BeerBorg

I brewed a batch of FedoraDave's American Ale on Sunday. I figured it would be cool enough for the basement to be in the mid-high 60s, but we had a bit of a heat wave early in the week, and the temp strip showed a wort temperature of around 77 or so. Slightly high for this yeast, which has an optimum range that tops out around 73.

Obviously, nothing died. Had good, robust krausen, and things were churning away in there. It'll be beer. Maybe not the best batch of this recipe I've ever made, but it won't suck, either, and it's good to get back into the swing of regular brewing.

But I'm ready for the cooler weather, and so is my beer.

While I have nothing fermenting, I sympathize. The middle of August was like September, now it's hot again. My basement warmed back up.

Mine's at 70, waiting for it to drop. Bottled Labor Day weekend from the in-law's freezer, haven't brought it home so cannot brew. Nightime temps projected to be in the 50s then 40s in the next 2 weeks, with daytime highs in the 70s, so I expected that within two weeks we'll be back to the mid 60s in the basement.

Hmm... The funny thing about my basement is that it's cooler in the summer than it is in the winter... About 60 in the summer, and 65 in the winter... Why you ask? A/C vs. heat - the blower is in the basement, so it leaks cold/hot air through the basement vents (even if I close them all).

Russki, check the duct work leading to your basement vents. You should find a damper you can turn, somewhere working back from vent(s) to the furnace, that blocks nearly all the air. If not, you can remove the vent and screw on a sheet of aluminum and make it airtight.

We actually have the basement off and 1/2 the top floor off due to empty bedrooms, leaving vents open in the bathrooms (winter) to keep the pipes warm.

My basement is always the coldest right now at the new place. Of course the bedroom is the hottest.....bow chica bow wow! Actually because its on the 3rd floor. Townhouse with 3 levels. All the cold air sinks to the basement. I have my fermentation area, the 4th bathroom in the place (people in virginia pee a lot), clocked at 64 degrees right now. All the AC vents are closed in the basement too. Tried getting some of the cold air to flow up!

RickBeer wrote:Russki, check the duct work leading to your basement vents. You should find a damper you can turn, somewhere working back from vent(s) to the furnace, that blocks nearly all the air. If not, you can remove the vent and screw on a sheet of aluminum and make it airtight.

We actually have the basement off and 1/2 the top floor off due to empty bedrooms, leaving vents open in the bathrooms (winter) to keep the pipes warm.

The vent in question (the one in the storage room where I ferment) is right off the main duct that carries air to other parts of the house, so no dampers on that one. I know I can always just block the vent, but it's not really been an issue - just a curious fact about my basement...

When we moved in our house (2nd owner, first owner was here 2 1/2 years) we found the airflow lacking in some areas. I pulled off vents and went looking and found chunks of plasterboard, soda cans, and vents not connected properly... Make sure you follow the ducts wherever you can and check for airflow wherever you can, including if necessary disconnecting things to look inside. It's often worth your trouble.

I work hard to keep things cool all year long and just got a freezer to use as a fermenting chamber. I'm hopefully done with fusel and over estery beers. When the yeast get really going, it's very hard to keep the temps from spiking for that short period of time when off flavors can develop.
We won't get cooler weather to mid November.
You guys enjoy the snow.

FedoraDave wrote:I brewed a batch of FedoraDave's American Ale on Sunday. I figured it would be cool enough for the basement to be in the mid-high 60s, but we had a bit of a heat wave early in the week, and the temp strip showed a wort temperature of around 77 or so. Slightly high for this yeast, which has an optimum range that tops out around 73.

Obviously, nothing died. Had good, robust krausen, and things were churning away in there. It'll be beer. Maybe not the best batch of this recipe I've ever made, but it won't suck, either, and it's good to get back into the swing of regular brewing.

But I'm ready for the cooler weather, and so is my beer.

Same thing happened with my APA, and it was heavy on the fusels right out of the fermenter, so you may experience some fusels as well. Warm conditioned for a month and now about 6 weeks in kegerator I barely notice it. No one else can tell at this point, I'm just a bit overly critical. RDWHAHB

I am also having a beetch of a time due to the heatwave. As mentioned in other threads, my dorm fridge died just before brew day last weekend, so I've got my wet-hop harvest IPA fermenting (with 8g of Coopers Fromunda yeast) in a picnic cooler with rotating ice packs. But I'm getting some significant temp swings as a result. The thermometer strip on the LBK has ranged from 58 to 70 during primary fermentation, and everywhere in between. Sometimes the variation has been as much as 5 degrees a day. I'm a little concerned about the effect this will have on the finished beer. Luckily, it's an IPA this time, so the pronounced hop character should help "cover up" some of the imperfections that might result. But for future batches, that won't necessarily be the case.

I've gotten spoiled by my fridge/controller, where I can set the temp to, say, 63, and it stays there for the duration. This swapping ice packs and dealing with ambient temp swings is for the birds. Gotta expedite my fridge/freezer search.

First world problems!

Basement in the summer is around 68 at the floor, last 2 brews I put the Ale Pails in an 18 G. tote emptied one small bag of ice and covered with a towel, got down to 63-64 degrees, fill one pitcher in the afternoon for the first 3 or 4 days with ice from the ice maker in the freezer and dump into the tote with the water and it maintains the temp right around 67-68. Once the heavy fermentation activity subsides it settles out 67-68 degrees without adding any more ice.

FedoraDave wrote:I figured it would be cool enough for the basement to be in the mid-high 60s...<snip>

What is this thing?

Kealia wrote:

FedoraDave wrote:I figured it would be cool enough for the basement to be in the mid-high 60s...<snip>

What is this thing?

I'm with Him^^^^ what's the point of having a giant hole under your house if the temps aren't even reliable enough to brew in?

I guess it is an East/West (culture???) thing but I so totally don't get basements.

Not trying to go off topic here since you guys that have are brewing there and I may end up doing the same.

Are you just setting the fermenters on a shelf and relying on the temps to be stable?

Dave - for your beer if optimal is 73 and you got 77 (not knowing what yeast) wouldn't just bring the temp back up prior to cold crashing clean up any potential problems?

Kealia wrote:

FedoraDave wrote:I figured it would be cool enough for the basement to be in the mid-high 60s...<snip>

What is this thing?

It's where one goes to wait out tornadoes. And the washer/dryer is there, and the out-of-season clothes, and the keezer, and the sauna. Actually, where I grew up it was a "cellar." And a couch was a davenport, and stair rails were bannisters. Thanks, now I feel old.