Hey dudes,
The lady and I are finally settling into our new apartment. We dont have a lot of the amenities we used to have...like free central A/C. So that sucks. I kicked off with a batch of bitter (my first all grain. i realized that since I like smaller beers, I can keep doing my "partial mash" and just cut the extract out of the equation!) and after a few trips to Home Depot to get my wort chiller to hook up to the new sink, things seemed to go smoothly. I used dry yeast and within a day of really really active fermentation it was pretty much done. I let it sit for a week before racking and then filled the bucket with batch #2
Batch #2 went less smoothly. Well, the brew went fine. Realizing that my tap water isn't getting cold enough isn't fine. I ended up hooking up to the hose under the bathroom sink. Drain tube fell out of the sink basin and sprayed discharge water everywhere. Ended up draining right into the tub instead. I cringe at the thought of how much water I used before I realized "I'm not getting below 85 degrees. Oh right, because it's 85 degrees in here." So...I gave up and pitched at 85. The "brew closet" temperature holds pretty steady in the mid 80s anyway, so if it doesn't survive pitch it's not going to survive in the closet either.
So what does this mean? Am I done brewing until fall? My apartment isn't very big, so I don't have room to get new equipment for keeping things chilled. My sink is too small for an ice bath. I mean, I guess I could ice bath in the tub but whats the point really. What are the negative effects of fermenting in the mid 80s?
The lady and I are finally settling into our new apartment. We dont have a lot of the amenities we used to have...like free central A/C. So that sucks. I kicked off with a batch of bitter (my first all grain. i realized that since I like smaller beers, I can keep doing my "partial mash" and just cut the extract out of the equation!) and after a few trips to Home Depot to get my wort chiller to hook up to the new sink, things seemed to go smoothly. I used dry yeast and within a day of really really active fermentation it was pretty much done. I let it sit for a week before racking and then filled the bucket with batch #2
Batch #2 went less smoothly. Well, the brew went fine. Realizing that my tap water isn't getting cold enough isn't fine. I ended up hooking up to the hose under the bathroom sink. Drain tube fell out of the sink basin and sprayed discharge water everywhere. Ended up draining right into the tub instead. I cringe at the thought of how much water I used before I realized "I'm not getting below 85 degrees. Oh right, because it's 85 degrees in here." So...I gave up and pitched at 85. The "brew closet" temperature holds pretty steady in the mid 80s anyway, so if it doesn't survive pitch it's not going to survive in the closet either.
So what does this mean? Am I done brewing until fall? My apartment isn't very big, so I don't have room to get new equipment for keeping things chilled. My sink is too small for an ice bath. I mean, I guess I could ice bath in the tub but whats the point really. What are the negative effects of fermenting in the mid 80s?
