maintaining cool termperatures

[Pauliwankenobi]

hey there, my name's paul and i'm new to these forums.

i just purchased a homebrewing kit from homebrewheaven.com and i will be starting my first batch later this week.

although i purchased a pale ale kit, i am looking forward to brewing a lager soon. i understand that lagers must be brewed at cool temperatures, like 44-55 degrees farenheit.

unfortunately, i live in southern california. although the weather has been cool lately, i can typically count on warm weather throughout the entire year.

how would i maintain a cool temperature for a lager batch? i was thinking of placing my carboy in a large bucket filled with ice and water.

any other ideas?

 

[phidelt844]

A fridge with monitored temperatures is going to be your best bet. A bucket with ice will be very difficult to maintain lower temps upwards of what I'm assuming will be ~20 degrees ambient.

 

[AnonyBrew]

You could also make your own chiller. Search the forum for "son of fermentation chiller" or SOFC.