Winter fermenting

[blackbear219]

Well, this is my first winter as a brewer and my first winter in our new house, so I'm still trying to figure out where I am going to do my fermenting. It's going to be somewhere between 0-30F here for a few months before I know it. There was a good frost this morning. I've been fermenting in my basement and I checked my swamp cooler and the water is at 58F...getting down there, hopefully it doesn't stall my stout!!!

So, I'm trying to figure out what my options here are. I can get an aquarium heater, but I don't have an extra spare temp controller (and would rather find a cheaper solution) so I'd have to make sure it didn't overheat.

I might just end up doing a lot of lagers. What happens if you ferment an ale recipe with lager yeast?

Any input on what you guys do to counteract the winter cold in your fermentation area is welcome!

 

[Hang Glider]

I switch my fermentation temp controller from cool to heat...and plug in my aquarium heater.



okay, so that's no help to you...

 

[stevo155]

The aquarium heater is a good idea and was what I used before I got a chest freezer and temp controller. It won't heat the water so fast that you will not be able to monitor it. The fermentation is going to help keep the temp up a little as well.

Lagers is also a good solution.

P.S. If you basement is this cold already, you may want to think about some insulation. I don't think mine gets below 50 F even during the coldest part of winter.

 

[blackbear219]

Well, my swamp cooler water was at 60F and it went down to about 25F overnight last night...so the fact that the water in my swamp cooler went down a couple degrees isn't THAT surprising. I didn't realize it was going to get that cold last night.

Apparently now it is supposed to be in the 70s through the weekend, lol.

I will give the aquarium heater a try.

 

[Yooper]

A water bath around the fermenter helps alot as it takes a long time for 10 gallons of liquid to change temperature. I also keep my fermenter up off of the floor (unless I'm making a lager!) and I have frozen water bottles available if the water bath gets too warm, and an aquarium heater if it gets too cold!

Usually, I ferment my ales at 62-64 degrees so my basement is perfect except for the coldest months when my basement is in the low 50s. When it's in the low 50s in the basement, though, it's in the high 50s in my laundry room- perfect for California common! When it's in the high 50s in there, my dining room is about 62 degrees. So, I always have a place to keep a fermenter with a little thought!

 

[blackbear219]

A water bath around the fermenter helps alot as it takes a long time for 10 gallons of liquid to change temperature. I also keep my fermenter up off of the floor (unless I'm making a lager!) and I have frozen water bottles available if the water bath gets too warm, and an aquarium heater if it gets too cold!

Usually, I ferment my ales at 62-64 degrees so my basement is perfect except for the coldest months when my basement is in the low 50s. When it's in the low 50s in the basement, though, it's in the high 50s in my laundry room- perfect for California common! When it's in the high 50s in there, my dining room is about 62 degrees. So, I always have a place to keep a fermenter with a little thought!

The spot I have now is perfect in terms of location. On pallets under the basement stairs. I'd love to keep everything there but since it's our first winter in the house, I just have no idea what the temp is going to get to down there.

Given the fact that we run a pellet stove on the first floor, and won't be using the oil furnace in the basement that much, that will probably result in even cooler temps down there than if we were heating with oil.

I will try to combat it with the aquarium heater, but if that isn't enough I'm going to have to move my fermentors upstairs, I guess. Of course, I have a baby girl that is going to start walking soon...I can just picture her pulling off airlocks already

 

[william_shakes_beer]

Before I got my ferm chamber, I put the fermenter in a tupperware tub of water, dropped in an aquarium heater set to the desire temp and put the whole thing in the extra shower stall in the basement. You want to get the fluid containers off the concrete floor, as it will suck the heat right out of it.

 

[IffyG]

I also keep my fermenter up off of the floor (unless I'm making a lager!)

This is a very important note. When I was still using a swamp cooler, I put my bucket in the water bath in the basement and didn't think about it for a few days, went downstairs and the water bath that was city on the concrete basement floor had dropped to about 48* and put the yeast to sleep. The good news is, if you have this problem give the bucket/carboy a gentle swirl and move it to a warmer spot and you are good to go.

 

[Skarekrough]

Keeping it off of the cold floor will help. I've been known to put it on top of a milk crate just to get it off of there. I'll also use a brew belt to crank things up a bit in the beginning until I'm certain the yeast have a solid foothold.

If you have the resources something like a chest freezer with a temp controller that's adjustable to either heat or chill would be a good addition to your setup.