where do you keep the carboys?

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grego2

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Were do you keep your carboys and such for the 1-3 weeks?
Been hunting for a cool enough place to store the bucket. The lowest I can get in one of the closets is 72-73 degrees. A little on the high side but with the weather getting into the 90's it is getting harder to find someplace cool enough.
Since this will be my first batch, I am doing a honey ale, will it give off any smells thru the air lock? The wife is wondering if I am going to turn the house into a smelly bar.
 
I think the low 70"s is ideal for formenting most ales. The 90's are too hot for man or beast or beer. I hope your house is air conditioned. There is a small amount of odor emitted from an airlock during fermentation which you can smell if you put you nose right down to the airlock but it shouldn't smell up a room or bother your wife unless she has a super sensitive nose.

That's my opinion.

David
 
grego2 said:
...Since this will be my first batch, I am doing a honey ale, will it give off any smells thru the air lock? The wife is wondering if I am going to turn the house into a smelly bar.
I have my own brewing kitchen in the basement. It's a finished walkout basement, so it's not like a dungeon.

I keep all my carboys in milk crates. If it gets too warm for your brews I recommend you go get some rubbermaid type containers and use the wick method to maintain cooler brews. Do a search for this method/practice or maybe someone will want to write it up for you here.

Yes, there will be odors. Sometimes they are not pleasant (sulphur). I've been brewing for years and there are no smelly "bar odors" in my house.

Those odors are a result of the lack of sanitation, i.e., the cleaning person is not using enough soap and water when cleaning the bar then using the same water to mop the floors with. Next time you're near a mop smell it. If it smells "sour", it's old water, not enough soap. Toss it.

I also smell my sponges (that's all I use to "scrub" my equipment with after an overnight soak). Sometimes no matter how much soap you use there's bacteria in there that you can't get out. Toss it and get a new one...or go to the dollar store and buy a 6-8 pack for a buck or so...they're cheap enough.
 
Mine are in my closet. And being that im out in the desert a wet towel works fine to drop the temp another 2-4 degrees.
 
Cheesefood said:
Basement here too. Nice, cool basement that's all shady and dark.


Which is exactly where your latest AV should be kept brother.... ;) Keep em' comin'. :D

(note: tell TX we need a "puke" smiley)

Was it Charlie that wrote that "light and heat are bad for beer"? Simple statement, easy to remember.



Ize
 
It's nice to have the comfort of a basement to brew in.
I feel for everyone who don't have a cool place to put their brews and admire their determination to have a brewed beer vs a store bought, brew on!
 
I am having to use frozen gel packs to keep the temp down and I lowered the temp a few degrees on the ac to help. I think since I am redoing the back yard, it might be time to dig down and make a root celler. I would probably have to do in the cover of night with the laws in cali. I guess I could always call it a fall out shelter.
 
I keep mine in a spare bathroom that we never use off the kitchen. It's small dark and doesnt get too warm when I have the heat on. This summer I dunno yet, probably move them to the basement and use tubs to keep them cool since I dont have AC.

I also smell my sponges (that's all I use to "scrub" my equipment with after an overnight soak). Sometimes no matter how much soap you use there's bacteria in there that you can't get out. Toss it and get a new one...or go to the dollar store and buy a 6-8 pack for a buck or so...they're cheap enough.

On a side note . . .
One nice trick to keep your sponges from getting all nasty is after your done cleaning your stuff toss them inot the microwave while they are still wet. Set that bad boy on high and nuke the p1ss outa the sponge for like 3 minutes . It will kill off the nasties that cause the smell AND it will make all the crap you got stuck to the inside of your microwave come off beyond easy.

Maybe I'm cheep but I cant come up with a good reason to throw out a sponge just cause it stinks.
 
I use the main floor bathroom, the only cool dark place where I don't have to lug the carboys up or down stairs. I'd love to use the garage, but it's uninsulated and varies hugely. Our guests are always a little surprised to see several carboys and blowoff hoses under the sink, but they still drink the resulting beer, so hey.

Still, it'd be great to use the garage.... what would I need, a chest fridge, I guess?
 
I am having to use frozen gel packs to keep the temp down and I lowered the temp a few degrees on the ac to help. I think since I am redoing the back yard, it might be time to dig down and make a root celler. I would probably have to do in the cover of night with the laws in cali. I guess I could always call it a fall out shelter.

good idea, build a small shed like 8x8 feet and dig the dirt level down a few feet, i bet you can take temp readings to figure where you need to stop..
if one was so inclined that is.:drunk:
 
I built a fermentation chamber under the workbench in my garage. I used a free mini-fridge to cool the chamber down to fermentation temps. It took two separate evenings to build, about 10 hours in total.

DSCF0080.JPG
 
I use a heavy quilt and put my buckets in front of the a/c duct in the kitcen. I still use buckets instead of carboys. I put a cardboard box on top so the quilt doesn't mess up the airlock or blowoff hose.
 
I am fortunate in having a basement that runs from the mid '50s in the Winter up to the low '60s in the Summer....even though we don't do much air conditioning. Pretty much ideal for beer, and it lives there unless it's being brewed on the one end of the pipeline, or ein, zwei, s'guffa on the other.....
 
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