UH OH a freaking heat wave is coming.

[histo320]

I just looked at the weather and saw that it is going to get up to the 80's over the weekend. I am currently 6 days in to fermenting an IPA and I am worried about temps.

My apt stays cool usually until the evenings if it is sunny, I live on the 2nd floor. I knew that eventually I would need to address warmer temperatures, and without the financial stability and room, a fridge or cooler is not happening.

I have 2 choices.

1. Place the fermenter in a closet in the spare bedroom (no worry for blow off since fermentation is almost done) where it is a bit cooler than other areas of the apt.

or

2. Get a landscape bucket, one of those big containers you often see people put kegs in, fill it about 1/2 way up with water, and toss a frozen water bottle in every day.

Which has been successful for you more seasoned brewers?

 

[shecky]

I am not more seasoned, but I've had great success with choice No. 2, aka the swamp cooler.

EDIT: You'll definitely need that if you're on the 2nd floor.

 

[ZBrewMan]

Which has been successful for you more seasoned brewers?

Well that statement disqualifies me, but I'll offer my $0.02 anyhow

I just got hit with a heat wave, and even if you can create a slightly cooler environment, it will still (usually) be too hot anywhere indoors if the ambient temperature outside is around 80.

My vote is definitely option #2. Not too expensive and worth it for this and future batches.

Good luck!

 

[JHendrix]

it hit 106 this last weekend and I was frantic because my A/C just wasn't doing the job.

 

[ifishsum]

Do what you can, but if you're 6 days in I wouldn't freak out about it. I firmly believe that most of the off flavors you would get from high temps would occur during the lag phase and the first few days of active fermentation.

 

[Brewsmith]

Option #2 with a t-shirt over the fermenter to wick up water. Even better, put a small fan near it to blow air over fermenter to speed up evaporation and increase the cooling.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

Do what you can, but if you're 6 days in I wouldn't freak out about it. I firmly believe that most of the off flavors you would get from high temps would occur during the lag phase and the first few days of active fermentation.

I concur.asasdasd

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

No worries! If fermentation has slowed down, let those temps rise. If nothing else, it will help your beer attenuate better. All the nasty esters you want to avoid happen during the vigorous fermentation, which by this time should be done. When I need room in my fermentation chamber, I just take my carboys out and put them on the garage workbench. It's about 85F in there right now, and I've never had any bad effects from that. At this stage in the fermentation, there is actually very little going on with the yeast since they have chewed through most of the available sugars. RDWHAHB!

 

[7Enigma]

Glad to see all the concensus on the critical time being during active fermentation. I always thought this was the case, but I'm happy to see I wasn't missing anything. I'd just let it do it's thing and not worry about it. When it gets that hot, the air can hold a LOT of moisture and make an uncomfortable situation unbearable, so the last thing you want to do in the house is to increase the humidity more.

*OP is from NC not AZ so swamp coolers don't really work well in the house.

 

[sundaybrewingco]

So, in Philadelphia it is going to be 80-85 degrees this weekend, and I have a Belgian Dubbel fermenting in my basement for about a week now. You think it will be safe to leave down there at room temperature without using a swamp cooler? The krausen has fallen from the top of the beer at this point, but it is still blowing out bubbles from the blow-off hose. I heard increasing the temperature sometimes is desired in Belgian Dubbels/Tripels, so maybe I should leave it where it is? The temperature on the carboy says 70 degrees now. Any insight?

 

[7Enigma]

So, in Philadelphia it is going to be 80-85 degrees this weekend, and I have a Belgian Dubbel fermenting in my basement for about a week now. You think it will be safe to leave down there at room temperature without using a swamp cooler? The krausen has fallen from the top of the beer at this point, but it is still blowing out bubbles from the blow-off hose. I heard increasing the temperature sometimes is desired in Belgian Dubbels/Tripels, so maybe I should leave it where it is? The temperature on the carboy says 70 degrees now. Any insight?

I'm right near you and have a question that will change my answer to your question:

Have you been running your heater a lot in the last couple days? Or a dehumidifier in the basement (since we've had a ton of rain)?

70F sounds very warm for this time of year in a basement unless it is finished and you are heating the basement as well as the house to a desired temp. My basement is ~65F and would be at least 5F lower if not more due to almost constantly running the dehumidifier (and furnace on the colder mornings). With the coming heat and relatively warm nights you probably won't have your furnace running, and it will begin to dry out so if anything I expect my basement temps to drop during this "heat wave" rather than increase.

It sounds like the majority of the fermentation is complete by the krausen layer falling and fermentation going for a week. We still have another 48hours or so before the weather really warms up so it should be very near completion even with your high grav beer.

Keep an eye on it and if needed you can throw a damp towel around the top or move it to a cool bucket of water, but I think you'll be fine just letting it be.

 

[ChshreCat]

I put mine in a bathroom, close the door and turn on the fan. The fan sucks the warmest air out the top and cool air is drawn in under the door. I get an 8 degree drop in ambient temperature between the bathroom and the hall ouside the door.

 

[sundaybrewingco]

Have you been running your heater a lot in the last couple days? Or a dehumidifier in the basement (since we've had a ton of rain)?

Actually, yeah. With this crazy weather, its been on and off. I checked the actually temperature in the basement yesterday, and it was around 62-65 degrees. But the carboy was still around 70 degrees. So I was a little confused on that. The carboy is also fermenting on the concrete floor.

Like you said, I was going to closely monitor it this weekend with the temperatures hitting in the mid 80's. If it does get too hot, i'll throw a cool towel around it.

 

[7Enigma]

During active fermentation the container can increase in temp dramatically above the ambient temp (those yeast are cooking some beer in there!). It also takes a long time (as you know from cooling the wort after boiling) to change temperature of a large volume of liquid. This is hindered even more by plastic (if you are using an ale-pale) which is a pretty good insulator.

This year, since our previous dehumidifier is dying and the basement walls let quite a bit of moisture in, I will be getting one of those portable air conditioners that uses a dryer duct to blow the waste heat out of the basement. It seems stupid to not have the option to exhaust the heat out of the basement since a dehumidifier is basically an air conditioner where both the cold and the hot air end up in the same place (the condenser and the evaporator are sandwiched together). With the portable A/C unit I can lower the humidity while lowering the temp, and then if needed (gets too cold), redirect the vent back into the room.

I think your plan is good. Watch the temp and only if needed try to drop the temp.

 

[sundaybrewingco]

Good deal. I'll be keeping a close eye on it this weekend. Enjoy the PA heat wave!