Is this too cold a place to fermenet?

[jwk1972]

Well, I'm fairly limited on "acceptable" (to my wife anyways) places to put my fermenting buckets and figured I'd be ok in my basement but I just took a temperature reading and it's only 57 degrees down there and it fairly mild outside right now. This is below what recommended 64-72 degrees Fahrenheit in the ingredient instructions. It's going to be my first brew and it is Brewers Best "Wiezenbier". Any input???

[EDIT] New idea/question... pg. 2

 

[unionrdr]

Either put a heater down there,or take it upstairs & explaint to her that it's too cold down there for the process to work. Lacking that,Not her exclusive domain. Especially since I pay for everything as the bread winner. Queen bee my a$$.

 

[Yooper]

Some yeast strains will easily tolerate that temperature (pacman, nottingham), but if yours does not you could either do a space heater or a water bath with an aquarium heater. I've done an aquarium heater with good results- it was $9 at the pet store, and I put about 10 gallons of water in a cooler and then put the fermenter in, and kept a floating thermometer in there to check the temperature. I was able to keep it at 70 degrees the whole time! But it took some messing around with first, so I'd do it with water alone until I had a perfect 70 degrees!

 

[jwk1972]

Either put a heater down there,or take it upstairs & explaint to her that it's too cold down there for the process to work. Lacking that,Not her exclusive domain. Especially since I pay for everything as the bread winner. Queen bee my a$$.

As much as that may appeal to me as a testosterone carrier, in my world it ain't gonna happen. Aside from the fact we are in a temporary house that is very small while we are waiting to move... she carried my a** for awhile when I started a business so that excuse won't work. I need to figure out how to keep it warm.

 

[dkennedy]

I would second Yooper's suggestion- plastic tub with water and an aquarium heater if it's too cold, ice packs if it gets too warm. Works great for me, the water bath helps with shifts in temperature.

 

[Frodo]

You could try it at 57F to see if it works. I'm keeping my house at about 58F this winter and have had good fermentations. In fact one got up to 75F and fermented out in less than 24 hours (no kidding, and OG was 1.070; I racked onto a big yeast cake with that one and the airlock was bubbling within 1.5 hours of pitching). Anyway, I digress... 57F isn't ideal, but make sure you're pitching the right amount of yeast and pitching at the right temp (mid 60s or so) and it might work (it has for me).

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Some yeast strains will easily tolerate that temperature (pacman, nottingham), but if yours does not you could either do a space heater or a water bath with an aquarium heater. I've done an aquarium heater with good results- it was $9 at the pet store, and I put about 10 gallons of water in a cooler and then put the fermenter in, and kept a floating thermometer in there to check the temperature. I was able to keep it at 70 degrees the whole time! But it took some messing around with first, so I'd do it with water alone until I had a perfect 70 degrees!

yeah, i think a lot of ale strains will do just fine at those temps. as yooper said, you can always do a water bath with an aquarium heater. just don't let it get too warm.
remember, fermentation is exothermic, it'll create some heat on it's own. so 57 ambient can be 62 or warmer in the fermenter. which is ideal for many strains. keep it up off the basement floor, as the cold floor will suck heat, but i'm betting you're good at those temps.

read this and this. you may find them helpful.

 

[borovy3488]

I'm considering fermenting in our basement as well, and its around the same temperature. SWMBO just bought me a brew belt from the lhbs and said this should fix it. After I came out of shock because she "stopped by the homebrew store because I was complaining about the temperature," I thought that it might be a good idea. What do u guys think? It says not to use it for more than 8 days, and I primary most beers for a month. What would you recommend?

Not trying to thread-jack but I think this might be a decent solution for the OP. The brew belt was $19.99.

 

[jwk1972]

As the previous post mentioned I did look at the "brew belt" but unfortunately do not have access to one without mail order and I was hoping to brew today or tomorrow... good idea though, going to be ordering one for sure.

My other idea was about a previous post as well. Someone mentioned that the fermenting process itself gives off heat... has anyone wrapped a bucket in something like a solar blanket, neoprene or something similar? Would that help get the temp up those few extra degrees? Am I just over thinking this?

Oh, yeah... also like the idea of the aquarium heater but again don't have access to one locally, I live in a very small farm town 45 minutes from anything that would carry such objects of desire!

Thanks again!

 

[unionrdr]

Get the fermenter up off the floor onto a bench or something. Then wrap a blanket around it,or an old winter coat. That works for me to rais the temp a couple of degrees.

