Using the winter weather - cooler fermenting suggestions?

[aggieactuary]

I ferment in a room that's closed off from the rest of the house, so it stays cool in the winter and warm in the summer. The room has a separate heat control, and I'm thinking I should go with the flow (leave the heat off as much as possible) and brew some things that ferment at cooler temperatures this winter.

Any suggestions?

I think the room usually hovers around 50F if I leave the heat off. I assume there are some lager yeasts that I could use around that range, right?

 

[chefcurt]

California Common is a lager fermented at low ale temps. I have the same room in my house and am planning on doing one. As soon as I get some projects around the house done.

 

[Homercidal]

I ferment lagers at 50F to start with, then drop to low 30s for lagering. Seems to work.

If you want to do ales, just get a plastic tub fill it with water and use an aquarium heater to control the temps. Place the fermenter in the tub of water.

Or use a brew belt...

 

[aggieactuary]

I really want to use the cool weather to brew some cooler fermenting beers. All I've done until now are ales.

I'm thinking I may start trying to brew with the seasons: ales in the spring, ciders in the fall, "belgian" in the summer and lager-types in the winter.

I'm not going to limit myself if I want to brew out of season, but I think it's kind of fun to look forward to different styles at different times of year.

 

[Homercidal]

I think if you can maintain 50 you should be ok for lagers. It's worth a shot. Def read up on the fermentation process for lagers. After a few weeks of initial fermentation, you may want to raise the temp for a day or two for a D-rest before lagering.