Brewing in a HOT apartment

I'd like to start a new brew sometime in the coming days, but my un-air-conditioned apartment is very hot; around 75 degrees. I'm wondering--what is the best type of ale to brew (or maybe what is the best yeast to use) when fermenting in such a hot environment?

Any light you all can shed on this would be greatly appreciated!

 

Do you have any options for cooling? Something as simple as a large ice chest or rubbermaid tote with some ice blocks will do a great job keeping temperature down. If you are short on space, you could brew a Saison which ferment well in warm temperatures.

 

My apartment stays around 78-82. I went to walmart and bought a cooler for $22 put a little water in it and swap out frozen water bottles everyday. Its bit of a pain but I can keep the temp around 68-70.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5663765

 

I have the same cooler but a size or 2 smaller than that. The lid snaps off and my carboy fits into it. I have about 10" of water in it, and I swap out frozen bottles 1-2 times per day depending on the size of the bottle. It's about 70-75 in my apartment and I have no problem keeping the water in the cooler below 60º. I also keep a towel on top of the carboy, more to prevent it from getting sunlight(it's under a shaded window) than anything else, but I'm sure that helps too.

It's so humid here that the t-shirt trick likely wouldn't work, but if it's not too humid in MA during the summer, you may consider putting a tight-fitting t-shirt over the carboy to wick up water.

 

Your lucky.. I came home to a cool 95 degrees yesterday. An hour later I managed to get it to drop 4 degrees with our substandard A/C.

 

I'd add a vote for using coolers. I have two 70 quart maxcold coolers and with a water bath at the right temp, my fermenters stay as low as I want them. In fact, it was 84 in my garage the other day and the cooler got too cold, down to 58 degrees. So they're definitely worth a look. If you drill a hole in the lid, a 6.5 gallon carboy will fit with enough room for 2 2 liter soda bottles filled with frozen water.

 

Try this... http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=71878

 

What are the inside dimensions of your maxcold 70? Do you think it would fit a Pony keg? I have just started fermenting in a Pony keg and it is a bit squatier then a carboy. I see the cooler on-line and think "that might work" but all the websites only give you outside dimensions on the cooler.

 

No idea of the internal dimensions at all. Sorry. I think a pony keg might be a little too wide though.

 

I picked up a large igloo last night at Target and plan on modding it like a few others have. I'm hoping it will hold the temps down during the day while i'm not home.

 

Anyway you could measure yours when you get a chance.

 

Sear Hardware....$11.00. In the automotive section.
Cut a hole in the top.
Fill it with a gallon of water.
Wrap a t-shirt around the carboy (or bucket) so the t-shirt is dipped in the water.
Turn on a fan and let evaporation do its thing.

You should pick up about 7-10 degrees in cooling effect.

 

Of course, provided I remember. I am very scatterbrained and sometimes I am amazed I make it through my day.

 

this is a great way to do things as well, and I would advise looking at any rubbermaid type bin or even 40 gallon trash cans that will run you about 5 bucks. That looks nice and sturdy though.

 

How often do you refill with water?

 

I think you should just specialize in making saison, and nothing but saison!

 

I have the same thing going on in my apartment. Biermuncher has the answer to your problem.

 

Zombie thread awakens...

 

I check every day and add a little as need. It is deep enough to go several days without concern.

 

I picked up these tubs at Smart and Final for ~5 bucks each.. I think they are the same ones that busboys use in restaurants on the carts. Low enough for good airflow, small enough to not take up too much room, and deep enough to hold water for a couple days.

 

I sympathize. I was asking the same question two weeks ago. I don't have A/C - we had a heat wave last week and my newly constructed swamp cooler was pretty high maintenance during that time.

When my ambient temperature is about 88 degrees, as it was during the heat wave, I could keep my fermenter between 64 and 72, but only if I should switch. When my ambient temp is in the low 80s to high 70s, then it's easy to sit it between 66 and 70.

Anyway, I recently made a Dunkelweizen using Wyeast 3068 and it turned out GREAT. It sat at about 72 and had a nice, mellow banana flavor. It could have gone a few degrees higher. So I suggest a weizen, especially one where a spicy ester flavor is desired.

 

Funny, I bought the exact same ice chest last week for the exact same purpose...had to go against my personal rule of boycotting the Evil Empire, but tough times call for tough measures.

 

You call 75 degrees a hot apartment? I have to keep my carboy full of beer in my bedroom with the door closed and A/C pumping all day in order to keep it 75 degrees.

 

Amen to that...my thermostat read 90 during our last heat wave!

 

I wish it was only 90 here...

 

That will probably pay for a used fridge on CL in a few weeks...

 

Anybody seen this?
Cheap Portable DIY Air Conditioner

 

Heh, you and me both.

I've got the same problem, we keep our house at about 78 during the day in the summer months. Note, in Texas summer lasts from approximately February 17th to December 2nd.

For my last two batches, I bought a 15 gallon steel bucket at Home Depot, and did the t-shirt trick. I didn't do a fan, but I would add a couple cold packs to the water every morning. I think the next batch I will do the fan though.

I had one thought, I have a big rubbermaid trashcan that I use for outdoor work. If I stuck my carboy in the trashcan, filled it up with water so it almost completely covered the carboy, and then added the occasional coldpack; would that work?

 

where do you live that 75* is very hot in your apartment.

 

So to anyone that uses the 70 qt. cooler from Wal-Mart: Can you fit two 5-gallon carboys in there?

 

do what I am going to do and brew a Saison

 

I love coming onto this forum and seeing the exact question I was going to ask already answered with several great options. I think I'm off to check on the drip pan right after this...

 

I had the same problem earlier this year. I posted the question here and I got lots of awesome responses. What I came away with was a large cooler (looks like a giant sand pail with rope handles). I put my fermenter in the cooler and filled the cooler with water to just below the level of beer inside the fermenter. Each day, I swap out frozen water bottles in the water. I put stick on temperature strips on the cooler and it has been working great so far. Good luck with your brewing.

 

Stupid question - when you take the temp readings are you going on the water in the outside container? That would be easiest since you don't have to dip into the carboy, but wouldn't the beer be warmer than that? Or is it just close enough to get an idea of the temp?

I have a cooler that might work but I haven't tried this trick yet. I think it might help.

 

I got the same idea from another poster here. The water temp and the internal temp have been the same for me. However, I've read from others you can't trust the water's reading while your batch is in the throws of fermentation. I'd be interested to hear what some others think about that.

 

Water is a great thermal engine. Air chambers (fridge) must be 60-ish for the beer to maintain 67-68, but immersed in a tub of water, the temp of the beer is very close. If you put a $20 pond pump in the bottom to keep it all moving about, they'd probably be within half a degree.

 

As long as it's close I'm happy with the temp readings outside. I need to try this for my next batch and see if I can finally get something decent.

 

Do as I'm doing right now...

Build a Son of a Fermentation Chiller (search these forums and google). Not too hard to do (I have a good friend to help me... he's a great handyman).

 

I just took the temperature of my grav-reading sample to see if the temp of the beer was similar to the water surrounding it. Turns out the water is a good 10 degrees lower in temp, however, the wort is probably just warmer cause I can't change out frozen water bottles while I'm sleeping and thus causes the beer to warm up a bit.