New Brunswick Craft Brewers Association
Brewing => Technique => Topic started by: Alain2 on December 01, 2015, 03:24:02 PM
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My beer is fermenting in my unfinished basement (insulated) because it has lots of room and it is pitch black, but the temperature is around 17c. I put the fermenting gallon 1 inch from my water heater and it gets around 18c so far, but I do not want to leave the gallon there because it is not conveniently placed.
I could ferment in a closet at the main level, but again the temperature is 16c during day and 18c at night.
What is my best option here, should I build some kind of temperature controlled closet? What is your setup?
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I have a controlled chamber and set it for 16 degrees (60.8f). The yeast activity within the beer will drive that temperature up a couple degrees. You really want to stay under 21 (69.8f) if you can to avoid sharp "fusel alcohols".
So the basement sounds great, but move it away from the water heater
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For control, most people need to worry about keeping temperature down. Common set ups use a fridge or freezer with an external temperature controller such as this one: https://www.everwoodavebrewshop.com/product/inkbird-itc-308-temperature-controller/
I have a deep freezer that doubles as a fermentation chamber and serving kegerator since I'm tight on space. When I make a batch of beer (usually on Sunday) I'll put the carboy in the freezer and set at the preferred temperature. Usually on Thursday I'll be thirsty and pull out the carboy and set the temp back down to serving temps. The most important time to control temps is in the first few days so this works for me.
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I still don't have a fermentation chamber. I have my carboys in a cool room. It generally is around 18C. If I'm worried about a fermentation raising the temp too high I put the carboy in a laundry sink with cool water.
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Far from ideal but best I can do for right now.
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My beer is fermenting in my unfinished basement (insulated) because it has lots of room and it is pitch black, but the temperature is around 17c. I put the fermenting gallon 1 inch from my water heater and it gets around 18c so far, but I do not want to leave the gallon there because it is not conveniently placed.
I could ferment in a closet at the main level, but again the temperature is 16c during day and 18c at night.
What is my best option here, should I build some kind of temperature controlled closet? What is your setup?
@Alain2 (http://nbcba.org/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=2146) Not sure what your yeast strain is but 17c is probably fine. Keep in mind that it's a couple of degrees warmer inside your fermenter.
Fermenting temperature is one of the more important things but it sounds like you have a decent environment for now.
If anyone wants to chime in go ahead.
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Hey Guys,
I also use a fermentation chamber and take both liquid (in the fermenter) and air temp. Like previously mentioned, fermenting beer is 2-3 degrees warmer than the ambient air temp. So assume if the room is 18C that full fermentation will be 20-21C...
I usually ferment at 16-18C (depending on the yeast), and the ambient temp is as low as 14C and upwards of 16C.
Hope that helps.