Colder than a brass toilet seat

[FedoraDave]

We've had a run of really frigid weather in my neck of the woods this week. My basement (aka fermenting chamber) has been getting colder and colder by the day, and I've been checking the batch I brewed on Sunday every morning and evening. The temp strip was reading in the low 60s, and I could see yeast churning slowly. I had a healthy krausen, so I wasn't worried. But yesterday the temperature outside was in the teens, with wind chills dropping it even lower, and the temp strip read around 58, and it looked like things were sort of in suspended animation.

I'm wondering if I should bring the carboy upstairs and put it in the beer closet, just to make sure the yeast can finish the job. I have no idea how long this cold spell is going to last.

Thoughts?

[zorak1066]

cant you put fermenter on a heating pad.. plug the heating pad into a Johnson control thingy...set it for desired ambient temp.. insert or tape sensor to fermenter? any time fermenter temp drops heating pad will come on and warm it?


you could put fermenter in a water bath with an aquarium heater. hook that up to a Johnson control thing with a sensor in the water bath. have the water level match the beer level in the fermenter...

or just move it up to a warmer clime.

[FedoraDave]

Frankly, I think it would just be easier to schlep it upstairs. Which I think I'll do before I leave for work this morning.

[Dawg LB Steve]

Have three pails fermenting in my taproom/computer room right now Have the t/stat set for 68 in the house, this room stays about 66 or so on that setting and the temp strips are all staying at 64/65, high krausen was around 68, 1 has S-04 the other two have BRY-97 yeast.

[John Sand]

I move mine around. On the basement floor is coolest, then on a table, then next to the heater, then in the kitchen next to the baseboard. That gives me range of 58-68. I just found a new spot: the spare room attic is 41. Cold Crash!

[RickBeer]

Right. Difference between the floor and a table, or shelf, can be a few degrees. Mashani used to talk about his shelving where they moved things up or down as needed.

http://beerborg.com/forum/viewtopic.php ... ture#p7856

Basement on a bookshelf in a corner. It has 4 shelves, with a temperature gradient of about 8 degrees from top to bottom, more in the winter. I just pick the shelf that has the temps closest to what I want for any given beer, and then move the keg around if I want to raise or lower the temps later.

Low tech, but it works, and I just brew beers that are appropriate for my seasonal temperature. Which is fine for me since I like all types of beer.

[Chuck N]

King Of Cheap here...

I've told you all about my "fermentation chamber". Just a bead-board box that I made to fit over my five gallon bucket fermenter. Well the temps around here get down-right chilly - 7 below zero when I a woke this morning. So I had gone to one of the Home Improvement stores and bought a desk-top accent lamp. It looks just like a fancy soup can that holds a light bulb. I put it in the box, plug it into a one of those timer things and then I can adjust the times that the light comes on and the length of time that it's on. I just checked this morning. The ambient temp in my cellar is fifty two degrees. The temp inside the fermentation chamber is a toasty 64. I have the fifteen watt bulb set to go on for an hour and then off for three. As the temps raise (I still have faith that they will eventually) I will cut back on the "on" time for the bulb.

[John Sand]

Chuck, I love that idea.

[DaYooper]

But yesterday the temperature outside was in the teens, with wind chills dropping it even lower, and the temp strip read around 58, and it looked like things were sort of in suspended animation.

Jealous of that balmy weather you are having there Dave....

[alb]

King Of Cheap here...

I've told you all about my "fermentation chamber". Just a bead-board box that I made to fit over my five gallon bucket fermenter. Well the temps around here get down-right chilly - 7 below zero when I a woke this morning. So I had gone to one of the Home Improvement stores and bought a desk-top accent lamp. It looks just like a fancy soup can that holds a light bulb. I put it in the box, plug it into a one of those timer things and then I can adjust the times that the light comes on and the length of time that it's on. I just checked this morning. The ambient temp in my cellar is fifty two degrees. The temp inside the fermentation chamber is a toasty 64. I have the fifteen watt bulb set to go on for an hour and then off for three. As the temps raise (I still have faith that they will eventually) I will cut back on the "on" time for the bulb.

That’s just how my Suzy Bake oven worked when I was a wee girl.

[Kealia]

This is exactly why I started using a fermentation chamber 2 years ago and why I've recently decided to purchase the STC-1000 + Fermwrap to further control things. I got sick of monitoring and shuffling carboys to and fro.
(Separate discussion going on in the Advanced Techniques section about this)

We've had very cold weather in California the latter part of last week (yes, seriously). It was roughly 28 when I'd get up and only hit highs of 42 - which is COLD out here

Of course, this week it's 70 again. Still need more rain.

[zorak1066]

my latest wlp400 wit hit 57 today... guess it's time to do the water bath / aquarium heater thing since the whole house is continually kept cold.

[FedoraDave]

Usually it's not this cold in my basement, and in the winter I can expect my beer temperatures to be in the low-mid 60s. Therefore, I don't really feel the need to buy or construct any kind of temperature control device. Fortunately, the only other batch I've got fermenting is the PacTiki Pale Ale, which I'm bottling today. And I just left it down there, figuring it was like a cold crash for the final three or four days. Ain't gonna hurt it none.

The carboy that I moved was still working on primary fermentation, though, so I figured it needed a warmer environment.

[Chuck N]

King Of Cheap here...

I've told you all about my "fermentation chamber". Just a bead-board box that I made to fit over my five gallon bucket fermenter. Well the temps around here get down-right chilly - 7 below zero when I a woke this morning. So I had gone to one of the Home Improvement stores and bought a desk-top accent lamp. It looks just like a fancy soup can that holds a light bulb. I put it in the box, plug it into a one of those timer things and then I can adjust the times that the light comes on and the length of time that it's on. I just checked this morning. The ambient temp in my cellar is fifty two degrees. The temp inside the fermentation chamber is a toasty 64. I have the fifteen watt bulb set to go on for an hour and then off for three. As the temps raise (I still have faith that they will eventually) I will cut back on the "on" time for the bulb.

That’s just how my Suzy Bake oven worked when I was a wee girl.

Yeah. Mine too!

[mashani]

my latest wlp400 wit hit 57 today... guess it's time to do the water bath / aquarium heater thing since the whole house is continually kept cold.

I'm cold too... So I'm brewing lagers. Next up is going to be a 5 gallon batch of Maibock.