhiteLabs WLP550, WLP566, WLP568, WLP065, WLP655
Wyeast 1214, 1388, 3724*, 3725, 3763, 3787, 3822
Fermentis SafBrew T58, WB06

*Wyeast says that their 3724 (Belgian Saison) can happily stands till 95 F!

Hey, there, and welcome to the hobby. I completely understand your predicament, but I'd encourage you to rethink the bit about icy bottles and wet t-shirts. It can be frustrating to put a lot of work into something only to get mediocre results. Temp. control will make a huge difference in the quality of your beer, and it doesn't need to take up much space. Get a smaller plastic tub for your water bath and switch out ice bottles twice per day. You don't need a t-shirt with a bucket, and can even cover it all up with a sheet or something if your girlfriend objects. Bear in mind that, once active fermentation stops, you can get rid of the water bath and let the bucket sit at room temp. while the yeast finish up. Having said that,

1. Sure, why not? As long as you feel rewarded by what you're doing. That means the beer will need to taste good enough for you to feel it's worth your time.
2. This is a very good idea. But even here, people recommend temp. control for optimum results. Look at some recipes and see if the fermentation schedule involves temps. that you can manage.
3. Yes, a good policy. For instance, with no temp. control, you don't want to be attempting another California Common Beer. That batch may have tasted off because it fermented too warm (though it could also have been due to any number of things). You could certainly get by at 70 degrees with yeasts like US-05 (Wyeast 1056) and still make some decent beer. Just expect to be getting more esters. As things warm up to 75, you'll always be risking other off flavors, but try it and see what you get.
4. Yes, this is good reasoning. But even here, temp. control will make a difference.
5. Yes, I'd recommend pitching the beer at cooler temps and cooling the beer until "active" fermentation stops (I'd give it a minimum of 72 hours, but I'd suggest shooting for at least 5 days from brew day).
6. Never heard this. If anything, you'll get a more active fermentation and risk producing nasty things like fusel alcohol. Someone can correct me if I'm mistaken.
7. This is a good idea, too, but remember that the yeast will only do so much. They will clean up esters and diacetyl, for instance, but not fusel alcohol.
8. Most definitely... But still try to control pitching and fermentation temps.

'Hope that helps! Good luck.

Hi krahm,
thank you for your reply.

You've convinced me, I'll go for the bath tub for my next brew, at least for the first days or till my gf kick me (or the bucket) out of the house.

bye