Fermentation in closet ?

[Davidmuro91]

If I leave my carboy fermenting in my closet will it make my closet smell ? Just wondering first time brewing obviously

 

[maffewl]

There will be some smell, but shouldn't be unbearable. The real issue is how will the beer turn out fermenting in a room temperature space... might want to look into a swamp cooler or temperature controller.

 

[Rhumbline]

It won't be a problem, unless you have a blowoff event. That would not be fun.

My advice is to make sure that the area you use for fermenting is easy to clean and doesn't have anything in it you wouldn't want to get hosed down with beer spooge.

 

[BigFloyd]

How warm is your closet and what yeast are you using?

Remember, the temp inside of the fermenter can be significantly warmer (up to +10*F) than the air temp in the closet.

 

[hansonian]

I ferment all mine in the closet in my spare bedroom. It's actually the coolest place in my house and seems to maintain a steady temp. With the exception of the blowout I had last year they've all done well. Since then I've gone to a blow-off tube and haven't had any issues.

 

[carton132]

If it's just a storage closet I wouldn't worry about it. If it were my clothes closet, I'd be concerned about my coworkers speculating about how much I drink and how little I shower.

 

[Davidmuro91]

If it's just a storage closet I wouldn't worry about it. If it were my clothes closet, I'd be concerned about my coworkers speculating about how much I drink and how little I shower.

This is my biggest concern it's the coolest part of my place I would say constant 70 - 75 degrees F

 

[LandoLincoln]

This is my biggest concern it's the coolest part of my place I would say constant 70 - 75 degrees F

Yeah, that's just way too warm. You're going to get a lot of fusel alcohol off-flavors with temps that high.

You're looking for around 60° for a good number of yeasts. Research "swamp beer fermentor / fermenter." That's going to be your cheapest, easiest option.

A really good but more expensive option would be to get a cheap refrigerator or chest freezer off of craigslist and a single-stage temperature controller. The fridge or freezer plugs into the temp controller, the temp controller plugs into the wall, and a thermo probe sits inside of the fridge / freezer and lets the temp controller know when it's too warm inside the fermentor, and thus turns on the fridge / freezer to cool it back down. I've found a few chest freezers on Craigslist for $50, and I've purchased single-stage temp controllers for about $60.

 

[Davidmuro91]

The directions for the fermentation said to keep it between 65-70 f I know mine is a bit hight 72 right now will it still be ok ?

 

[BeastMaster]

The easy way around this is to brew beers using yeasts that are compatible with your temperatures. Granted, doing this you limit your choices, but if you want to brew a few batches before committing to buying more equipment I'd say it is a good idea. 70-75F isnt a bad range for some yeast strains, do some research and brew a beer utilizing a compatible strain. WLP-585 or 566 would be fine at that range and even higher towards the end of fermentation if you are interested in brewing a saison.

 

[BeastMaster]

you can go to White Labs site and see which of their yeasts are appropriate for your environment.

http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/homebrew/listings

Good luck.

 

[Rhumbline]

This is my biggest concern it's the coolest part of my place I would say constant 70 - 75 degrees F

I ferment at those temps with no ill effects. Wyeast 3724 for instance, will ferment well into the 90's. I do mostly Saisons that like to ferment warm.