Fermenting a beer outside?!?

[Nyrkki]

I do not have any equipment to control the fermentation temperature so I ferment in room temperature which is around 68-71 F. That is quite high, but since I pitch a bit cooler I haven't noticed any nasty side effects. And I bottle condition for at least 3 weeks.

Five days ago I brewed a belgian wit and I would really like to cold condition it. I used 1214 chimay yeast, which chimay has in secondary for 3 days at 32 F (for red). The only way I can get my beer that cool is to put it on my balcony, and even then it won't be cool enough for most of the day. The temperature would range between 21-42 F, but probably stay most of the time near 32 or a few degrees +/-.

I know the beer should not freeze (at least to solid ice) at 21 F since it should have around 5% alcohol and it wouldn't be exposed to more than 10 hours to temperatures below 32 F (only at night). The real question is how would the yeast cope with the huge shifts in temperature? Would it die off or create some off-flavours? Ou and how much would a wit, or anyother ale benefit from cold conditioning? Is it a stupid idea and should I just convince my girlfriend that an extra fridge in the livingroom is necessary? That might prove to be impossible...

 

[spenghali]

If it does freeze a bit those yeast cells would burst and die.

 

[Polboy]

i was cold crashing/conditioning my beers whole winter in basement bathroom with small window open/cracked/closed depending on outside temp, it was great as i had small cold room with temp around 40F for few months but now its over so im looking for cheap/free fridge. I think you should be fine doing it outside but you are taking a small risk here if temp dips lower than expected at night, maybe you should try to set up the fridge on the balcony if in the apartment is not an option?, it will be very useful in few months

 

[Nyrkki]

Thanks for the comments!

Hmm, yes the cells would probably die if the beer froze solid, but most likely it would only freeze a little. After all there are cells every where in the beer. One thing I could do is to wash some of the yeast and repitch it if the yeast in the fermenter dies. Would this work, and how much yeast should I repitch? Probably quite a lot.

An extra fridge would be nice, but I think that the balcony would not be an option for it, since it would be exposed to rain...

 

[Revvy]

Look at my ghetto lagering thread for ideas.

 

[Curtis2010]

...
I know the beer should not freeze (at least to solid ice) at 21 F since it should have around 5% alcohol and it wouldn't be exposed to more than 10 hours to temperatures below 32 F (only at night). The real question is how would the yeast cope with the huge shifts in temperature? ....

I have the opposite problem brewing here in the tropics, but have had good success. Whether the ambient temps are too cold or too hot, I think the key is temperature stability within the range of the yeast being used. Each strain of yeast has its optimal temp range -- the key is to keep it there. You could provide a more stable temp range outside by immersing your fermentor in water in an insulated container. Start with water that is in the upper range of the ideal temp for your yeast strain and then add warm water as necessary.

 

[CannibalAJ]

Make sure you protect it from direct sunlight! That will cause bigger temp swings and obviously skunk the beer.

 

[Nyrkki]

Yes I have to take sunlight into mind. Luckily there is a corner in the balcony where the sun doesn't shine.

The ghetto lagering thread was really nice! Maybe I'll build something like that for the next batch that I'm going to lager. For this one I might just build a box from styrofoam panels. It should help quite a lot and will cost next to nothing.

 

[kingwood-kid]

Turn your heat down to 60 degrees for a few days. You can tell your girlfriend you're doing your part to combat global warming.

 

[Revvy]

But if you're near 32 degrees anyway, just wire up a temp control and use a space heater in there, and dial up the temp controller. You're in a perfect situation to brew anything you want really, both ales and lager.