Garage lager help

Hi all

I would like to make my first lager

I don't have a fridge for fermentation temp control but I do have a garage and it's winter in Canada. I have a Cool Brewing insulated bag which can completely contain my fermenter bucket.

If I get a temp controller and use it to control a belt style heater and put the bucket and heater in the insulated bag and put the whole system in the unheated garage... Would it work to ferment at 10 C And then lager at 4 C?

Probably depends on temp in garage. Let's say it will vary from -15 to 5 C. The 23 liters of beer should provide a large thermal mass which is fairly resistant to rapid change in temperature.

Has anyone tried this?

Thanks

Valvefan

Sounds pretty solid. I would be concerned that the heater would have trouble maintaining a 25 deg C difference in temperature.

I do something similar, but use an aquarium heater:
http://woodlandbrew.blogspot.com/2012/12/fermentation-temperature-control.html

The water bath provides a little more stability than just the fermentor alone.
Something like this:
http://woodlandbrew.blogspot.com/2012/11/lagering-outside.html

I have a thread on Ghetto Lagering.

Calgary has a good homebrewing club (Calgary Yeast Wranglers). You should get in touch.

Ran a test last week with a similar setup. Garage in Maine was roughly mid 30s for the three day run. Maintained 50 degree F no problem. The dozen timed a checked it the controller wasn't even cycled on. I used a brew belt stuffed inside a wine bucked with a beer pale inside that. Wrapped the whole thing in a couple beach towels.

I've been able to keep a saison in the mid 80s in a 60 deg F basement with the same rig.