Do I ferment indoors or in my garage?

[Skyphoxx]

I live in Houston, TX and I'm deathly afraid that fermenting in my garage will screw up my beer.

I have everything I need to get started, but haven't yet because I'm not sure where I should place my fermenter.

I know In Ohio (Where I'm originally from) my dad ferment's his in the basement, but Houston literally has no basements... at all.

So, if I plan to keep the fermenter indoors, I'll have better temperature control, but will it stink up the house?

I can't wait to start my first batch (extract stout), but I'm not sure on this issue.

To give you an example, It's January, and the High for this week is 71 degrees F.

 

[bonzombiekitty]

I personally wouldn't leave in the garage simply because it'll be harder to control the temperature. I've fermented in my living room and didn't stink up the place. I get a lot more aroma (it doesn't smell bad, so I don't really want to call it "stench"/"stink") during the boiling process than via the fermentation.

 

[HickoryMike]

Don't assume that room temperature is perfect for ale yeast. Most ale yeasts like mid 60's. I had one of my first beers in a 70 degree room, but during fermentation the beer hit 77 degrees. This produced fruity esters and a hard alcohol flavor.

If I were you , I would consider putting it in a tub with cold water and ice packs in order to keep the internal temperature as close to 65 as possible.

 

[david_42]

but will it stink up the house?

In some cases, yes. Mostly, no. Search on "rhino farts" to find out what to avoid.:fro:

 

[iron_city_ap]

Leave a bucket of water out in the garage and keep checking the temp. on it. See what that does and go from there. The beer isn't going to stink up your house. Yeah, there is a little smell to it, but its not really bad at all. Put it in your closet next to your clothes hamper. Blame dirty socks.

 

[Troxs]

Don't assume that room temperature is perfect for ale yeast. Most ale yeasts like mid 60's. I had one of my first beers in a 70 degree room, but during fermentation the beer hit 77 degrees. This produced fruity esters and a hard alcohol flavor.

If I were you , I would consider putting it in a tub with cold water and ice packs in order to keep the internal temperature as close to 65 as possible.

I just started my first batch Saturday, and wasn't sure about the temp. making to much of a difference. So its been sitting at roughly 73-74 degrees for two days...

I guess I'll have to put it in some water and try to lower the temp a bit more for the rest of the journey to avoid a bad tasting first brew, but will that help changing it now or would it throw it into shock?

 

[elmetal]

it's too late by now. it should still be fine though

 

[iron_city_ap]

...but will that help changing it now or would it throw it into shock?

I'm not sure how much it will help your beer, but if you do decide to bring the temp. down, you want to do so slowly to prevent shocking the yeast. How well the yeast can handle a temperature change and at what rate depends on the type of yeast you used. Put it in a bath with a LITTLE ice. Let that melt, add a little more ice than you did the first time, etc... it'll eventually get there.

 

[Troxs]

thats what I was planning on doing put an ice chest with tap water and then throw a bit of ice at a time to slowly knock it down to 65 degree throughout the night tonight.

But as Elmetal said its too late so I may just leave it. I used nottingham dry yeast which I've read was 57-70F not sure how much 3-4 degree difference would make.

 

[BioBeing]

I live in Houston, TX and I'm deathly afraid that fermenting in my garage will screw up my beer.

I have everything I need to get started, but haven't yet because I'm not sure where I should place my fermenter.

I know In Ohio (Where I'm originally from) my dad ferment's his in the basement, but Houston literally has no basements... at all.

So, if I plan to keep the fermenter indoors, I'll have better temperature control, but will it stink up the house?

I can't wait to start my first batch (extract stout), but I'm not sure on this issue.

To give you an example, It's January, and the High for this week is 71 degrees F.

I started with my beers fermenting in the shower of a spare bathroom. If you get hooked, make a fermentation chamber in the garage!

 

[jiggs_casey]

I lived in Houston for years and I can attest to the 'no basements'...

I would think that under a bathroom sink somewhere might not be a bad place.

I currently use my bedroom closet but, I like to sleep with my window partially open and a warm winter day here is 45.

 

[DRoyLenz]

I keep 3 fermenters in a small room with no circulation, and I have little if no smell problem. And IMHO, keeping your beer a little warm is probably better than in an environment with fluctuating temps, like I would imagine your garage is. I would think about looking in to simple temp controls like a bucket of water, but until then, keep them in a place with a steady temperature.

 

[Johnny_Crunch]

I just started fermenting a honey wheat Sunday and it did stink up the house. It's now in a bathroom we don't use with the fart fan on.