It's officiallly basement fermenting season

[cweston]

Yesterday afternoon the temp inside my main-floor fermenting pantry cupboard reached 70--the carboy of IPA in secondary got moved to the basement.

There's an upper shelf in the basement that's actually just above grade that's hanging steady at about 64-65 right now.

I'm hoping to to be able to create some sort of temp-steady envoironment in the basement sometime soon (possibly water bath + aquarium heater), but it is kinda fun leaving thermometers all over the house and figuring out what the temps in various places are and how much they fluctuate.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

I wish we had basements here. Actually, older houses sometimes do, but not newer ones. Damn track builders. I'm going to have to rig something up pretty soon...perhaps just a simple waterbath.

 

[Walker]

I wish we had basements here. Actually, older houses sometimes do, but not newer ones. Damn track builders. I'm going to have to rig something up pretty soon...perhaps just a simple waterbath.

You have to make a trade-off to get a basement here on a newer house (this coming from the guy who was house-shopping from December through February).

If you want a basement, your house has to be on a hill for water drainage and the basement can only be partially buried.

So... it's either a flat yard that you can enjoy, or a quasi-basement that you can enjoy. I never saw a house (looked at about 50) that offered both.

-walker

 

[cweston]

I grew up in Michigan where all houses had basements.

Here in Kansas, many newer homes don't have basements, or if they do, they are often part of the finished living space (and therefore heated to more like mainfloor levels).

The tornado sirens went off for the first time last evening--yet another benefit to having a basement around here. If we do get trapped down there under the rubble of our destroyed home, at least there's a sh-tload of beer down there!

 

[david_42]

I'd love a basement, but 8 months of the year it would be a swimming pool. On the plus side, the old garage, soon to be dedicated brewery, stays between 50 & 70 10 months of the year.

Understand about the thermometers, I must have 8 or 9 in and around the house, including the two for my LaCrosse weather station.

 

[waskelton4]

what sort of thermometers do you use?

I'd like to get some to start looking for the best place for my fermenter. I'd like some that can record the high and low temp and have those temps reset. do they make such a thing??

I have a spot (guest bathroom) where I'd like to put my fermenter but i'm not sure what the temp is like there. It doesn't have any Heat/AC vents in it and has one wall that is external to the house so i'm a little worried that in Mississippi it might get a little warm in there..

many thanks..

will

 

[Walker]

what sort of thermometers do you use?

I'd like to get some to start looking for the best place for my fermenter. I'd like some that can record the high and low temp and have those temps reset. do they make such a thing??

Yes. There are some digital thermometers that will track lowest and highest temperatures. They are not terribly expensive, either.

Sorry, I don't have a link, but I tracked several models of these down on google a few months ago when someone else asked this same question.

-walker

 

[cweston]

I'd like to get some to start looking for the best place for my fermenter. I'd like some that can record the high and low temp and have those temps reset. do they make such a thing??

Yeah, but I'm too cheap for anything like that. I just have 4 or 5 el cheapo yard thermometers that I leave various places. If you check it first thing in the morning on a cool morning and at 5:00 on a warm afternoon, you'll have a pretty good sense of what the temp fluctuation is.

 

[uglygoat]

loves his man cave... it's all mine, swmbo does not even go on the brewery/bar side....

it's really ideal for fermenting ales, a tad too warm for lager though.

 

[waskelton4]

Yeah, but I'm too cheap for anything like that. I just have 4 or 5 el cheapo yard thermometers that I leave various places. If you check it first thing in the morning on a cool morning and at 5:00 on a warm afternoon, you'll have a pretty good sense of what the temp fluctuation is.

good point..

i might go the el-cheapo route for starters..

ws

 

[waskelton4]

oh.. hehe

no basements here in yazoo clay country.. the soil around here moves like crazy..

i did tell the wifey last night that it would be really nice for me to have an outbuilding for me to take all of my crazy rotating hobbies to so i can get them out of the house..

she was all for it.. now If i can only find a way to pay for it..

ws

 

[Ize]

I actually get different readings on various sides of the basement... My southeast side in my workshop holds right around 68 to 70 on even the warmest days... The Northeast corner where the beer fridge is usually runs 72 to 73... (Crappy window in that wall)

In winter, if I don't keep a spaceheater going it's down into the mid to low 50's. Still too warm for Lagering tho isn't it?

Unfortunately now, we had 3+ inches of rain in about an hour and a half yesterday morning, so the fans are running and the dehumidifier is chuggin' it's little heart out....



Ize

 

[brewtavius]

The Northeast corner where the beer fridge is usually runs 72 to 73... (Crappy window in that wall)

Ize

That fridge may be warming that corner up more than the window.

 

[Glibbidy]

It's always basement fermenting season here in Vermont.

 

[Ize]

That fridge may be warming that corner up more than the window.

Excellent point...

I love when I miss the obvious, makes me worry about my sanity...



Ize