Fermentation temp at 32c or 89f. Any concern?

[schia]

Hello all,

Me again on a brewing question. I live in hot and humid country and our average temperature is at 34c/93f. My fermentation bucket sits in the coolest part of the house and average temp is at 32c/89f and on cold nights it drops to 28c/82f.

I've been reading alot in this forum and notice that most brewer in here ferment their wort at 27c... Is this going to be a problem for me?

 

[SkylerChaBro]

The temperature can become a huge problem if you can not maintain it at 72f(22c) or below. Higher temperatures can cause some strange off flavors, a really bad one being fusel. I have had problems fermenting too high, and I can vouch that the end product was not good. It took a year for that batch to mellow enough to be drinkable.

Personally I try to ferment at 60-68f(15-20c). There are ways you can control your fermentation temperature, but I would figure most would involve having a dedicated freezer with a temp control. Others here can probably guide you better on how to solve this than I can as I generally have more trouble keeping the temperature high enough.

 

[schia]

Thanks for the reply. Not the kinda answer I was looking forward to. Brewing for the 1st time and lets see how it turns out and if its off by a mile I might need to invest in an old fridge.

 

[BoxofRain]

In the meantime fill up a bunch of water bottles and freeze them. Sit the fermenting vessel in a tub of water and add some of the frozen bottles. Rotate the bottles from the tub to the freezer as needed.

 

[schia]

In the meantime fill up a bunch of water bottles and freeze them. Sit the fermenting vessel in a tub of water and add some of the frozen bottles. Rotate the bottles from the tub to the freezer as needed.

When I'm off at work for the next 10 hours the ice will melt and temp will rise again wont this temp fluctuation be an issue as well?

 

[Wiezer]

The temperature of the water bath is not going to fluctuate as much as the surrounding air temperature. You have to do something to keep the fermentation temperature at 20c and below.

 

[BoxofRain]

The temperature of the water bath is not going to fluctuate as much as the surrounding air temperature. You have to do something to keep the fermentation temperature at 20c and below.

That's what I was going to say. For example look at the air temperature charts in the fall relative to the ocean temperatures. A chilled water bath will heat up slowly compared to air temp.

I had a similar problem when I first started. I started brewing in the summer and my fermenting room was on the third floor and not air conditioned. I learned the water bottle trick on this forum.

Of course there are many people on this forum that know more than me and I'll always defer to them if they disagree.

 

[RobotWerewolfLabs]

Pick a style that likes warm weather. I live in Florida, and I have been working on the same problem, although I think my temps here are just a bit cooler. Saision is a good choice, and I'm looking for other styles. Obviously avoid lagers.

 

[K5MOW]

Thanks for the reply. Not the kinda answer I was looking forward to. Brewing for the 1st time and lets see how it turns out and if its off by a mile I might need to invest in an old fridge.

Let us know how it works out. My temp is about 74 and I hope this will be ok.

Roger

 

[Hockeyhunter99]

If you add salt to the water bath that should cause it to go to a lower temp. or add salt to the bottles when you freeze them. salt lowers the freezing point of water to about 10*F or lower if you add more salt. i would try that in your ice bath.

DO NOT ADD SALT TO THE WORT OR FERMENTER!!!!