Will saving home energy ruin my beer!

[Beertech]

I have a programmable thermostat that sets back the temp of my house to 60 degrees during the day when no one is home. My question of course is will the temperature swings (70 to 60 then back to 70) have a negative effect on my fermentation or stall the yeast from doing their thing?

Would it be better to ferment in the basement where the temp is stable but at 60 to 62 all the time?

It's a Brewers Best Weizenbier. I just looked at the airlock and it's going mad like a coffee perculator! Not sure what is happening in the day when it's colder and I'm not here though.

 

[ongreystreet]

Does your house drop an entire 10 degrees during the day?

 

[Beertech]

Yes. Most days in the winter.

 

[Bigjuicy]

well if you keep your beer insulated with blankets you should be fine. You might want to get a brew belt (like 20$ i think) keeps your beer about 10 degrees warmer than ambient air.

 

[cfonnes]

My house temp controller is programmed about the same way.

I usually ferment in the basement where it is colder for the active part of fermentation (usually 3 - 4 days). The active fermentation seems to keep the thermometer on the side of the bucket/carboy around 70, while a carboy without activity (sour beer) is in the same room reads 60.

After the krausen falls I move the bucket upstairs for 4 or 5 days, the temp on the bucket will vary from 66 to 68.

This has produced excellent results for me.

 

[zickefoose]

Put it in your basement, although it will take longer to ferment it will still ferment better than if the temp changes a lot. Some people "cold condition" lagers for certain reasons (not really sure why)

Good luck with it

 

[theredben]

If you insulate the beer, like with two tight fitting t-shirts, or a t-shirt and a cardboard box, it will stop the wort from flucuating. It takes a long time for 5 gallons of water to change temperature.

This is only from a purely theoretical sense though, if you just want to make good beer, don't worry about it at all.

 

[likwidbliss]

I have a programmable thermostat and it gets to 60 when I am not home and to 65 when I am home. Must save money. My brew are fine. I get worried with the higher temperatures in the summer.

 

[jmferris]

Do you have a closet with enough space? A linen closet or coat closet - basically a small space - would work best. If you shove some towels or a blanket under the crack of the door, you should be able to stabilize the temperature in there a bit. I am sure it will drop a bit, but probably not to the temperature of the rest of the house.

 

[the_bird]

Relax. First of all, an actively fermenting beer is going to be fermenting at anywhere from ~4° to upwards of 7° or 8° higher than your ambient temperature, depending on how active a fermentation you have going on (fermentation is an exothermic process).

Even without the heat from fermentation, a large mass of liquid is going to take quite a while to adjust to the ambient temp. I'd bet that the actual difference in the wort's temp over the course of the day is 3° or 4°, tops. It's fine.

 

[FrewBrew]

yeap, I think most of the others have hit the nail on the head. Insulate your fermenter, and keep it in a secluded area, and you should be good to go. I live in Northern DE, and have a setback thermostat, and my house varies by ~10 throughout the day. I keep the carboy in the basement, wrapped in a jacket and/or blankets, and I don't have any problems... same deal with the summer.