Picking Recipes by Ambient Temps...?

[superslomo]

Hi all, getting started on brewing years after doing a couple of batches with friends while I was in college.

We have a finished basement that is partly open to the outside, and while it stays cooler than the main floor of the house, it definitely isn't classic cellar temperature in summer, and is definitely not as warm as the ground floor in the winter.

Instead of fighting the temperatures all year, does anyone have suggestions about how to use the space to my advantage, and pick seasonal recipe choices that work well with the conditions at hand?

Currently, it doesn't seem to go over 75 in summer even without A/C, and that only during pretty warm spells of weather.

In winter, it is in the lower 60's from what I can tell, and the heat is marginal in that part of the house.

I'd like at some point this year to do a Wee Heavy or 80/- with Peat and Heather, I'd love to do a saison, and IPA, and am currently doing Hefeweizen. An Altbier would be high on my list of must-haves as well. Regular wheat beer or pale ale on fruit or spices would also be fantastic... along with a spruce beer at some point.

Which goes well with cooler temps (not in the 40's, though) and which works well with warmer temps?

 

[jd3]

It looks like now while warmer is the time to do a saison. I did one with temps not exceeding 73 degrees and it did well. I used the 3711, which I don't think "requires" the high temps, but does fine with them.

In the winder, our storage room gets down to 45 degrees floor temp. I start my lagering in this room and move it to a fridge after that.

 

[thegerm]

I have a single temp controlled 7cf chest freezer that I can use either as a kegerator or a fermentation fridge. I have been considering just brewing the style I want and changing up the yeast based on my ambient temp. I think that sort of limits me to certain "clean ale" style yeasts though, because with styles that have particular yeast derived flavors you simply have to give your yeast the temps it needs (saison would be one of those I'd imagine, as I've read it needs to be up in the high 80s and even possibly the 90s).

your alt would work well in the mid 60s. I think you could also use a kolsh yeast at those temps for your IPA.

but basically you'd probably want to study yeast specs for the temp range and flavor profiles you're looking for.

 

[jd3]

Depending on the yeast, saisons do NOT need the super high temps. Here is the 3711 info:
http://www.wyeastlab.com/rw_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=199

The belgian strain needs higher temps.

 

[superslomo]

I can get warmer (100 degrees on our enclosed front porch during summer days, high 70's on ground floor living space), but am wondering what types of beers happen to LIKE the mid-70's and what types like the low-60's...

 

[thegerm]

well my point is that yeast strain and beer style may overlap, but not necessarily. so you may be unnecessarily constraining yourself.

 

[stageseven]

Not that this is what you were asking, but if you want to have cheap and effective temp control why not just try a swamp cooler? There's plenty of threads on here on how to make one (it's basically a tub, a fan, and an old t-shirt). I have a rope tub I got from wal-mart for $5, I put some cool water in it, and put my fermenter inside. If the water temperature goes up, you can dump in some ice, ice packs, or just fresh cold water to keep it down. Water is more easily able to transfer temperature than air, so the temp in the tub should be closer to the internal temperature than the ambient. It also provides a buffer for you when there is an ambient temperature swing as it will take longer to warm up or cool down the water.