Garage brewing

Hey guys,
Newb here busy insulating and drywalling the detached garage getting ready to brew my first batch.

Question:

Will the garage be too cold in the winter to ferment? There is no heat to the garage obviously and although the walls are insulated i live in the Detroit area and it gets quite cold in the winter sometimew and i dont expect the insulation will keep the garage too much warmer than the outside air temperature.

What would you recommend since i have no choice but to ferment in the garage?

Thanks for taking time to respond

Well...you could just brew lagers! :cross:

What kind of temperatures are we talking about in the garage? If need be, you could build a small fermentation cabinet. Maybe heat it with a temp controller and small low-power hair dryer, or the like. There are also heating bands available that wrap around a carboy to provide gentle warmth.

Electric Fermentation Heater

Brew Belt

I've got the opposite problem...in the summer, my garage gets up to 90°F. A chest freezer with controller does the trick for me.

Do you not have a basement? My basement is perfect for lagers in winter and ales in summer. I say brew in the garage and ferment in the basement.

BlindLemonLars said:

I've got the opposite problem...in the summer, my garage gets up to 90°F. A chest freezer with controller does the trick for me.

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Me too 'cept it's anywhere from 100° to 110°.

whutever said:

Me too 'cept it's anywhere from 100° to 110°.

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Mine may get higher than 90° when it's over 110° outside...but on those days I'm not leaving the comfort of my house to check!

But AZ...I feel ya man. I used to have family there, I can remember getting out of my car and feeling like my lungs were collapsing with the first breath.

whutever said:

Me too 'cept it's anywhere from 100° to 110°.

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Yeah, if its 100° outside, then my garage is like 120° of stagnant hell =)

No basement to ferment in. Garage or indoors is the only option. And it's a small house so indoors isn't much of an option either

Is there any electricity at all in the garage? If so, you can frame and insulate a small closet and set it up with a space heater and thermostat.

there's gotta be space for a fermenter inside the house... a garage in canada in the winter just won't cut it... i'm in iowa and my garage gets too cold in the winter for even lagers.

Yes there is electricity in the garage. I hadn't thought about framing a closet but the idea of space heaters had crossed my mind. Would one (or two) be enough? My garage is 20' by 14'. What is the coldest i should be pitching for ales?

I'd love to ferment in the house but there really isn't much room and i dont think my wife would be thrilled. I suppose i would find a way to make it work if i had to.

ChshreCat said:

Is there any electricity at all in the garage? If so, you can frame and insulate a small closet and set it up with a space heater and thermostat.

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It'dbe a lot cheaper (and less of a fire hazard) to get a big tub from Wally World with an aquarium thermostat and put your fermenter in a water bath controlled by the t-stat. Though admittedly I don't know if that setup would be able to withstand the Windsor winters.

I would recommend sticking a brew bucket in the back of a closet inside the house.

To answer your other question, I try to keep my ales in the 60 degree range. I highly doubt you can keep your garage in that range without a heater of some sort.

While you are building out your garage, build a small, insulated fermentation closet that will hold coolers that you can fill w/ water, put an aquarium heater into, then put your fermenters into that.
Do lagers in the winter, ales in the summer.