Can't get temp down

[aa_atw]

I just brewed an IPA yesterday. I just moved to the south. my old house had a basement that kept good brewing temps so I didn't have these problems before. I tried the wet towel and fan, a cardboard box over the fermenter and and A/C vent, and I can only maintain 72-74 degrees.

Will this produce off flavors?

Historically didn't IPAs come around from being able to take heat on long ship voyages?

any other advice would be appreciated.

thanks

 

[marubozo]

72-74 isn't that bad, but it really depends on what yeast strain you used. So, which yeast did you use? Some will throw off more esters at that temp than others.

And in terms of the history of the IPA style, they did have to survive a long voyage, but the beer was already fermented before hitting the ships for the trip across the sea. It was more or less the higher alcohol content and abundance of hops that helped the beer make the journey without the quality turning south. It didn't really have anything to do with the temp of the fermentation.

 

[tvtoms]

I'd just find a large plastic tote that your fermenter fits in. Then fill it with water up to the beer level, or near it, or whatever you can manage in the container. Then put ice and frozen water bottles, or what I use are 1/2 gallon containers into the water and watch your fermenter temp fall. You should be able to really get it down those extra few degrees by rotating frozen bottles in and out for the primary fermentation period.

 

[aa_atw]

Thanks for the help. I used coopers dry ale yeast because I heard it is better at higher temps. I googled coopers yeast and found that the temp range is 65-75. I also threw a few blankets around my cardboard box that was covering both my fermenter and an A/C vent and I got the temp down to 68.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter6-4-1.html