Fermentation in High Temperatures - Florida

[stevesquires]

I brewed for a long time in NE and Chicago area. We relocated to NW Florida and I'd like to begin again. The one concern I have is ambient temperature in the house. I used to keep my brews during fermentation anywhere between 67-73 degrees - worked fine and it always turned out great. Now that I'm in Florida we run the temp a little warmer than that in the house.

What are others in Florida doing to keep the temps down on during the fermentation phase?

Thanks!

 

[hotbeer]

I'm not in Florida, but my summer time temps in this part of Mississippi are probably just as hot and the humidity just as horrible or worse.

I'm only making 2½ gallon batches or less and ferment them inside the air conditioned space of the home where the ambient temps are pretty constant at 69 - 72° F.

For the quantity I'm fermenting, I've never had the temps get high enough to go outside the ideal temp range for the yeast used. And since I got something I can monitor the beer temp with, I've never seen it stay much longer than 18 to 24 hours at the higher temps before it returns to near ambient temperature.

So for ale's and IPA's and even porters, that should be no issue. Maybe for a specific recipe that requires specific temps. But not for just brewing a decent beer.

I have a unused half-bath off the laundry room where I keep the fermenter. So if the smells fermenting did get annoying, I could turn on the exhaust fan. But they haven't so far.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

@stevesquires Until you can figure out some temperature control (swamp coolers can work well enough) consider yeasts such as kveik and yeasts that don't necessarily mind being warm, Saison and several of the Belgian yeasts.

 

[hotbeer]

If you ferment in the house the ambient air temps are more than adequate so you can use normal yeast and not have to go to Kveik's. Though I'm not opposed to Kveik, just that I don't see why Florida temps would require it.

Besides, Kveik was originally used in a cold climate by people known to love bad beer! <a joke> Though I might try it one day, just not ready for that.

S-04, S-33, US-05, WB-06 and T-58 are claimed by Fermentis to have an ideal fermentation temperature of 18-26°C (64.4-78.8°F)

And with most people in the south keeping their thermostats in the summer at 68°F or lower, it should be no issue inside. If you keep it outside the air conditioned space, then a cheap refrigerator and a temperature controller like a Inkbird or Digiten will do well. Just make sure the refrigerator amperage required doesn't exceed the controller's amp capacity.

 

[RM-MN]

Now that I'm in Florida we run the temp a little warmer than that in the house.

Turn your thermostat down to 68. Cooling your house from 90 to 68 is nothing like heating my house that is 72 when it is -40 outside. If you are going to brew good beer there has to be some compromises.

You only need it that cool for the first 3 to 4 days.

 

[mac_1103]

with most people in the south keeping their thermostats in the summer at 68°F or lower,

I guess I don't know about most people, but here in the upper south we keep our thermostat at 69 in the winter and 73 in the summer. Even so, the unfinished part of the basement stays between 63 and 68 year round (mostly on the higher end of that range).

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

I bit the bullet and got two freezers with temperature controls.

That being said, there is such a thing as pressure fermenting, and there are ales that work fine at Florida room temperatures.

 

[Deadalus]

Here in the WV mountains, my unfinished basement room with two walls underground and the third with just a ground level vent window (we live on a hill) doesn't stay as cool as I would like in the height of summer for some of my ale yeasts. Some of that is caused by the dehumidifier. On a 5-6 gallon batch, heat given off by the yeast can cause the temperature to climb 3F or just a little more than that degrees. If you are just a little bit off and underchill before you pitch, you might very well be sending the temperature into the upper range recommended for the yeast. That can produce some unwanted flavors. The OP did state that they are keeping room temperature a little warmer than 67-73 and they may not even have a basement. What I do to reduce temperature variations is just stick the fermenter in my temperature controlled mini-fridge. A more low tech solution is to use 2 liter bottles of frozen water, four work reasonably well to keep the fermenter cooled until after high krausen. You can rotate two in the freezer and two out, more bottles, the easier is but more space taken up in the freezer. I would put the carboy in a laundry tub with the bottles held betwen the fermenter and the tub wall. Then some heavy blankets to insulate it. Once the yeast stops putting out so much heat you can back off on the icing schedule. It gets tiresome though and sometimes you forget to check it or you want to go away.

 

[Zambezi Special]

Check out your indoor temperature and find the yeast to match
There is more than you think!

I have no aircon and no heating and still can brew good beers

 

[esdill]

I live in south Florida and use this with an Inkbird, a small water pump, and a cooler full of ice water.

https://www.morebeer.com/products/temp-twister-cooling-coil.html

 

[Bago-0]

Refrigerator with temp controller. No basements here! Otherwise brew ales with yeast that is more high temp tolerant.

 

[Steverus07]

Yeah, as an Alabama brewer I have a glycol unit, but you can get much cheaper with a freezer or small fridge hooked to a temperature controller. At something like $150-$300 it’ll probably cost you less than turning your thermostat down every time you’re trying to ferment a batch.

