Fermentation Temperature

Hey everybody,

I just finished up my first ever batch of beer. The optimal yeast temperature is 57℉ to 70℉. I live in Houston and my house temperature is around 76℉.

So I have a swamp cooler with about 6 inches of water in a tub and a shirt dipped in the water and wrapped around the carboy. I also have a fan blowing lightly on it. I have a few ice bottles in the 6 inch water.

I am very worried about temperature. So my question is, if I can only get my fermenter in the swamp cooler down to 72℉ or so , would it be better or worse than to just stick it in my fridge at 55℉??

What happens to the fermentation if it's a couple degrees too cold or too hot?

Any help would calm my nerves!
Cheers!

 

Too warm and you will get a lot of fruity esters. Desirable in some styles, but frowned upon in many (way too warm and you'll get other nasty off flavors as well such as fusel alcohol). Too cool and you could stall your fermentation.

Assuming you don't want esters, I would stick it in your 55*F fridge. Fermentation generates its own heat so in a fridge with an ambient air temp at 55 will probably be 60*F+ inside the fermenter.

 

72 is too hot, as other stated the fermentation is going to bring it up a few more degree's.

So if your at 72 its really gonna be 75+ inside the liquid.

 

Do you have strip type thermometer on your carboy to track the wort temperature?

 

Yes I do have the fermometer strips. I just found out that my fridge is actually more like 45℉ so all my eggs are in the swamp cooler. I just hope I can get it cold enough.

 

I would buy a used mini frig and adjust stat to warm setting

 

Agreed with all the above posts. Swamp coolers can push the temperature a few degrees warmer or cooler, but that's about it. Instead of trying to get the fermentation temperature to match the beer I just brew with the season. It sounds like it's Saison season in Huston!

Here are some links about fermentation temperature control with a swap cooler.
warming a water bath:
http://www.woodlandbrew.com/2012/12/fermentation-temperature-control.html

cooling a water bath with ice:
http://www.woodlandbrew.com/2012/09/swamp-cooler.html

My book has tables showing beer styles, yeast that is suited for the style and the fermentation temperature to make it easier to choose which beer to brew.

Brewing Engineering

 

A fridge with a temperature controller (e.g. STC 1000) will serve you best in the long run. You might be able to find a small cheap second-hand fridge that would make an ideal fermentation chamber. Consistent fermentation temperature will make a big improvement to your beer - probably the biggest factor after sanitation.

 

With my swamp cooler and fan set up an 8°F temp drop of the wort during active fermentation is not a problem. If you need to go lower add ice frozen in plastic soda bottles to cool evaporative water even more.