Ideal fermentation temperature.

Okay here is my situation. Im a college kid sharing a house with a two other people, and in an effort to try and be a good roommate i would love to have my beer ferment in the garage instead of the house. (one of my roommates isn't as excited about the whole homebrew thing as i am)

My only concern is the temperature of the garage. I should put a thermometer in there to see what it actually is, so i apologize for my lack of information.

what i do know is that its not an insulated garage, and its currently snowing where i live with an outside temp of 32ish, and it feels like the inside its about the same temp. Plus we park in there so the door is always opening

Would it be okay to let fermentation take place in the garage? Im a new brewer so I'm waiting on my first kit from NB, but id like to start preparing as much as i can beforehand.

i bought this kit btw, I'm not sure if it matters: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/mild-ale-extract-kit.html

It depends on which of the yeast you chose. The temperature at which you ferment will affect some the flavors that the yeast produce. If the temperature is too low you may experience slow or stalled fermentation. You also may not be producing the fruity flavors you want for that style if the temperature is too low.

There are heaters made for fermenters that would allow you to store the fermenter in colder environment and still maintain proper fermentation temperatures.

Also, tell your roommate to get over it. A fermenter sitting in a dark corner isn't going to bother anyone.

...and to answer your original question the NB recipe specifies 66-74 F for the liquid Wyeast and 64-70F for the dry Danstar.

FastTalker said:

It depends on which of the yeast you chose. The temperature at which you ferment will affect some the flavors that the yeast produce. If the temperature is too low you may experience slow or stalled fermentation. You also may not be producing the fruity flavors you want for that style if the temperature is too low.

There are heaters made for fermenters that would allow you to store the fermenter in colder environment and still maintain proper fermentation temperatures.

Also, tell your roommate to get over it. A fermenter sitting in a dark corner isn't going to bother anyone.

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+1, you will want to ferment towards the low end of the yeast's range which is usally low to mid 60s (fermenter temp, not ambient as fermentation raises the heat in the fermenter). If you are paying your portion of rent, there is no reason you can't ferment your beer in the house.

Alright, so I've decided I'm fermenting inside. I set my empty fermenting bucket in the garage last night and left it till this morning and the stick on thermometer is reading 39 deg. Now i know thats not the most scientific way but its still nowhere near the temps ill need.

I looked at a couple heaters, but I'm trying to get this batch going on the cheap so I'm fermenting inside, our house is like mid sixties all the time anyways so it should be perfect.

You can try a water bath and an aquarium heater. They are pretty cheap. I use a big cooler filled with water and the heater is able to get the temps up easily. I use this setup to brew Saisons and Belgians in the winter when my basement is too cold. I got a 150 watt heater in an 80 qt cooler. I probably could have used a smaller heater but this allows me to get the temp up into the 80's for the Saisons, when my basement is in the high 50's.

TYGR said:

Okay here is my situation. Im a college kid sharing a house with a two other people, and in an effort to try and be a good roommate i would love to have my beer ferment in the garage instead of the house. (one of my roommates isn't as excited about the whole homebrew thing as i am)

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There must be something wrong when a college "kid" is not excited about making beer

I am glad you decided to ferment inside and as long as you can keep the fermentor in an area around the mid sixties your beer should be fine! I have a room that stays about 64° in the winter and keep my beers there without any problem!

Good luck

So far my beer has been coming out okay but I just feel my fermenting/conditioning temp is too low. But the basement is my beer area and I don't want to have it all over the house, actually my wife probably doesn't. Basically my temp is 60-62. I'm hoping since I cover the keg/bottles in a box that it helps warm it a degree or 2. But I just feel its too cold sometimes.

I should probably switch to the Nottingham's dry yeast. I have been using Muntons Gold Premium yeast. I think Nottingham's is better for cold temps.

Tub with an aquareum water heater. To help maintain more even temp through the water I also bought a small submersible pump. Best money I spent for long term perfect fermentation temp control in a colder Minnesota basement. I probably spent about $80 on the 3 items. The pump had been returned so I got a reduced price on that!

KevinW said:

There must be something wrong when a college "kid" is not excited about making beer

I am glad you decided to ferment inside and as long as you can keep the fermentor in an area around the mid sixties your beer should be fine! I have a room that stays about 64° in the winter and keep my beers there without any problem!

Good luck

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She's a female, and a hater of the brew.

I also might try the warm water bath idea if it becomes an issue, but i don't think it will. I set up a little space in my closet today that should work good. Im a little nervous ill have an explosion and soak my clothes though..

Now I'm just waiting on my ingredients from NB, they just shipped out today and I'm leaving town on monday for spring break. I really wanted to get this brew going before i left but oh well.

I did find a 21.5 qt pot today discounted for only 12 bucks! its enamel but no chips so it should work for getting my feet wet in the hobby.

Key is just to have fun and enjoy it! Nice job finding the pot.

One thing I did was wrap sleeping bags around mine and also get it up off the floor on a big folded up beach towel or something like that. An old coat or sleeping bag will keep it a little warmer and also kee out light when it's in a carbon.

Thanks, found it at bed, bath, and beyond oddly enough