 

[hotbeer]

here in the upper south we keep our thermostat at 69 in the winter and 73 in the summer.

I did pretty much the same for a long time. I'm originally from the North. However all my friends and acquaintances all seem to have their homes freezing cold in the summer and burning up in the winter. So I'd guess <69 in the summer and >72 in the winter.

Now that I'm getting older, I find I'm wondering if I'm going to become one of them. This winter I've froze my butt off in the house and everytime I look at the thermostat it claims it's 70°F or a tad higher.

I know some that complain of enormous electrical or gas bills, but they rather complain than actually move the thermostat a few degrees.

 

[TBA]

And with most people in the south keeping their thermostats in the summer at 68°F or lower,

OMG! Native here, we run AC at 79-80! Yes the thermostats are accurate. My kids, also natives, sleep in hoodies under blankets. I know of no one who could afford to run the AC at 68! I highly doubt my systems (2 AC in 2story home, 8 tons of AC) could get the house that cold.

On my second Craigslist 5 cu ft chest freezer with an inkbird. First one ($35) lasted ~4 years. This one was $50 and the hump is smaller, I can fit 2 kegs in it. When I started out it was the first thing I upgraded. Had plastic bucket with extract brew in there. Made a big difference.

 

[hotbeer]

OMG! Native here, we run AC at 79-80!

Well I'm a native here... in Mississippi. And the only thing you in Florida have that we don't is milder winters.

I might be the outlier with how the thermostat is set, but I don't think so. Or else I'm less of an outlier than others I know.

With homes constructed in the South during the last 30 years being somewhat better insulated as they have been for a long time up North, it doesn't take much to keep a home cold in < 95°F temps. Even the occasional 100°F temps isn't much of an issue if the mechanicals of your HVAC is in good shape.

If you are having issues with a big power bill then either electricity is expensive where you are located or you need some better insulation in your home or your HVAC wasn't sized properly.

 

[mac_1103]

When I lived in Memphis in the 1990's the issue wasn't insulation as much as it was HVAC efficiency. That house was built in 1987, and IIRC had R19 in the walls and R30 in the attic. But I doubt the SEER of the AC was more than about 8. We were lucky to keep the house below 80 on a 100 degree day. I'm sure that whoever lives there now has a nice 16 SEER scroll compressor and could get it down to 60 if they wanted to.

 

[TBA]

The electricity cost and the house are both reasons for the high bill. AC doesnt run constantly so maybe it could get that cold, never tried. We still don’t want our house that cold. We heat it as much as we can afford. Pool is heated too, with solar. No one will go in under 90 degrees. It’s all in what you are used to I guess.

 

[T Murph]

@stevesquires I too am from the panhandle although I have a home in N Alabama where I spend most of my time lately. You have options, 1~ get a glycol set up 2~ use a submersible coil and a vessel containing ice water with a pump connected to a temp controller and 3~ go to a conical fermenter with a cooling coil and ferment under pressure. Of course a freezer or dedicated fridge works well also. And last but not least, wrap your fermenter with a wet blanket and rewet it as needed daily. I have indeed used the blanket trick more than once in Florida, it does work it just requires more attention.

 

[BuzzDriver]

I brewed for a long time in NE and Chicago area. We relocated to NW Florida and I'd like to begin again. The one concern I have is ambient temperature in the house. I used to keep my brews during fermentation anywhere between 67-73 degrees - worked fine and it always turned out great. Now that I'm in Florida we run the temp a little warmer than that in the house.

What are others in Florida doing to keep the temps down on during the fermentation phase?

Thanks!

I moved to Florida too..I went to Costco and got a cheap chest freezer and a inkbird controller from Amazon…for brewing good stuff it was a game changer down here

 

[RCope]

Four freezers and 2 refrigerators, just for beer related activities (hop freezer, 2 chest freezers for ferm chambers, one refrigerator for a conical ferm chamber, one large chest freezer for lagering, one kegerator). South Florida. Cheers!

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Four freezers and 2 refrigerators, just for beer related activities (hop freezer, 2 chest freezers for ferm chambers, one refrigerator for a conical ferm chamber, one large chest freezer for lagering, one kegerator). South Florida. Cheers!

I feel so much more sane now.

 

[mac_1103]

I feel so much more sane now.

Group psychosis is still psychosis.

 

[T Murph]

@RCope you admitted what I didn't want to put out there. Some of us go all out when it comes to our hobby. I too have extra refrigerators (two full size and two small) that are dedicated to beer fermentation, lagering and of course serving plus a kegerator. My wife thinks I have gone over board but what does she know, she is not a homebrewer. I don't want her to figure out how much of our electric bill is the result of my all electric brewery and bar room. It's all completely necessary as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

I wouldn't say I'm going all out, but my ideas about what I should buy are changing pretty quickly. A day or two ago, my plan was to ferment most things in buckets. Now I think it's best to go ahead and get three large kegs instead. Fermenting under pressure and closed transfers will be less of a hassle.