Basement approaching 68F

[mgortel]

Well....my first 4 batrches of beer were fermented in my basement at temps between 60-64F. Now, with all the recent heat....mt basement is holding at about 68F. Is this still an ok temperature for Ale?

 

[BadgerBrewer]

Probably okay but remember that the temp of fermenting wort is always higher than the ambient air. You might want to make a swamp bucket to place your fermenting bucket/carboy in cool water to maintain a slightly lower temp. You can use frozen water/soda bottles and rotate them every day or so to keep everything nice and cool.

 

[Malintent]

Yes. That is exactly what I ferment at... at it's most active, it gets up nearly to 70 (with a 68 degree ambient).

 

[1990dtgl98]

Same here. My basement runs 68* degrees in the summer, which is perfect in my opinion.

I also drape a long t-shirt over my ale pail...I noticed if its touching the concrete floor well, it tends to draw some of the cool moisture off the floor, and keeps the fermentation temps down, even with vigorous ones. Might not help if your basement in finished though :rockin:

 

[malkore]

I would swamp cooler it to be safe, but most ale yeasts will be very happy at 68F. Kolsch yeast is one of the few that'd like it closer to 60F...but its somewhat of a hybrid yeast...technically an ale strain but pushes the boundaries towards lager in the temps used and thus a possible need for a D-rest.

 

[King of Cascade]

I find that most yeast strains run about 6 or 7 degrees hotter then ambiant with Hefeweizn yeast about 10 degrees over ambient. I would use some kind of water bath