hetting the temp right

narl79 · Feb 26, 2013

I have a huge problem with consistent temps in my house. I just brewed up a cream ale and instruction s say to ferment between 65-70. I have closet that cold but it jumps from 64-69 all day long. Is this going to cause a problem?

unionrdr · Feb 26, 2013

Normally temp fluctuations can cause the yeast to stall if there too wide. But a couple degrees rising or falling slowly might not hurt it.

bd2xu · Feb 26, 2013

I ferment in my basement now since I converted my chest freezer to a Keezer. I got a couple big plastic tubs with rope handles at wal mart for about 5 bucks each. I think they hold about 20 gallons of water. I put my fermenter in, fill about 3/4 to the top of the fermenter and drop in an aquarium thermometer set to the lowest temp, about 68. Having your fermenter in a water bath keeps the temps a lot more stable. Heat can dissipate faster with the water bath, changes in air temp affect the wort much slower, and the heater keeps it from dropping too slow. In the winter this is perfect for me as my basement is in the low 60s. In the summer, it gets to mid 70s so then I will have to chill with frozen 2 liter bottles or build a ferm chamber out of a small fridge and controller.

webby45wr · Feb 26, 2013

5 gallons of beer takes a long time to change temp. Even though your air temp in the closet is fluctuating so much, I'm thinking the beer will take much longer. It might just level out to stay in the middle of the temperature range fluctuations. I wouldn't worry about it.

TopherM · Feb 26, 2013

As others stated, the thermal mass of the wort means that it isn't going to fluccuate much with that mild temp swing.

If you are worried about it, you can stick the carboy/bucket in a tub of water, which will add even more thermal mass to the wort and insulate it from temp swings. Those watertight laundry tubs from Wal-Mart do the trick for about $10.00.