Fermenting room temp?????

I recently made my brew closet, it is located in my laundry room in my house. The temp. in the room stays around 70-75 degrees, depending on the time of day. My question is: If the temp reaches 72-75 degrees, is this okay for fermenting most style Ales? Also, I am going to be doing a Kolsch tomorrow and was wondering what fermenting temp is recommended? I don't really have the capability to Lager, but i do have a basement/area under house that feels like it is around 60 degrees, but it is not temp controlled, so at night it could drop to below 40-45 degrees in the basement area. Can i ferment the Kolsch in my Brew Closet?? Any suggestions?!?!

You can do it, however from personal experience I can tell you that my ales got much better when I started fermenting in a chamber that kept the temps in the mid 60's on a consistent basis. Kolsch yeast from Wyeast tops out at 70F.

You'll hear this over and over, but a swamp cool is your best bet. A rubbermaid container or something like it big enough to hold the fermenter and water will absorb the temp fluctuations to an extent. Kolsch's benefit from cooler temps so you *might* be able to use the basement area if you make a starter or have the correct yeast count. I ferment my kolschs at 60 but haven't gone lower. You can get away w/ the room temp but if it gets up to 75 the flavor will be impacted.

70 - 75 is a little too warm for most ales. Fermentation can raise the internal temp by quite a few degrees, sometimes as much as 6 - 8. Kolsch should be fermented at around 55 degrees. If you have a thermometer place it in the basement and check to see what the temps are during the day and at night.

I do have a large 1/2 barrell shaped rubbermaid container that can easily hold my fermenter. I currently have a Stout in it's 3rd day of fermentation, it's temp is reading around 73-75 degrees, should i put it in the large container and fill with water to keep the temp down some??

Anyone???................

Its not too late. Go for it. It'll give you a good idea of what it takes to regulate the temp for the kolsch.

do i need to do anything with the water, or just leave it alone for the entire month? I figure it will just stay at room temp for the duration of the fermentation.

I keep my fermentor in a rubbermaid tub, my apt is 75 deg so I need to keep fermentation lower than that. I put a bit of star san in the tub water just so things dont start "growing" in there
but its a great way to hold temp...just add frozen water bottles to the water to bring it down if the temp starts to get to high.