Summer Brewing and Temp.

[Dome555]

Summer is approaching and my no a/c having apt is going to be hot as the devil's nutsack, give or take a degree or two. I don't have enough space in my kegerator to use it for fermentation as well so I spent last summer adding ice regularly to a plastic tub containing my primary with limited success (temp fluctuated quite a bit but I still ended up with beer). Anyone else have a similar problem and/or a better solution for it?

 

[MalFet]

I did the ice thing for a month or two, then finally broke down and bought a mini-fridge. Pretty much anyone on here who has been doing this for a while has the same story. It was probably the best brewing purchase I ever made.

 

[Rev2010]

I've been worrying about the same thing recently too. I keep the house about 70-72 with AC during the summer but the fermentation will obviously add a few degrees making it too warm. Gonna have to look into the mini-fridge... only problem is I have nowhere to put it! And I'm sure the wife is probably gonna fight me on having more of my stuff around the house taking up all the space.


Rev.

 

[Dome555]

The only reason I don't want to buy another minifridge, aside from my zima drinking fruit toppings of roommates already complaining about me hogging space for beer, is that I'm moving within the year and will have, or make, room for a full fridge or freezer.

Rev just start filling the fridge with brewing equipment, she'll either cave or kill you once the primary goes in.

 

[BloodSweatandBeers]

Did you just add ice to a tub of water? Did you try wicking a towel and using a fan along with the ice?

 

[Calder]

It's Saison time!

If you are going to brew at high temperatures, take this as an opportunity to discover the wonderful world of Saisons. That yeast like to ferment high and has lots of wonderful flavors when fermented high. Fermenting them low really doesn't do them justice.

Just stock up on APA's now before the hot weather arrives.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

My wife is convinced I am collecting fridges now

They just keep falling into my truck....

 

[Dome555]

BloodSweatandBeers,

Yea, I was just adding a few cubes at a time to the little tub I've got and had a towel covering it with a slit for the airlock. I'll definitely try the towel/fan idea, at the very least it should stop the wide swings of temp once the ice melts and I'm not home.

Calder,

How high would you recommend going with the saison fermentations? I've never done one.

 

[Yooper]

Here's my solution:

I made a different lid out of foam insulation (4 layers) and I change out frozen milk jugs as needed in the water bath. I float a thermometer in the water bath, so I can make sure I don't get over 70 degrees. It works great in my not-too-hot climate.

 

[Yooper]

Yooper posted this in another thread. Just remove the lid and cut some foam to fit. Cut a hole in the foam and BAM. Fermentation cooler.

OMG I'm seeing double!!!!!!!!

 

[SwampassJ]

OMG I'm seeing double!!!!!!!!

You beat me by less than a minute and I thought I posted it to another thread.

I deleted it thinking it was in this thread =p

 

[MalFet]

BloodSweatandBeers,

Yea, I was just adding a few cubes at a time to the little tub I've got and had a towel covering it with a slit for the airlock. I'll definitely try the towel/fan idea, at the very least it should stop the wide swings of temp once the ice melts and I'm not home.

Calder,

How high would you recommend going with the saison fermentations? I've never done one.

Not meaning to pick on Calder here, but the idea that saisons make good summertime beers for people without fermentation temperature control is, in my opinion at least, one of the great myths of brewing. Saisons certainly like warmer temperatures than many other styles, but to get them to ferment properly they need steady, gradually rising temps. Do a search on here for "saison stuck fermentation" and count the hits; it is a tricky yeast. Figure on pitching at around 68, hold it there for a few days and then gradually rise up a degree per day up into the low-80s.

The problem is that you need to coax the yeast to get the high degree of attenuation appropriate to the style. If you are letting the temperatures rise up in the day and then drop at night, your yeast will be prone to just floc out on you prematurely. Without 90%+ attenuation, saisons tend to be way too sticky. In my experience, it is mighty hard to get those numbers without rock solid temperature control.

 

[Dome555]

Whoa, I just searched as recommended by MalFet. No saisons for me until I figure out some better means of temp control, and by 'figure out' I mean steal from Yooper.

 

[mfraier]

Check craigslist in your area.....you can get a freezer for 50, and a temp controller for another 59. You will thank me later when you get that setup.

This is what I have learned ovet the years: If you don't have the time or money to do it right the first time, how are you ever going to have the time or money to do it right the second time?

 

[Dome555]

Ok, after reading the other thread (thank you swampass for the link) I might just have to do a saison. It seems like the cooler would allow the gradual rise in temp needed for one if it's in a warm house and starts with cool water. Thanks a lot all, I'm off to find me a cooler.

 

[SwampassJ]

Ok, after reading the other thread (thank you swampass for the link) I might just have to do a saison. It seems like the cooler would allow the gradual rise in temp needed for one if it's in a warm house and starts with cool water. Thanks a lot all, I'm off to find me a cooler.

Just pop in some 20oz bottles of frozen water periodically.

 

[Calder]

How high would you recommend going with the saison fermentations? I've never done one.

Depends on the yeast. I like to start at 75. I keep the fermenter in a swamp cooler which keeps the temperature constant, and use a fish tank heater to increase the temperature, to dry it out.

I do not agree with folks who say to start in the 60s and then ramp up the temperature. A lot of the yeast profile is created in the first 12 hours (during the reproduction phase), so if you keep it low at that time, you lose a lot of it's flavor.

But .... if you start high, you do need to have it in a water bath to keep it cool. An air chamber will not do it. If you don't control the temperature you will get fusel alcohols.

 

[Dome555]

So starting a little higher would you still raise it a degree or two per day until hitting low 80's and leveling off, or, would you keep it at 75 for a few days and then begin raising the temp? Also, how big of a starter do you typically use? Never done one of those either but I'll have one under my belt after this NB bourbon porter, I just imagine overpitching could be a problem for the saison.

 

[MalFet]

I do not agree with folks who say to start in the 60s and then ramp up the temperature. A lot of the yeast profile is created in the first 12 hours (during the reproduction phase), so if you keep it low at that time, you lose a lot of it's flavor.

I completely agree with your point that a great deal of fermentation character comes in the first 12 hours, but it is not so simple to say that higher temps = more flavor, lower temps = less flavor. Clayton Cone has an interesting article on the Danstar website where he talks about how esterification and other metabolic intermediates are tied to yeast growth and thus both pitching rates and temperature. The interesting part of the claim is that, at least in some circumstances, ester production is increased with slower growth rates.

Not meaning to suggest that you don't get more flavorful saisons pitching in the 70s than you did pitching in the 60s in your system, but I've done some modestly extensive side-by-sides that suggest (at least in my system) that the opposite is true.