Lager Fermentation Temp

Any tips or suggestions on keeping the temp range within 55 - 65 for lagers?

Currently I am in setting my carboy on the cement floor in my basement.

 

It depends how cold your basement floor is. You could put your fermentor into a bucket of ice water with a t-shirt over it. Between the ice water and evaporation it can help cool the fermentor. Although, I'm not sure how well that will work for lagers. Otherwise, if you have a spare fridge or freezer with a temp controller you can set the temp where you want it.
Just a side note on fermenting lagers. It is generally best to keep them closer to 50°F. If the temp gets too high your lagers will generate too many esters and not be as clean as they should be. Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Brandon

 

You either need to use a water bath (swamp cooler) that you rotate frozen bottles of water into to keep the beer around 50F or use a dedicated freezer or fridge with temp control like most homebrewers do for lagers.

I am fermenting a lager right now and nothing will ruin a lager quicker than fermenting in the 60's!

 

It's really tough to execute a great lager without a fridge/chest freezer w/ a temperature control device. Hence why I've yet to brew one.

Yes it's best to keep them between 45-55. A lot of guys use a swamp cooler, that might be your best bet. Good luck!

 

+1. Having the controlled fermenter chamber lowers the challenge of brewing a great lager from "super tough" to just plain, ordinary "tough".

I also found that it really helps to have a separate, dedicated lager/cold crash chamber too so that you don't tie up your fermenter chamber for the lengthy period it takes to make a good lager.

 

haha. I'm finding this to be the case! My lager is going to be tying up my fermentation fridge for the next 8 weeks which means my next ale will have to be basement fermented if I can find a spot that stays about 60-62F. That is one good thing about colder weather outside, unheated basements are often close to perfect ale fermenting temps.