Another Texan Hooked

[Roush]

Hi Everyone,

A friend and I just started brewing this summer, and I think we're pretty much hooked. We bought a home brew kit from Homebrew HQ in Richardson, and started off with Cooper's Lager. It turned out pretty high in alcohol and slightly astringent, but drinkable. We really had no idea what we were doing, but after reading through this website we've answered quite a bit of our own questions. Thanks for all the info. Anyone else in Texas have some suggestions for keeping the temp in your fermenter down in this heat? I've got a kegerator which can easily fit my primary or secondary. We're using the wet t-shirt method on our second batch right now, but would it be worth it to invest in a temperature controller? We'd eventually like to start making lagers once we have some experience, but I was wondering what everyone else suggests. Thanks!

 

[user 30639]

More Texans, woo hoo!

 

[Zul'jin]

This is TEXAS!

 

[nitrousjunkie]

another TEXAN. Welcome to the club. I to am a TEXAN, just dislocated due to the air force.

 

[ibbones]

More Texans, woo hoo!

+1 Just 200 miles south of ya.

 

[ChillyP]

Two Words: Fermentation Chamber. I'm in Houston, Tx and I use the fermentation chamber. Runs on a 12Volt Wall Wart and uses frozen plastic coffee cans as the coolant.I have a PDF from the original creator, plus my tips on upgrading it. Send me a message if you're interested and welcome to the large community of Texas Homebrewers.

 

[Jube]

being from Nevada I know the heat issues and I have found a really ...well....hick solution. I drop my fermentor an carboys in a water trough and drag it into the shade. just make sure no seal points are above the waterline. the ambient water temp keeps about what you want your beer to be at and works great even in 100F+ temps. oh side note take temp readings before you do it I don"t know how cold the texas nights get

 

[DeafSmith]

being from Nevada I know the heat issues and I have found a really ...well....hick solution. I drop my fermentor an carboys in a water trough and drag it into the shade. just make sure no seal points are above the waterline. the ambient water temp keeps about what you want your beer to be at and works great even in 100F+ temps. oh side note take temp readings before you do it I don"t know how cold the texas nights get

Yeah, the nights are the problem. I see your forecast in Carson City is calling for days in the mid 90's and nights around 60 or even high 50's, so your average works out OK for fermenting. In Texas, at least in the Dallas area where I am, up until a couple days ago, we were running low 100's in the day and low 80's at night.

And to the OP, welcome to HBT. For fermentation, I use a chest freezer with a Johnson A419 controller - definitely the easiest, but not the cheapest way to go.

 

[cody5thou]

Welcome aboard, I have not been around in a while.. So I look forward to talking with you gents.

 

[DragonTail]

Welcome

 

[Arkador]

Another Texan for the grinder!

Welcome to the Wako in Waco!