cool basement good for all types?

Guys, I'm in the planning stages of actually building a separate building for brewing exclusively. Part of my plans include a full basement for temperature control.

If I use concrete blocks and concrete floor, with no external insulation, the ambient temperature in the room should average 60*F to maybe 68*F.

Is there a possibility this may be too cool for any type of brew? I'm also toying with the idea of making a separate "cave"... fully enclosed hole through the wall into which I could put fermenters, preferably for lagering.

Any thoughts?

This poster should be boycotted out of pure jealousy and envy. Seriously, congrats.

that would be perfect for ales. lagers would need to be cooler, of course.

DeathBrewer said:

that would be perfect for ales. lagers would need to be cooler, of course.

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What he said.

i forgot to add that i'm really jealous and i agree...you should be banned for this outrage

Damn, that should be perfect for ales. If you need different temperatures you can elevate the fermenters off of the floor where it may be a few degrees warmer. I start my carboys on the basement steps where it is about 68F to 70F and take it all the way to the basement later where it is around 64F. I wish I could get down to 60F like you - would be beneficial for my Scottish ales.

^^^Green with envy

I have a walk-out basement. 64-68 with the AC set to 75'F on the main level. When the heats on its at 68, 54-58F in the basement. I'm in Iowa.

Build it. You can make ales all year round. Maybe some cooler ales in the winter or you can make steam beers with lager yeast.

Wyeast 1007 German Ale (55-66F) A good cool ale
Wyeast 2121 California Lager (58-68) A good steam Lager
http://www.northernbrewer.com/wyeast.html

I make steam beers or lagers in the winter. Then bottle lager in the fridge.

Frankly, I think you can make good lagers using the same ale techniques. Just using the lager yeasts at 52-62F

My schedule;
Ales: April thru Oct
Lagers: Nov - March

You'll get better temperature stability if you insulate down to 4 ft and allow for R30 in the ceiling.

Jim Karr said:

If I use concrete blocks and concrete floor, with no external insulation, the ambient temperature in the room should average 60*F to maybe 68*F.

Is there a possibility this may be too cool for any type of brew?

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If you think it will AVERAGE as low as 60F, yes, this will be too cool for many ale yeasts. You might find that some flocculate too early, and you don't reach full attenuation, resulting in an unbalanced beer.

68F would be a good temp for nearly all ale yeasts, however. In fact, it would be easier if the basement fermenting room (man I wish I had that!!) were a bit on the cool side, because it is easier to add heat using a temperature controller than it is to cool things down.

I'll be really curious to hear how you make out.

Cheers!

I read an article about using a garbage can buried in the ground for cold storage of garden vegetables. A trench is left around the lip to provide drainage. the lid is covered with a foot of straw then a small tarp covers the straw. Thinking it could be used seasonally as a lagering pit. My crawl space stays around 50 degrees during the winter so I don't really need one but was thinking it would be cheap. Got to remember before refrigeration beer styles were brewed seasonally as conditions were right.