Fermentation temperature

[ajr2820]

I do not have an extra refrigerator to control the temp so I ferment in my closet which during the summer remains at 74F (give or take a degree depending on the time of day). How does this affect my beers (so far only ales; since I cannot lager at this temp)? Are there particular yeasts I should favor or stay away from until I have a method to control the fermentation temp?

 

[jvlpdillon]

Ambient room temperature is typically lower than the actual temperature of the fermentation. This means your room temp may be 74F but the actual fermentation may by above 80F. Depending on the yeast strain this could result in esters, fruity/banana flavors, in the finished beer, or ethanol, hot alcohol, flavors.

If you wanted to make a Belgian style beer this is perfect. If you want to make an IPA you might be borderline.

Regardless you make you will probably wind up with something very drinkable that you are happy with.

 

[nefarious_1_]

74*F ambient is pretty high for almost any yeast. With an ambient temp. that high, it means your fermenting beer could easily be getting close to 80*F at the peak of fermentation activity. At temps of 80*F and above, your best bet would be brewing a Saison.

I would say that if you were able to keep the BEER at 74*F then you'd be OK fermenting a Belgian. So there's two suggestions for you.

However, if you don't want to limit yourself to only a couple styles, I suggest you set up a swamp cooler to keep fermentation temps within the desired range for other yeast strains.

It's cheap and simple. Check out this swamp cooler thread.


EDIT: haha I guess someone beat me to it.