any fix for a warm fermentation

[yeastofhere]

Hi all,

Been brewing on and off for about 20 years. The thing that finally prompted me to finally register and post to this august and revered site is a frustration I have had for the past couple years. Normally, my fermentations are done in my basement, because its well, out of the way where I'm "allowed" to keep my carboys

Unfortunately, my basement, far from being a stable, cool place, turns out to be WARMER than the rest of the house, but only sometimes, somewhat unpredictably...this has produced a few beers that have been at 72-75 degrees during their fermentation. Occasionally I have resorted to wet t-shirts eek for my carboys, etc, to try to keep the temps down, but then of course the temp in the basement goes down, slowing the fermentation, etc.

Most recently, I made a session IPA and went with WPL001 to try to limit the flavors due to higher fermentation. Unfortunately, sniffing the secondary as I was about to dry hop...there it is. Considering dumping $30 in grain, hops and yeast down the drain instead of wasting more $ in hops dry hopping a banana-IPA.

So, for the future stability and sanity- has anyone tried keeping a fridge at 68F? I'm not sure a fridge would set to that high of a minimum temp. Relying on evaporation is, well, relying on me to go down there and check it every day, which, uuuhhh...isnt reliable.

Thanks all!

 

[sweetcell]

So, for the future stability and sanity- has anyone tried keeping a fridge at 68F? I'm not sure a fridge would set to that high of a minimum temp.

typically folks use a controller to turn the fridge on and off. you can buy a prefab one by Ranco, Johnson, etc., or you can build your own for cheap: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/stc-1000-ebay-temperature-controller-build-330427/

Relying on evaporation is, well, relying on me to go down there and check it every day, which, uuuhhh...isnt reliable.

damn those t-shirts, can't trust them! slackers...

instead of a shirt, have you looked into a swamp cooler? the idea is to submerge half the carboy in a tub of cool water, and then use ice, frozen water bottles, etc, to keep the water cool. the cool water outside the carboy sucks out heat from the inside of the carboy. you can use the t-shirt in addition to this, but the added thermal mass of the water means that it takes longer for it to heat up. you can also get temps a lot lower than just a t-shirt.

 

[yeastofhere]

thanks for the fast reply- a controller is a great idea. I think I will go that route. It seems a shame to use up a whole refrig just to keep a carboy at 68, but desperate times call for desperate measures!

My only issue with the swamp cooler thing was that its dependent on ambient temperature, and the ambient temp is, undependable in my basement. I swear the mice must have space heaters on.

 

[MindenMan]

Add a little clove and trub and call it a heff-ipa? Time will mellow the bitterness as I am sure you know. I am grabbing at straws here trying to help. As long as it isn't nasty tasting, bottle it and forget it, and check it in six months.

 

[moreb33rplz]

a bucket of water with ice helps keeps temp stable, and you can lower it a bit from ambient. it's also a giant PITA.

fridge + stc1000 is 150-200 bucks and some effort, but is worry-free once you have it set up

 

[drk_boyce]

http://www.gotta-brew.com/system-overview/. This looks like the way to go. I'll be buying a big kit in about two months once my brew system is complete. I talked to main guy that makes these and they sound incredible. Especially since they can heat or cool from the same setup.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[wilserbrewer]

any fix for a warm fermentation

A still...oops just kidding

A fridge works great and is convenient. A swamp chiller with frozen bottles added works pretty well also. Realize that the beginning of fermentation up to high kreusen is the critical time....after that temp is not nearly as important so you really only need to baby sit the fermenter for a couple few days IMO . Starting your fermentation at the lower end will help a lot.

 

[Calder]

A swamp cooler is cheap and easy. I suspect a swamp cooler at 72 F would be just as good as a fridge set to 67/68. The advantage of a swamp cooler is that it takes the heat out of the fermenter and prevents the high temp rises generated during fermentation. In a fridge, cold air is less efficient at removing heat.

With a swamp cooler you can heat it up easily with a fish tank heater for Belgians.

The disadvantage of swamp coolers is keeping cooler temperatures steady; tough to lager.