Temperature control in the cold

[JonM]

Hey, everyone: I live in Wisconsin where it's about to get really cold. In the house, I use one of those programmable thermostats that keeps the house in the 50s when I'm not home and then up into the 60s at times when I am home. I'm wondering if anyone has fermented ales in conditions like that where the ambient temps swing below ideal temps every day.
I'm thinking I can just wrap the carboys in towels/old sweatshirts or maybe use the aquarium heater trick and that should keep them happy. Anyone have any other tips for fermenting ales in the cold? Gadgets? Yeast strains that do well in cooler temps? Thanks!

 

[ArcaneXor]

Well, you've got two basic choices: heat your fermentor to achieve a stable temperature in the mid-60s, or use lager yeasts during the cold months of the year. You might want to play with both - many of us wish we could brew lagers more often, but the environmental conditions just don't permit it (unless we buy a fermentation fridge with temp controller).
Ale yeasts that would do well in relatively cool temperatures include Koelsch and Altbier yeasts. While I haven't used it myself, Cry Havoc is supposed to ferment across a wide range of temperatures as well, bridging the ale to lager range. German lager yeasts also tend to be tolerant of being fermented at slightly high temps without getting too fruity and sulfuric.

I hope this helps a little bit, and happy brewing!

 

[jfr1111]

You're basically living the dream of a lot of homebrewers who live in appartments or in warmer climates were they have to use swamp coolers and the like to get their fermentation temps down, even in the winter months. Many ale yeast strains will tolerate fermenting at 65 or less and keep in mind that the ambient temperature and fermentation temperatures are two very different things. Fermentation produces heat, so you could very well have your room in the low 60's and still be fermenting at 70F + The only way to know is to take a reading or use the little stick-on thermometers. I was astounded to touch my fermentation bucket with was in a bin full of icy water and feel the difference. It's noticeable.

Just make sure you keep your brew room in the low 60's at all time during vigorous fermentation, put your carboy in a plain water bath to reduce temperature swings and you'll be on your way to good clean beer. Once FG is obtained, you can drop in the 50's with probably very, very little consequences apart from a slower "cleaning up" of the yeast since they will tend to floculate at the bottom more in low temps.

 

[david_42]

A large cardboard box can do wonders to stabilize the temperatures. I do lagers only in the winter. I ferment them in the utility room and lager in the garage.

 

[smokinghole]

Your other option would be to get one of those largish party tubs and use an aquarium controller. However I'm not sure if you could set it to only keep it at like 65ish. I have lagers in the plans this winter I might need a temp controller to keep the aquarium heater from warming up too far in my garage. Then again I might not need it.

 

[beersydoesit]

I too live in Wisconsin. I look forward to lager season because of the colder fermentation temperatures.
But keep in mind that your air temperature and the temperature in your fermentation closet are different and +1 to JFR that fermentation is exothermic. You can likely ferment nicely in a closet or smaller internal room. I have had great success with that.

Regards, and it is always great to hear from a fellow Wisconsin brewer.

 

[JonM]

Thanks for the tips everyone!

 

[Indyking]

I live part time in WI and the remaining in Indianapolis. I think you should just keep your house thermostat set in the 60's all the time avoiding the temperature fluctuations for 2 reasons:

1- Unless you live in a very new and very well insulated house, you are making a mistake by setting the thermostat 10F lower during the time you’re out, even if you are out for most of the day. In very cold to often bitter winters, like in WI, your heater works very hard to bring the temperature up 10F when you get home. You save more energy if you just keep your thermostat set on a steady and tolerable winter temperature, like 66-68 F. I have run this kind of experiment before and, at least in my house (just 6 years old), steady low temps during the winter is more energy efficient.
2- Stable temperatures make better beers, one may argue how much better it really is, but there is no question among experts that the benefits are often noticeable.

 

[eelpout]

Yea I'm in Green Bay and my basement stays around 50 in the winter. I just made a box out of that Foam board with the reflective stuff on it.
Just heat of fermentation keeps it at a balmy 65.
I used to just put a night light in there with it but dont any more

 

[Yooper]

I've fermented ales using nottingham yeast as low as 58 degrees. My house is pretty cold- we keep it at 62 degrees or so all the time- but in some areas it's a bit warmer like the home office where we spend most of our evenings where we have a TV and computers where we have a space heater. It's cooler in the parts of the house we don't use much. My laundry room is in the low-mid 50s in the winter.

 

[JonM]

Thanks again. Eelpout's comment about the foam box gave me a great idea: I bet I can just put the carboy in my (very clean) mini-fridge and leave the power off. That should do the same thing as a foam box, hopefully.

 

[RAKBREW]

I live in norhtern Vermont (200 yards from Cananda) I intend to use my workshop/furnace room in my basement...........seems to stay in the mid 60's all year round.

Good Luck and CHEERS

 

[Bentpirate]

As one poster mentioned, White Labs Cry Havoc works as a lager and ale. Research it yourself, I currently have an ale in the cabinet that is ready for bottle this weekend; I am excited to try it. I fermented at 68. It is sold as a lager, but this may be what you are looking for.

 

[JonM]

Thought I'd give an update - it's now March and, since November, I've made 7 2.5 gal AG batches, all with 1056, and all of which were fermented with my house's daily ambient temp swings from the mid-50s to the mid-60s. Guess what? With one exception that had nothing to do with temperature, everything turned out great. No problems with sluggish fermentation or other stuff I was worrying about in the fall. I just put the fermenters in the unplugged mini-fridge to insulate them a little bit and the batches chugged along the same way they do in warmer months.