Would an unheated garage be cold enough for lagering?

I'm new to homebrewing but I'm thinking I'd like to make a clone of my favorite commercial beer, Samuel Adams Black Lager. I know you have to keep lagers at a much lower temperature while fermenting than an ale.

I live in Philadelphia, and after doing some research I found that in January the average high is 39 and for February it is 42. Would letting my lager ferment in my attached but unheated garage be good? I imagine in there a huge temperature change outside would only change the temperature inside my garage a few degrees.

It would be OK for lagering(aging) but most lager yeasts like to ferment in the mid 40's to low 50's.
Also check the temps in the garage every hour or so for a few days( you don't have to get up in the middle of the night, but right before bed and as soon as you get up) to see what the fluctuations are. If there is a wide swing in temps you are probably going to want your fermenter in a water bath to control temp swings. That way you can leave it out there even if it gets really cold by using an aquarium heater.

I've only done one lager, but I believe you're supposed to ferment between 50 and 55 degrees for about 2 weeks, then bring it into the 60s for a few days and then lager around 40 degrees for a couple months.

One thing that would worry me is that if the high in january is 39, then it'll be getting a lot colder as well. I know I've had coke cans explode during the winter in my uninsulated garage. I'd be worried about the wort freezing. You might be ok if you wrap the carboy or bucket in some type of insulation.

I've lagered in my garage by wrapping the keg in a foam camping pad and putting it in a large cardboard box. Cut the temperature swings to 2-3F. Average was around 36F. Not ideal, but good enough.

Hmm... since I still don't have my first brew under my belt maybe this should be next winter's project.

niquejim said:

It would be OK for lagering(aging) but most lager yeasts like to ferment in the mid 40's to low 50's.
Also check the temps in the garage every hour or so for a few days( you don't have to get up in the middle of the night, but right before bed and as soon as you get up) to see what the fluctuations are. If there is a wide swing in temps you are probably going to want your fermenter in a water bath to control temp swings. That way you can leave it out there even if it gets really cold by using an aquarium heater.

Click to expand...

Thats brilliant. Has anyone in the north tried this? I live in Jersey... the temps would be similar to Phili, but it definately gets colder at night. If I sit the carboy in a tub in the garage and set the aquarium heater temp to say 45-50, do you think the water will stay in that range?

THERE IS HOPE!

IvanTheTerrible said:

Thats brilliant. Has anyone in the north tried this? I live in Jersey... the temps would be similar to Phili, but it definately gets colder at night. If I sit the carboy in a tub in the garage and set the aquarium heater temp to say 45-50, do you think the water will stay in that range?

THERE IS HOPE!

Click to expand...

I'm trying it this winter. I know someone in Pittsburgh that did it about 2 weeks ago. His area was 50-55F naturally...

IvanTheTerrible said:

Thats brilliant. Has anyone in the north tried this? I live in Jersey... the temps would be similar to Phili, but it definately gets colder at night. If I sit the carboy in a tub in the garage and set the aquarium heater temp to say 45-50, do you think the water will stay in that range?

THERE IS HOPE!

Click to expand...

You would need a pretty big aquarium heater to handle that job! You figure the bath you would be setting it in would need to hold a 6 gallon carboy. That is a lot of water and space to be controling the temp, let alone when the outside temperature maybe having a greater effect on the water than a small heater.

It sounds like a great idea, but I would try a heater for a huge aquarium and test it with a carboy full of water to be sure.

I've often thought about how nice this would be, but with Chicago's propensity to have -50º weeks, there's no chance of anything liquid surviving. Last winter my kegs froze a few times.

try putting a glass of water in the garage with the temp gage in the water, check it every so often and get an idea of the ave temp. is

The trick is to cover it in insulating blankets and keep it up off the concrete. It'll hold temp pretty good I bet.