Hi everyone-
Wanted to know what would be the best to brew next. My problem is ambient heat. I have no space for a refrigerator/freezer or for a son of fermentation chiller. SWMBO is not big on my taking up any more space for brewing. As a result, I ferment in my basement, which at least is much cooler than the house, but still gets too warm for fermentation. Today was 77 degrees, and it was 71 in the basement. Assuming we ever get up into the 80s or 90s (rare to get to the 90s, but last year it reached 106), the basement will probably get up into at LEAST the high 70s and possibly the low 80s.
My question is this- I am very tempted to brew Biermunchers Centennial Blonde recipe for something nice and refreshing, but given the warmer temps, is it likely to produce noticeable off flavors due to fermenting at higher temp (the recipe calls for 68˚F)? I think I read somewhere that you will notice the off flavors from fermenting at high temp much more in a lighter beer. Should I wait until we have a string of coolish days forecast and then pitch a HUGE starter so that it ferments out before the heat (I can just hear the people in Texas laughing when I talk about the heat of a 77 degree day) returns?
Or would it be safer to just brew a hefeweizen that should be OK fermenting even up to like 80 degrees (to maximize banana flavors ). Either one would probably be a nice refreshing brew for the heat of summer. What is the max temperature one can brew a hefeweizen at without ruining it? Perhaps I should brew that after the next batch when it is essentially guaranteed to be >80˚F for weeks at a time?
Not sure what to do about this-- I dont want to be stuck brewing only hefeweizens during summer.
Thanks,
Klaus
Wanted to know what would be the best to brew next. My problem is ambient heat. I have no space for a refrigerator/freezer or for a son of fermentation chiller. SWMBO is not big on my taking up any more space for brewing. As a result, I ferment in my basement, which at least is much cooler than the house, but still gets too warm for fermentation. Today was 77 degrees, and it was 71 in the basement. Assuming we ever get up into the 80s or 90s (rare to get to the 90s, but last year it reached 106), the basement will probably get up into at LEAST the high 70s and possibly the low 80s.
My question is this- I am very tempted to brew Biermunchers Centennial Blonde recipe for something nice and refreshing, but given the warmer temps, is it likely to produce noticeable off flavors due to fermenting at higher temp (the recipe calls for 68˚F)? I think I read somewhere that you will notice the off flavors from fermenting at high temp much more in a lighter beer. Should I wait until we have a string of coolish days forecast and then pitch a HUGE starter so that it ferments out before the heat (I can just hear the people in Texas laughing when I talk about the heat of a 77 degree day) returns?
Or would it be safer to just brew a hefeweizen that should be OK fermenting even up to like 80 degrees (to maximize banana flavors ). Either one would probably be a nice refreshing brew for the heat of summer. What is the max temperature one can brew a hefeweizen at without ruining it? Perhaps I should brew that after the next batch when it is essentially guaranteed to be >80˚F for weeks at a time?
Not sure what to do about this-- I dont want to be stuck brewing only hefeweizens during summer.
Thanks,
Klaus