too risky to put down a brew

[squirrell]

i havent put a down a brew since November, basically the last time it wasnt hot. I dont have temperature control and am looking ahead to melbourn'es forecast with a 30 and 34 on Monday / Tuesday. I can put the brew inside but can still expect an ambient temperature of 26 inside. I could try the wet towell and bath trick but this is limited in effectiveness. I'm looking to brew the Thomas Coopers Draught (but do have Saflager 05 if this is more tolerant). The kit does say you can go up to 31 degrees (pref range 21 to 27) but everyone seems to recommend below 20 degs.

... so basically, should i wait till the hot weather passes? dont want a fruity brew so happy to wait.

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

If you're happy to wait, just wait :beer:

 

[cremmerson]

I've been working through this same problem. Solutions so far:

Brewing a Saison with Farmhouse Ale year (Wyeast 3726, 3724) and pilsner. The yeast loves temperatures around 30C, so an excellent opportunity.

I put down an American Ale (light and wheat LME, US05) during a cooler stretch - FV in a tray in the shed, covered with a wet towel, water around the base and frozen blocks replaced daily - and kept the temperature around 8C lower than ambient. It's a sensational beer that will be bottled tonight or tomorrow.

There are solutions!

 

[fletcher]

the only thing you could realistically brew in such hot temps is a saison. other yeasts simply aren't that tasty at such high temps.

 

[sponge]

As others have said, throw some saison yeast at a pilsner kit or something like that.

Let it do it's thing in this glorious heat.

Otherwise do the old fermenter in cool water bath to maintain temps trick. That was my go-to 'temperature controller' (along with many other brewers) before bringing in a fridge to do the dirty work.

 

[carpedaym]

If you go with a pale ale, wait it out. Remember it's the first 2-3 days which make the most difference to ester production. If you can pitch at the right temperature and be confident the next 48 hours are going to stay within the yeast's sweet spot, then your beer will be better for it.

Water baths are probably a good idea anyway just to reduce temperature fluctuations.

 

[Drewski]

i havent put a down a brew since November, basically the last time it wasnt hot. I dont have temperature control and am looking ahead to melbourn'es forecast with a 30 and 34 on Monday / Tuesday. I can put the brew inside but can still expect an ambient temperature of 26 inside. I could try the wet towell and bath trick but this is limited in effectiveness. I'm looking to brew the Thomas Coopers Draught (but do have Saflager 05 if this is more tolerant). The kit does say you can go up to 31 degrees (pref range 21 to 27) but everyone seems to recommend below 20 degs.

... so basically, should i wait till the hot weather passes? dont want a fruity brew so happy to wait.

I assume by saflager 05 you mean safale US05? As the true lager yeasts you dont want to go over 15c ideally 12c. In any case the coopers yeast is actually more tolerant to higher temps, but at 26 ambient your looking at the beer sitting a few degrees above that. I would not go ahead with it, wait for the last few hot days to be over rather than bugger with water bath for it.

 

[wavemaker]

I hear your pain mate. I live 3 hours north of Brisbane and I can't be waiting for the weather to change. If you have space do this. I can fit 6 fermenters in this baby and hold temps at where ever I want with the aid of a remote thermometer sender and frozen bottles of water.

 

[maxim0200]

I use a wet towel with a fan on an stc-1000 I've pulled a 28 deg brew down to 20 in about 20 hours. If you keep the towle damp itl keep cooling it down.

I don't know how cool it will go though, but this method was used for early refridgeration.

 

[squirrell]

well i could not be bothered waiting again despite another coulpe of 30 degree days coming up on Sunday / Monday. Put a brew in Thursday night, so hopefully most fermenting done by Sunday - its already sitting in a bath with tea towells on top, will add ice blocks on sunday/monday.

 

[Yob]

Letting it warm up a bit after a few days is not a problem, don't be too worried mate

 

[wereprawn]

Up here it hovers a couple of degrees either side of 30 for half the year . I don't have room for a fermenting fridge (coz my big tap fridge takes up too much space ) .When it is ...say...32c I can keep my brew at 20c using bottles of frozen water no probs. Just keep it cool for 4-5 days, then leave it in the water to slowly up the temp.