Temperature Compromise for Apartment Fermenting/Aging

[nickharbour]

I live in a small apartment and am torn as to what temperature to keep the place. Sounds like a stupid question but I need a compromise between two different beer related activities:

1. Fermenting (Should be 65-75 degrees for ales)
2. Aging (50-55 degrees, not lagering but for extended aging of belgians)

It seems most people who age beer have a basement that normally hits those target temperatures. In an apartment, no such luck. I currently keep my apartment at 60 which is still comfortable and my first beer batch at this temperature seems to have fermented fine. I am getting more and more into brewing so I don't want the low temp to jeopardize any fermentation but I also have a huge stash of Westvleteren 12 that I don't want to ruin either.

Anybody have any thoughts?

 

[storunner13]

For fermenting, the temperature inside your carboy can be significantly higher than your ambient temp in the apartment. 5-10˚or sometimes warmer since fermentation is an exothermic process. So, 60˚*is not a bad temperature. Get one of those stick on aquarium thermometers to put on your fermentor

I wouldn't worry too much about the aging temperature. Though cellar temperatures are ideal, room temperature isn't a bad thing...they actually might "age" quicker. You should definitely keep the bottles at around 70˚ for carbonating though.

You might want to pay attention to the fermentation temps of belgians. Some yeasts prefer higher temperatures to get the most out of the belgian esters.

Look into a Son of Fermentation chiller if you want to go higher tech.