Temperature

[Just_another_drunkard_666]

Was planning on brewing my first brew this weekend, unfortunately time didn't allow it. It's beginning to be summer where I'm at and I have no temperature control in my apartment. The more I read about how temp affects fermentation the more hesitant I am to brew in case the resulting temp fluctuations make it taste like ****.
I was planning on starting with an ale using US-05 yeast, but within the next two weeks the temp will be anywhere from 15-28 celsius (or more) on any given day, I'm feeling that won't be ideal.

I have someone willing to give me an old fridge to turn into a fermentation chamber, curious if that would be a smart way to go, even though I'm not quite sure where to start with that either.

 

[Smellyglove]

Use us-05, start low, I start at 16C (but with temp-control), if your ambient is high start at 12c. US-05 is a very forgiving yeast.

 

[Acaciadrian]

I have been In the same situation in the past and I can speak from experience that too warm of fermentation will have a dramatic effect on the beer. In your words the “taste of poopy” is a potential off flavor. If you are able to get a fridge that would be best and I use an InkBird ITC-308 and it has worked great!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011296704/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Regulating temperature durning fermentation was a game changer for me and the beer I pump out!

Brew on!

 

[Konadog]

If you can find a party bucket (large bucket that will fit your carboy) you could put it in that with water and ice to keep things cool. Put a towel over the part not in the water, and let the towel dip into the water to draw it up. This will help keep things cool thru evaporation. Might get you by until you get a fermentation chamber

 

[Just_another_drunkard_666]

I have been In the same situation in the past and I can speak from experience that too warm of fermentation will have a dramatic effect on the beer. In your words the “taste of poopy” is a potential off flavor. If you are able to get a fridge that would be best and I use an InkBird ITC-308 and it has worked great!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011296704/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Regulating temperature durning fermentation was a game changer for me and the beer I pump out!

Brew on!

Yeah, that's what I was eyeing. And I have a free fridge I could get within the week. Just wasn't sure how necessary it would be because getting another fridge in my place will be a pain in the butt. Guess it's something will have to do to make tasty brew.

 

[Acaciadrian]

Yeah, that's what I was eyeing. And I have a free fridge I could get within the week. Just wasn't sure how necessary it would be because getting another fridge in my place will be a pain in the butt. Guess it's something will have to do to make tasty brew.

Yea it’s a simple set up and virtually hands off but yes you will have to have a second fridge in your apartment unfortunately. However as @Konadog mentioned there are other options to keeping it cool that don’t require a fern chamber. I lived in Phoenix AZ here in the states for a couple years and would fill a bathtub with water and ice, wrap the fermenter in a towel , set it in there and have a fan blowing on it for the first 3-4 days when fermentation was at its most vigorous. It wasn’t perfect but it worked enough that the beer was drinkable.

Brew on!

 

[Louz]

Yes I have used the bathtub or swamp cooler method several times now with us-50 and made some damn good beer. I didnt even use ice. I just filled it up with water around 65 degrees, put the fermenter in water, and draped a towel over it and let the bottom of the towel hang in the water. Worked fine.

 

[Just_another_drunkard_666]

Yeah, I went ahead without any formal set up, gonna use a tub and some ice if necessary. Weather's been pretty mild for me right now so temperature hasn't been a huge issue, although I did manage to screw some other things up. Whole different story. Thanks for all the advice though, still gonna lug a fridge up my stairs eventually.