Ferm temp questions

I've brewed several batches ~10-15. Over the past year, all ales, and I've never once worried about fermentation temperature. Ive just put the fermenter in the basement where it stays a constant ~70. I can also only think of 2 beers that came out bad. Lately I've been reading all over these forums about how incredibly important Ferm temp is and all sorts of systems to maintain it under 70 at the warmest. In my new apartment I no longer have a cool basement so I was just thinking of putting the fermentor in swamp cooler, a tub of water covered in wet towels with maybe a block of ice changed 1 or 2 times a day. Will this be able to keep things cool enough if I keep my apartment ~ 75-78?

I think with just the water and towels you would be on the edge of your target. I can get about 5-6 F cooler than air temp. with water and a t-shirt cover plus a fan. This will also depend on your humidity, the higher it is, the less cooling you will get. You might have to add ice in order to get it to a more desirable range

I'm a big fan of swamp coolers. Cheap, effective, and (mostly) out of the way. I don't have a dedicated brewing/fermenting space in the house, so my normal mode of ferm temp control is by way of a swamp cooler. I can keep the water to a constant 68-70 even without ice. Apparently my cooler is well insulated. I do have a ferm chamber under construction but there's no telling when I'll be able to finish the project.

Id think about freezing 2-3 1/2 gallon bottles (I use Sunny D) and keep them in rotation. If your air temp is mid to high seventies & you want to get the fermenter down to mid/high 60s... I think you going to need some ice bottles to get 10 degrees movement.

rs3902 said:

Ive just put the fermenter in the basement where it stays a constant ~70. I can also only think of 2 beers that came out bad. Lately I've been reading all over these forums about how incredibly important Ferm temp is and all sorts of systems to maintain it under 70 at the warmest.

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~70 ambient probably won't give you all sorts of nasty fusel alcohols, but for a lot of beers will be less than ideal. So while only two came out "bad", it's quite possible that they all could have been a lot better.

75-78 ambient is definitely rough though. I recommend the water bath / rotate frozen water bottle method if you have no other way to control temps. And if you can manage, try a few batches where you keep the *liquid* temp down in the 64-66 degree range -- you'll realize why we all say temp control is so important