High Temp fermenting Options

[johnpreuss]

Ok I'm new to brewing(my second batch in bottle conditioning) but already know I have a problem w/ being able to keep my fermentation temps down. The real problem is that I live in an apartment that even with the AC on all day stays around 73 or so. Both batches that I have brewed have "That" taste to them that I have found to be caused by fermenting at too high of temp. I don't have a lot of room so the big tub full of water and frozen water bottles are kind of the last resort because I'm not sure I can sell my wife on it and I have yet to find a small fridge that will fit a carboy. I have been doing some reading though and see that some belgian strains are good up to 85. The last batch one day got up to 81 on me but stayed around 77-79 most of the 7 days in the primary. So I was thinking about brewing a Siason because I have read that you should ferment it in the upper 70s.

Am I on the right track??

I was thinking about going with either Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardness or Wyeast 3724 Belgian Saison.

Any feed back would be GREATLY appreciated.

This post has been edited by johnpreuss: Jul 2 2009, 12:17 PM

[jwjeep]

doing belgians is good for warm weather. I would still stay in the low 70s with most of the strains though. What I do, since I don't have a fermenting fridge or anything, is put the carboy in a big tub with a bunch of water in it. That works well to both cool and equalize temp swings. You can also wrap the carboy in a t-shirt or towel that has it's bottom in the water and top out. This will wick water up and the evaporation will cool the beer further. You can even direct a fan at this and cool even further. You can also float frozen water bottles in the water to cool everything off. I find that this is good for 10 degrees or so of cooling, give or take.

[kegglekop]

I have used Cry Havoc yeast up to 84F with no temp control and *after 2 weeks conditioning at 34F* was excellent!
Better use a blowoff tube tho!

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Ok I'm new to brewing(my second batch in bottle conditioning) but already know I have a problem w/ being able to keep my fermentation temps down. The real problem is that I live in an apartment that even with the AC on all day stays around 73 or so. Both batches that I have brewed have "That" taste to them that I have found to be caused by fermenting at too high of temp. I don't have a lot of room so the big tub full of water and frozen water bottles are kind of the last resort because I'm not sure I can sell my wife on it and I have yet to find a small fridge that will fit a carboy. I have been doing some reading though and see that some belgian strains are good up to 85. The last batch one day got up to 81 on me but stayed around 77-79 most of the 7 days in the primary. So I was thinking about brewing a Siason because I have read that you should ferment it in the upper 70s.

Am I on the right track??

I was thinking about going with either Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardness or Wyeast 3724 Belgian Saison.

Any feed back would be GREATLY appreciated.

[jayb151]

Also, *THEORETICAL BREWING* if you keep a yeast under a few pounds of pressure, then it will produce less off flavors. If you had an 8 foot PVC tube attached to your blowoff, I think It might keep enough pressure to minimize the off flavors...

strange, but I heard this on the Jamil show. *NOTE* Jamil does not endorse this method!

[jwjeep]

I do know people who pressure ferment in a cornie though. Never tried it myself however. All my kegs are tied up with beer for drinking usually. Better just to hit the proper temp range.

I've been meaning to try cry havoc, just haven't run into it in an LHBS as of yet.

[bennyvee]

doing belgians is good for warm weather. I would still stay in the low 70s with most of the strains though. What I do, since I don't have a fermenting fridge or anything, is put the carboy in a big tub with a bunch of water in it. That works well to both cool and equalize temp swings. You can also wrap the carboy in a t-shirt or towel that has it's bottom in the water and top out. This will wick water up and the evaporation will cool the beer further. You can even direct a fan at this and cool even further. You can also float frozen water bottles in the water to cool everything off. I find that this is good for 10 degrees or so of cooling, give or take.

I agree 100% with this method. However, I would add one more step: aquarium water pump with 5' vinyl tubing with holes cut in every 6" wrapped around carboy. Use this with the aforementioned cooling system (frozen 2 liter bottles of water in a half-full keg bucket with a fan, t-shirt on the carboy), and you are golden. I'm in Arizona, which is NOT brewer friendly in the summer. Using the keg bucket system you can droop 20 degrees if you are lucky. I brewed that way for 3 years until I got a fridge, which was the best brewing move I've made outside of going AG.

[sdeweese]

You are on the right track. Belgian yeasts are designed for higher temps but I think most would agree that primary should start at or below recommended temps and allowed to rise. The ice bucket, fan, wet towel thing would not be too much of a hassle for 3-5 days, then let room temp take over. Sanyo makes several dorm/apt models (I have an older model #sr4433s) that easily accommodates one carboy. Seems you've done the research and poised for many great brews ahead.

This post has been edited by sdeweese: Jul 2 2009, 06:02 PM

[gimmebeer]

The Belgians seem to be a good answer. Think about this, though: Do you have any use for wine??? I switched to wine last summer when I realized summer temps were too high for good for beer ferments. Turns out 75 is perfect for wine. Come September, you can switch back to beer.

Jim

[johnpreuss]

Ok, so it sounds like a belgian is a good idea and I should look into a sanyo fridge. My wife is SERIOUSLY not impressed by the ice bucket idea... well unless I can fit it in the closet. (IMG:style_emoticons/brewboard/smile.gif)

As for the Havoc yeast. I have the Complete Joy of Homebrewing and I don't remember anything about it. What style is the yeast? I've seen it in the Northern Brewer catalogue but didn't know what it would be good to brew with.

[johnpreuss]

I have used Cry Havoc yeast up to 84F with no temp control and *after 2 weeks conditioning at 34F* was excellent!
Better use a blowoff tube tho!

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When you say conditioning are you saying put the secondary in a big cooler or are you bottle conditioning for two weeks?