Fermenting Temperature Location

[JrinkingBeer]

I know it is important to keep your beer in a warm place while it is fermenting (in the 70 degree range). Where is a good location in a house to put your fermentor? It seems like every room in my house is cold.

 

[helibrewer]

Low to mid 60's if you are talking about ambient temperatures works well for ales.

 

[Yooper]

It's usually not about keeping the fermenter warm- it's about keeping it cool enough. You want the beer while it's fermenting to be under about 65-68 degrees, which usually requires an ambient temperature of more like 60-62 degrees or so.

 

[PaulVikingAles]

I'm not sure what yeast strain you are using but listen to the previous posts. Your ambient temp should be in the low to mid 60's as the temperature in the carboy can be anywhere from 5 to 7 degrees warmer then ambient temp. If your house is in the 62 range then I wouldn't worry about it and put it wherever you won't knock it over. If you are using a California yeast then you want to ferment below 70 and closer to 67 degrees (in the carboy).

 

[healimonster]

Are there any good recipes for beers that thrive while fermenting in the mid 70ies? I live in an apartment where I can't properly regulate the heat and it is always at least 70 degrees.

 

[Yooper]

Are there any good recipes for beers that thrive while fermenting in the mid 70ies? I live in an apartment where I can't properly regulate the heat and it is always at least 70 degrees.

Not really. Saisons can tolerate higher temperatures, but that's the only one I can think of at the moment. Belgians can often go higher as well, but they start at 65 degrees and then get ramped up later as fermentation goes on. I can't really thing of anything else that is ok upwards of a 70 degree ambient temperature.

You could try water baths in a cooler with ice bottles to keep the temperature in the mid 60s though.

 

[OCBrewin]

Saisons and Belgians throw off some delicious esters at those higher temps. Basically anything that you want a subdued yeast profile (ale) should be kept at 65f or below, ambient. I usually ferment all my ales that I want clean at 60f in my freezer chamber, but up to 80f or higher with saisons.

 

[OCBrewin]

Damn. Yooper beat me to it....

 

[poppafritz]

For me i threw my carboy in the closet since it tends to be a constant tempature in there, i have read that adding some shirts or towel's to your carboy to bring the temp up, or add some fans to bring it down. You can make a very cheep low grade AC unit with a fan, copper tubeing, water pump, dry ice, and a cooler. That should be able to keep your temp down.

 

[healimonster]

Thanks for the info guys. With getting an extra fridge or freezer not being an option I thought I was doomed to non-ideal fermentations. Then tonight while I was looking at pictures of what people are currently fermenting I came across a possible solution. An insulated bag for my carboy. Adding those cooler packs to it once a day is definitely doable. I may buy one of these things tomorrow.

 

[Hackwood]

Well worth it for "Mo Gooder" beer. I keep my house a little cooler than some like it, so for me I used old coolers 1/2 filled with water to keep temps good. Fermenters never got above 68 degrees. From what I understand water stays about 10 degrees cooler than the air around it.