In reading some recipes, I have noticed that many call for the beer to be fermented at certain temperatures. What are the best ways to control temperature during fermentation?
the cheapest is just a cool room or basement to keep temps in control, next would be a cooler or tub with water in it, Ice can be added to the water to keep temps down, last is a refrigerator or other chamber that can be climate controled with a controller ect, if things are too cool, there are wraps to keep the fermenter warm
Living in arizona I forget some of us need to warm their fermenters, I have a heck of a time keeping them cool, I now ferment in a dorm fridge with a johnson controller, it allows me to crash cool with ease as well
My latest batch needed to be kept warmer than ambient. I picked up a 50W submersible aquarium heater that can be set in 1-degree increments. So far it has worked like a charm. I put the fermenter in a plastic tub filled with water, drop in the heater, set it and forget it! Okay so I check it daily, but it has held the temps perfectly.