Temperature

[semp_vector]

Hey I'm new to the forum and have got all the equipment for homebrewing. One problem arose before I have even attempted, the temperature range stated on my brew tin says 18-25C, our temperature in my area has been going well below 18 (lowest 7C). My house does not insulate very well. Will this effect the brewing process as I have no experience at homebrewing. If it means anything the Kit Tin is Fosters.

 

[wildschwein]

If your airlock is bubbling the brew is fermenting. If it stops it's too cold.

Even though most kits recommend the temp range 18-25C you're better off sticking to the lower end of the range, even as low as 16C. You'll get a better product, although it will take longer to finish fermentation. Don't worry too much about the ambient or outside temperatures they don't necassarily reflect the temperature of your brew. I leave my fermenter outside in a partially exposed laundry and temp falls below 10C most nights but my brew stays between 12C and 16C. I think the fermentation process actually generates some warmth. I'm sure others here will have more detailed advice for you. Brew on.

 

[chris.taylor.98]

An easy and pain free way to control temperature during the cooler months is to use an aquarium heater in some sort of tub filled with water that you can stand your fermenter in.

Even better is an immersion heater ( which is just an aquarium heater with a bung around the cord that dangles into the fermenter). I know some of the guys have made them. My home brew shop sells them for about $45.

 

[semp_vector]

Unfortunently I don't have alot of spare money at the moment. Will an old fridge which doesnt work be good enough to insulate?

 

[chris.taylor.98]

An old fridge is good.

An old fridge with a 40W light bulb on a timer is even better

 

[Enerjex]

our outside temps are falling way below 10 at the moment overnight, i had a lager in the garage in these conditions and it sat around the 13 degrees mark. i have 2 brews using ale yeast inside the house that are happily sitting at 18, we have central heating but it's not on at night and the house gets freezing. try keeping it indoors and if you have a central heating you'll be right, or if you have any room with a heater keep it in that room.

 

[semp_vector]

No heating unfortunently.

 

[Rysa]

Not much good for the current brew but for your next few could maybe get lager yeasts from a home brew shop as they brew around 10C.
At only roughly $4 a pack to guarantee that your next few brews won't stall it might be worth investing a small amount.
Just a thought.

 

[semp_vector]

I live in a small town which basically we only have the tin kits. The odds are stacked up against me lol.

 

[Rysa]

Bugger, that's not good. Great hobby to get into, i'm hooked as.
Ross at craftbrewer delivers over the net. Just need net banking if you don't have a credit card.
Adding hops and a temperature suitable yeast makes a heap of difference.

http://craftbrewer.com.au/index.php?option...ge&Itemid=1

 

[brettprevans]

No heating unfortunently.

buy yourself a heat pad or heating band. Band s are cheaper but you dont get as much heat out of them (which can be a good or a bad thing depending on your climate). I have a heat mat and a pair of old fake sheepskin carseat covers. I wrap the carseat covers around the fermentor and turn on the heatmat for a couple of hours then turn it off. repeat process during really cold weather. works for me.

Otherwise as suggested, use a yeast that is suitable for cold temperatures ie Safale (S-04) works roughly from about 12C-120C. Saflagar (s-23) works quite well around 10C or less.

have a look at the wiki threads on new to brewing (link) and yeast.

if you brew your ales and lagars in cold wather then you dont really have to worry about it getting cold. brew your stouts etc in summer as they like the heat. that's the easist way without having to worry about temperature controls.

 

[paterson2929]

In Perth my inside Temp of fermenter never falls below 20 C for a Brew ,I still have to refrigerate to use a Lager Yeast

 

[semp_vector]

The temperature seems to be 20 inside the fermenter according to the temp gauge.

 

[mika]

20deg is good. Inside fridge also good, though watch the temp, it's pretty cold here at the mo, but the fridge still fires to maintain 20deg with a brew in it. As someone mentioned, the brew is exothermic (gives off heat), the ambient air temperature is not a 100% indication of the actual beer temp.
Light globe in the fridge would work, if your fermentor was the same as your coopers PET bottles. Light is bad for your beer, been arguments, experiments and all the rest and AFAIK the answer is still to avoid light. Get a heater belt or put the light globe under a claypot or something like that.

Good Luck !

 

[reVoxAHB]

FWIW, the single best thing I ever did to improve the quality of my beers being produced, was to temperature control the fermentation. It's definitely worth your time (or small investment in gear- say a timer or FridgeMate) to do this. Seems like mika_lika nailed it. Search for light striking of beer or FridgeMate or heating brews in winter. I've had better luck using google lately (instead of the search box on AHB), which matches AHB threads and links me back to the forums. go figure!
reVox

 

[capretta]

i am jealous of your cooler temps! even though it gets as low as 9 deg outside here the maximum temp of 18 or so degrees means i cant even ferment ales outside\in the house cause they get too hot. ie >22+ degrees. so i have to keep the fermenter in an old fridge on a $4 timer that switches it on at 3x30 minute intervals over the day. keeps the fridge at a steady 18-19 degrees. perfect for ales and i just bump up the interval times for lagers. if your fermenter reads 20 degrees i wouldnt change a thing though!

 

[griffo17]

Hey Brendon,

Welcome aboard the addictive world of home brewing.

I'm a newbie as well and are currently using the fish tank heating method and it seems to be working fine.
The total outlay as about $20, the heater was $14 from Kmart and the big tub was about $6 from Bunnings.

I think it's worth spending that bit extra to get a nice brew because it would be really bad to have 30 long necks of crap beer that no one wants to drink!

Just my 2 cetns.

Good luck

Cheers & Beers

Griffo

 

[Fatgodzilla]

I have an old freezer that doesn't work in my garage that I put fermenter in. Has kept temps at constant 16 degrees all June so far even though outside / room temperatures much lower. Might be worth a try if you have room. Will take longer to ferment using kit yeasts so get your patience levels up and assuming you have that thingy you get with new kits, take your SG levels. Don't forgrt that at lower temps, after bottling it will take longer for secondary fermenting / bottle conditioning. Beer might seem flat at first if you can't find a warm spot straight after bottling for a few days but wait till summer and you might find them much much more lively. Find someone who has had a water bed and see if you can get an old water bed heater.

 

[semp_vector]

My homebrew has been going well at 18C since last saturday but now the temperature has dropped to 12C currently. I have it a box with a lamp on it. What can I do to keep it warm? We don't have an local hombrewers. The spare fridge we have smells bad as it hasn't been used, will that effect the beer? Thanks in advance Brendon. Final gravity is about 1020.

 

[matti]

Wrap it up an insulate.
Clean your bloody fridge out and use it for brewing buddy.
By a $2 dollar thermometer and a $1 writing pad and keep al og on your temps daily.
Try to keep the beer at above 16 but no higher then 20 with kit yeasts.
If it stops and wont go, warm it up and rock the fermenter a little bit to wake up the yeasties.
Fg 1.020 too high for kit.
Expect some thing around 1.008 as final gravity.

Yeast brewed at colder temperature produce better beer but take forever to finnish.