Cold Basement

I moved into a new place, and am brewing my first batch (a berry cream ale) as I type this!

My question is, I have a room in the basement that I thought would be great for my brew. The issue is, right now it is 58 degrees!

I don't mind waiting longer for fermentation and understand cooler temps can give a cleaner taste, but is that high enough to start fermentation in?

Or do I need to keep it warmer until fermentations starts? Thanks!

check the temp the yeast is rated for.
most ale yeasts can get down to around 60
i would let it get started at a warmer temp and then move it to the cooler area.

Most yeast will handle those temperatures, assuming you pitch a proper amount of yeast. You can get it to start at those low temperatures if you pitch a starter of at least 2 liters (pitch just the slurry, not the whole volume). With a large starting volume of yeast, the metabolic action of the yeast will raise the temperature of the wort by 5 or six degrees, enabling the yeast to work at their normal rates. If you don't use a starter, or one that is too small, you won't raise the temperature enough to get a strong fermentation and you may not get full attenuation.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

Bugeaterbrewing said:

(pitch just the slurry, not the whole volume).

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I've wondered about this with my starters... why not the whole volume? Seems as though I'm wasting a nice 1/2 gallon of prefermented beer! (And the alcohol!)

I've used the entire volume in the past.

You could also try wrapping your primary in a blanket. With the yeast hard at work, they produce a little heat and the blanket will keep that contained. That's good for a few degrees - and that's just about all you need!

Just heard a great idea on Basic Brewing Radio on this exact topic.

Put your carboy/bucket in a big tub of water. Get an acquarium heater. The better ones will allow you to adjust the temperature with the precision of about one degree. Viola! It'll heat the water around the fermenter, not the fermenter itself, but that should be enough to solve your problem.

Now, if only they made acquarium *coolers*...

the_bird said:

Just heard a great idea on Basic Brewing Radio on this exact topic.

Put your carboy/bucket in a big tub of water. Get an acquarium heater. The better ones will allow you to adjust the temperature with the precision of about one degree. Viola! It'll heat the water around the fermenter, not the fermenter itself, but that should be enough to solve your problem.

Now, if only they made acquarium *coolers*...

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That seems like A LOT of work for a couple of degrees. Wouldn't a blanket and / or a heating pad be easier?

Just an idea I heard, throwing it out there for consideration...

the_bird said:

Just heard a great idea on Basic Brewing Radio on this exact topic.

Put your carboy/bucket in a big tub of water. Get an acquarium heater. The better ones will allow you to adjust the temperature with the precision of about one degree. Viola! It'll heat the water around the fermenter, not the fermenter itself, but that should be enough to solve your problem.

Now, if only they made acquarium *coolers*...

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Right--as a general rule, it's much easier to heat things than to cool them.

Here's my basement fermenting solution.

I use an old upright freezer as a fermenting chest. Inside the freezer, I wired up a 120-volt inline thermostat and a porcelain light fixture w/ a 15 watt bulb. Total expense: less than $20.

You could do this with a space heater or any heating device, inside an old cupboard or anything that will capture a reasonable amount of heat. Just make sure whatever you cobble up is not a fire hazard.

I've also seriously considered the aquarium pump thng. But I had the old freezer, and I don't have a tub that would work tih an aquarium heater (would have to be non-plastic, I assume.)

I started my first ever batch on Friday night. I put it in the basement, and by the next morning, it was sitting at 61F which I thought was a touch cold. The kit I got from my buddy came with a brew belt. It said that it would keep the brew at 75-80F which I thought was too warm. So, I asked the nice folks on this forum for ideas. Someone had a suggestion to use a timer to control the brew belt. I remembered that I had a timer for running the Christmas lights. I set it up to do one hour on, and one hour off. The timer has brought the brew up to a nice consistent level of about 67F. It seemed to work perfectly for me.

I ran into the same situation this weekend. I pitched liquid yeast at around 72 degrees, and then moved my glass carboys to the basement. I didnt check the temperature since it has not been an issue in the past.

I went down to the basment on Sunday evening to check the fermentation, and nothing was happening. I have since moved the carboy to a warmer section of the house that is about 72 degrees. This has not been a problem in the past, but this is the first time I used a liquid yeast.

I think I will leave it there until primary fermentation is complete.

As an interesting side note, a podcast from the guy who wrote "Brew Like a Monk" talks about the yeast strains used in the Trappist Monastaries. Basically the ambient temperature of where they ferment is down around 60° F or so, and over the course of the next few days (three I believe in the one example) the temps hit 80° F in the wort! This was solely a function of the yeast. So the long and short of it is, that the strains themselves are like freight trains gathering momentum. They do absolutely nothing to warm them up. So his advice was to pitch low (temps) and pitch plenty of yeast (speaking of those particular strains). I have done some experimentation with Ale yeast, fermenting below the recommended temps. I was very satisfied with the results. I have not been able to replicate the massive exothermal reaction he spoke of, but I know it is because my rates were too low...that and there is probably a big difference in having a higher volume fermenting.

In fact to add something here. You are probably more fortunate than many in this because fermenting too warm is in most cases more of a chance to produce off flavors and some of the higher alcohols which are usually not welcome. What you can do is get the yeast going at a slightly warmer temperature and then bring them down. They will have to go through an adjustment period most likely but you probably shouldn't have problems. This is of course dependent on a few things namely pitching rate, aeration, wort gravity, yeast strain, yeast vigor, etc.

zoebisch01 said:

Basically the ambient temperature of where they ferment is down around 60° F or so, and over the course of the next few days (three I believe in the one example) the temps hit 80° F in the wort! This was solely a function of the yeast. So the long and short of it is, that the strains themselves are like freight trains gathering momentum. They do absolutely nothing to warm them up.

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Yeah--I'd say the difference for homebrewers is that we rarely/never pitch at the same massive rate that large-scale commercial (and monestary) brewers do, so we don't get that massive exothermic reaction.

I have found that when you repitch on a yeast cake, you'll get temps up to 8-10 degrees above ambient temps during the initial burst of fermentation activity, though.

I just threw out a bunch of those little fake plug in candles people put in their windows for christmas. I bet one of those 2 watt bulbs would raise the temp of the rubbermaid tub I have my carboy in probably 2 degrees or so if I keep it covered. The only problem I see is that I put it in the rubber tub in case of a massive blow off. That's all I need is a bulb sitting under frothy wort.

i also have a chillier than usual basement, and after some net surfing, found out about the "brew belt". when it came to the house, i was geeked to try it so i brewed a batch and let it ferment without the addition of the brew belt because i figured the fermentation would raise the temp to just about where it needed to be. so after 2-3 days of rigerous fermentation and a stable fermometer reading of btwn 68 -70* F, the temp started to plunge. my first thought was to insert strips of cardboard between the belt and the carboy, that didn't regulate the temp well enough, so my second plan of attack was to buy a timer to turn the belt on and off at 1 hr intervals, but no such animal existed at the local home center. after wandering the aisles and lamenting my problem to the red smock person in the thermostat department, i happened upon my product of salvation......a rheostatic controller that plugs into the electrical outlet and accepts the plug from the brew belt. it is rated for 300 watts(the brew belt is 20), and it has a sliding control that "dims" the power going to the heater. after one day of experimentation, i was able to hold a steady 68*F for a full two weeks. it rocks so tough i,m going to get another one so i can have 2 batches in primary at the same time(like the big boys). cheers..:rockin:

butler1850 said:

I've wondered about this with my starters... why not the whole volume? Seems as though I'm wasting a nice 1/2 gallon of prefermented beer! (And the alcohol!)

I've used the entire volume in the past.

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could some please answer this question?