 

[Nathan666]

I had the exact same problem my misses didn want me to keep my fermenting bucket in living room which is a nice 70f so I moved it o a cupboard in spare room which is 57f what I did is I wrapped tin foil around it then a jacket and a small blanket I use a hot water bottle between the tinfoil and a jacket and I re fill hot water bottle before I go to bed then before I go to work, works a treat and is keeping it at a steady 70f varying from 69-75 it's worked wonders for my little yeasties

 

[tennesseean_87]

If you can get the fermentation going and use a blanket to keep a lot of the heat in, you should be good for a while. I would perhaps be a little concerned with fermentation finishing up once the initial boisterous phase and it's heat production have passed. I fermented EdWort's Robust Porter in the basement, but brought it upstairs once the temp started dropping just to make sure the yeast would finish up everything they were doing.

 

[jwk1972]

Ok, new idea... been thinking about this for about a week now since I haven't had time to do the brew yet and came up with an idea to keep temp up. Has anyone ever thought of using a heat lamp??? I looked at the hardware store and picked up a 250w heat lamp bulb that will screw into any normal outlet (I use the aluminum garage types with the spring clamp) for under $5. These are the ones you used to see in bathrooms ... Plugged it in and it easily has enough heat to raise the temp those few degrees I'm looking for from 4-6 feet away. I guess I'm wondering if anyone has any input on weather or not this a good/bad idea. There apparently is a minimal amount of infrared radiation on these but not sure if it's any amount that needs to be worried about with a plastic bucket fermenter. What do you think?

 

[BOBrob]

I have put a bucket in a cardboard box with a 60 watt bulb and raised temp. Just wrap a towel or T shirt around the bucket to block light. You can experiment with different watt bulbs for the amount of consistent heat produced. The 250 heat lamp is over kill; cardboard is a great insulator and you real only need the box up off the floor to hold good temp. 60 watt will raise the temp 4-5 degrees inside a closed box, 45 watt may be better to start with. Check it out, it works cheap and easy. If need be, cut a flap to vent heat. Cheers

 

[jwk1972]

Is there any sort of fire hazard with that method? The lamp I have was for use several feet away, not up close. figured the red might not put out as much light. Thought about a small space heater but again, wonder about potential fire hazard with leaving one on for two weeks or so.

 

[copyright1997]

I started getting semi-stuck fermentations when my basement fell into the mid-to-high fifties (with S-04, S-05 yeasts). Here's some potential solutions.

Method 1: Put the fermentation bucket/carboy in the bedroom. Tell your wife that it is your new baby.

Method 2: Build one of these and put it in a closet or other smallish enclosed space (I use an old refrigerator): http://brewstands.com/fermentation-heater.html. I have one of these plus a $23 STC-1000 ("ebay digital temperature controller) to control my fermentation temperature, but you can probably just get a reasonable temperature by controlling the bulb wattage (I won't go above 60 watts or so).

 

[jwk1972]

I started getting semi-stuck fermentations when my basement fell into the mid-to-high fifties (with S-04, S-05 yeasts). Here's some potential solutions.

Method 1: Put the fermentation bucket/carboy in the bedroom. Tell your wife that it is your new baby.

Method 2: Build one of these and put it in a closet or other smallish enclosed space (I use an old refrigerator): http://brewstands.com/fermentation-heater.html. I have one of these plus a $23 STC-1000 ("ebay digital temperature controller) to control my fermentation temperature, but you can probably just get a reasonable temperature by controlling the bulb wattage (I won't go above 60 watts or so).

Method 1: No even worth the potential outcome... would need a more comfortable couch!
Method 2: Brilliant!!! :rockin: I've got a junkyard in town that I could score a small fridge or chest freezer for free most likely... goin' shoppin' tomorrow!

 

[CPFITNESS]

As much as that may appeal to me as a testosterone carrier, in my world it ain't gonna happen. Aside from the fact we are in a temporary house that is very small while we are waiting to move... she carried my a** for awhile when I started a business so that excuse won't work. I need to figure out how to keep it warm.

It's a friggin bucket for chrissakes. I live in a 600 sq ft apt with my gf and i have 3 sets of golf clubs, 2 bikes, and now a 5 gallon all grain setup. She can deal with you having a 5 gallon bucket sitting under a desk, table, in a closet or she can deal with you banging other women as that is what most men who don't have constructive hobbies resort to doing.
my .02

 

[CPFITNESS]

oh and if you don't like that advice, than look into brewing Lagers!