Basement cooling off - SHOULD I WORRY??

[Grinder12000]

I just had to add that last part

But seriously - it's cooled off to about 65 now and it should get to maybe 60. Will I need to make different brews in the winter to take advantage of the cooler fermenting?

 

[flyangler18]

Sound like perfect ale fermentation temps to me. RDWHAHB.

 

[mnadamn]

Well, you should be ok for another brew or so... but after that looking into lagers would not be a bad idea. you can also look around for a different place in your house to ferment in if you want te keep with ales. My personal opinion is do both

 

[BigKahuna]

My Unfinished basement gets to the chilly 38 degree mark in the dead of winter! which is great for lagering, crash cooling, and storeage of the brewski....but it's a ***** to have to haul all of the active ferments up the stairs.

 

[BierMuncher]

We hear of a lot of people whose fermentation stalls out due to temps on the lower fringe. 60 degrees might be on the cusp. Fortunately, a simple space heater will make a big impact to gain you 4-5 degrees if you have that problem.

 

[user 574]

Uhm, jealous . Even at 60 you'll be fine. Pitch a little warmer at around 70 and put a towel around it. Use those temp strips that go on your fermenter to monitor temp. An active ferment brings up the wort temp 2-4 degrees. I usually ferment at around 65-68 for ales. Keep the fermenter off the cold basement floor (wood would be fine) and your golden. Cooler is better than too warm a ferment.

 

[944play]

Cal Common?
Scottish Ales?
Hefes?

Yup, jealous.

 

[farmbrewernw]

I'm with everyone else those are some perfect temps, my basement gets in the low 50s in the winter which isn't really good for anything besides aging.

 

[Coastarine]

60 is a great temperature to work with. The yeast make heat so insulating the fermenter will give you 5 degrees up or so, or leaving the fermenter not insulated will make for extra clean fermentation. Make a nice kolsch!

 

[malkore]

I have an unfinished basement, and pulled off a pretty decent 1st lager attempt last february. I had to wait for it to warm up to proper temps for primary of a lager.

considering i had temp variations, it went really well!

 

[beerthirty]

I bought a freezer with temp controller to get those temps, and you are complaining?

 

[Grinder12000]

Thanks - BTW = BierMuncher - trying your Three Crop Cream (or whatever it was called) in the brew after the next one.

thanks again.

 

[weremichael]

Get some Pacman yeast, as it's supposed to ferment at 60.

 

[Anbrew]

Perfect for Kolsch, Scottish Ales, Steam beer, etc!

 

[Moonshae]

You can always get a cheap aquarium heater, immerse your carboy in a bucket (like people do to cool them in the summer) and set the therm at your desired ferment temp, if it gets too cold. Maybe time to do some lagers...stock up for later!

 

[weetodd]

My basement cools slightly below 60 and I often will pitch at a little higher temp and will wrap the carboy in an old sleeping bag. I also will make sure it's not on the cement floor which gets pretty cold too. 1056 and US05 don't seem to have too much trouble at these lower temps and as others have said some yeasts do really well at the cooler temps...like a cal common, kolsch or alt yeasts.

 

[Wables]

Check out craig's list or your Sunday newspaper. Pick up a free or dirt cheap old chest freezer and put a $12 space heater in it. I used this for the past 2 winters and it worked like a charm. You can primary at 68 or whatever you want, and secondary in the cooler temps. You can also carb your bottles in it.

 

[ptra1004]

I know I'm new here, but our basement cools off as well, I find that the Autumn temps that result are perfect. I've also has to utilize the hot water heater and furnace a few times to help regulate some fermentations. Moving the carbouys closer or furthur away helps avoid plugging in the fridge or space heater...

 

[SnaX]

You can wrap a heating blanket around your bucket/carboy. I know people who do this and say it works well for them. Otherwise remove it from the basement.

 

[JMD87]

60 is a great temperature to work with. The yeast make heat so insulating the fermenter will give you 5 degrees up or so, or leaving the fermenter not insulated will make for extra clean fermentation. Make a nice kolsch!

Bingo! I have waited all summer for some cooler weather to make a Kolsch (actually Munich Helles w/ Kolsch yeast) because a cold conditioning is favorable to Kolsch yeast.

If you want warmer temps, simply put your carboy into a tote filled with some water, then put in one of those aquarium heaters to keep the water at a toasty 65* (or whatever you choose)

 

[portlandbeergeek]

So glad I found this thread! I ferment in my apartment's utility closet and that sees great variance in temps throughout the year. Summers were a pain, but I got some nice belgian brews that really benefited from the warmth. I currently have a Kolsch in primary that's going slow, but I just chalked that up to the cold. glad to know that's a brew that enjoys the cooler temps. Soon I'll have to bring primarys inside and will dedicate my two carboys to lagering in the coming months. Oooh, and I can crash cool one of these days and avoid the secondary all together!!