Temperature

I brewed my first batch of beer this afternoon and I'm most concerned about maintaining a good temperature for the yeast. I live in a third floor apartment where temps often hit the 80s. Carboy is in my closet which stays a few degrees cooler than the rest of my apartment -- I don't have the budget to keep my AC unit on all day

Are there other apartment dwellers who have successfully dealt with this problem? Any tips? I'm using Safale US-05.

Try sticking your fermenter in a larger container with water in it. Frozen water bottles can be cycled in and out as needed to maintain a cooler temp.
Try searching swamp cooler if your unsure what I mean.

At 80 you are going to get some esters and probably fusel alcohols.

There are a couple of methods you could us. If you are around you can put your carboy in a tub of water and then constantly add ice to keep the temp down around 66 F.

Another alternative is to use a swamp cooler. A quick search for swamp cooler will give lots of info. The short description is to set you carboy in a basin of water and put a towel or tee shirt around the carboy with a fan blowing on it. It will wick up the water and evaporate it to lower the temp. But probably not enough to come from the 80's down to the 60s you need.

Also a small fridge or freezer with a temp controller would be a great option if you can swing it.

If all those don't work for you, you need to look at brewing types of beer with yeasts that do not need as cool of temps such as hefes or some Belgiums although 80 would be hot for almost all types.

http://www.cool-brewing.com/

Its basically a fermentation chamber that you can put in a corner with your carboy and ice bottles in. Drops temperatures below ambient temperature easily by 10 degrees. I love mine and it really works. Worth the money.

Wet t-shirt contest is how we do it in colorado. wet shirt on your carboy and put a fan on it, but that does not work well in humid areas(don't know where you live). Keeping it in a tub of H2O is good way to maintain temps since it takes more heat/time to raise water temp over air. Brew Saisons, warm temps make awesome flavors, I leave mine in the shed where it gets nice and warm.

Thanks all!! I'm sure this question gets asked a lot. I'll try the wet t shirt for now and potentially invest in a fridge for the next one. :fro:

I use a small 1.7 cu fridge to brew 3 gallon batches in a 90+ garage, so far no problem keeping it at 64.

patronsaintofbrewing said:

Thanks all!! I'm sure this question gets asked a lot. I'll try the wet t shirt for now and potentially invest in a fridge for the next one. :fro:

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Check craigslist. I found someone getting rid of a stand up freezer for free and then bartered with someone for a temp control er. Was a great setup.

+1 on the saison suggestion. I live in the mountains of Colorado and my fermentation area sits at a steady 66 degrees all summer long (until I turn on the heat). Great right?!? Ya, but I want to brew saisons...

Yup, looks like saison is your new favorite style...

Fermentor in a big tub of ice water recirculating frozen water bottles daily works great for me and it's the cheapest to setup.....

Look for a 24x 24" cardboard box and put the carboy in that with 1/2 gal frozen water bottles. Scrounge some small foam insulation pieces from a construction dumpster or styrofoam that come with things shipped in and insulate the box. You can get your temp 10-15 degrees below ambient with no problem if you have insulation and enough frozen 1 and 2 liter bottles or milk jugs.