Hot south texas brewing...

[Saints1313]

New user here, only one brew in. My main problem is the I live in south texas, and right now it isnt too bad, but when it gets warmer im worried about keep my ferms temp stable. We hit 105 degrees easily in the summer, any easy ways to keep the brew cooler without keeping my house at 70 degrees all year and having 500 dollar elec bills? I know they have ferm heaters, do they have ferm chillers, or is it best to store in an extra fridge with a therm controller?

 

[TheManes]

I use a mini fridge with an external thermostat and I have very tight control over my ferm temps. I ruined one batch when my ferm got up to 80 degrees and have been using the fridge/thermostat combo ever since.

 

[RM-MN]

Best way? Cheap way? In between?

Best is in a temperature controlled environment like a fridge with therm controller. Some of us can't afford that luxury and do with something less expensive. How about an insulated box with bags of ice? Maybe a big cooler with water and ice to set the fermenter in. Lots of ways to work with a hotter environment. Heck, even a small room with a window air conditioner would help without a huge electric bill. You might even find a used air conditioner cheap/

 

[JasonInBTR]

I'm new to brewing as well and living in Louisiana I'll probably face the same problem come summertime. I have been thinking of finding a used chest freezer on craigslist and hooking it up to a temp controller. Should be able to set it up for under $100. Just need to find a place to put it.....

Jason

 

[FoundersBrew]

I found a 5.5 cubic ft chest freezer on craigslist for fifty bucks; installed an external thermostat and have had no problems since! The total cost was fifty for the freezer and twenty five for the used johnson thermostat, for a grand total of seventy five bucks.

 

[Saints1313]

wow. thanks for the quick response time. I just registered with this site today, and within 10 mins had 4 responses. I can already tell this is a great site with great members. Kudos to the members of this site.

 

[captainL]

Make a swamp cooler. Search on here. I got a big circular bucket from lowes for $7. During the initial fermentation I fill with water and add frozen water bottles morning and night to keep the temp around 64 for the first week. After initial fermentation I let the water warm up to around 68 and leave for another week or two. During the hot summer you might have to keep adding frozen bottles or ice packs to keep the temp below 75 but it shouldn't be a problem unless you go out of town a lot.