What To Go For In The Tropics

[brotom7]

Haven't brewed for 20 years but just made my first batch on Saturday.

With the heat and not being able (allowed) to ferment in a room with AC I put the fermenter inside a cardboard box, rapped a wet towel and 4-5 750ml frozen bottles that gets replaced every 4-5 hours to get a reasonable fermentation temperature. I was hoping for 18-20C but after a day and a half it seems like my setup settles at 24C and going to work tomorrow I won't be able to switch bottles during the day so it might come up a little more.
I'll see how it all comes out but was thinking I should probably aim for a beer that ferments well at around 25C and then follow the season with appropriate beer type as the temperature comes down. Not that it ever gets lager cool in north queensland but... one can't win over the heat up here, it's better to adjust to it.
Any suggestions for beers/yeast liking high temp fermentation is welcome.

 

[kook]

Saison yeast.

WYeast 3524, Whitelabs 565.

It will happy work away at 30, infact it prefers those temps.

 

[FNQ Bunyip]

Brotom, fill in your location and others close to you might be able too assist more...

I've not tried the yeasts that Kook sugested , but its interesting..

next step fermentation fridge with a mash marstr controler..

good luck with it , good too see your somewhere in the north...

cheers

 

[Tim F]

I got a cardboard box big enough to fit a fermenter in, and lined it with cut up slabs of polystyrene from fruit crates. Used silicon to attach it and give a squirt to any cracks or gaps. I also hung a piece cut from a supermarket cool bag inside the opening to give a better seal. This gets through 2L of ice per day and stays between 15-20, even when it's got up to 35 in the spare room. Now I can have a second batch going when my fermentation fridge is full
Might work for you too!

 

[brotom7]

Cheers for the advices,

I guess I have two options.
Either brew Belgian or build a better cooling box.

I'm pretty sure I will do both, first a belgian to give me some time to build a good box.

 

[KGB]

I use a dodgy old bar fridge I got for free with a fridgemate controller. Ferment at pretty much whatever temp you like, all year! No effort either like trying to change ice blocks and keep towels wet.

 

[brotom7]

I would really like to go for a fridge and I'm sure one can pick up a used one for very little to nothing.
But it's a space issue as well and the other half doesn't really see the benefit in it yet.
However, I did pick up a 100 can cooler bag at anaconda today for $25 and it seems to insulate a bit better then the original cardboard box as the temp is down at 20-21C now, though it might be that fermentation is slowing down as well.

I just hope it will taste better than the beer I made 20 years ago, all the info on the forum makes me quite confident about that, I realize mistake after mistake from back then while reading around here. Not sure how it was possible to live before internet .

 

[KGB]

Anaconda you say? I might check it out down here and see how those 100 can coolers go for sitting a party keg in.

 

[brettprevans]

anaconda has them and they are great (I have 1). I also saw almost the exact same thing in supercheapauto. its meant for sticking your boat motor in and flushing the salt water out. Its 125L so its big enough for a fermentor or party keg. it was only about $25 from memory

 

[brotom7]

$25 if you become an Anaconda club member, otherwise $50 (a bit deer I think for what it is). I guess they want your address to send some advertising, I don't mind Anaconda advertising but just give them a bogus address if you do.

I'm very happy with it after a few days use, it dropped down to 18C and I think it would have continued down a bit more so I stepped down a little on how often and how many frozen bottles I put in. Three 750ml at 8AM and now at 4PM they still had some ice in them.
I'm getting a second tomorrow so I can use for secondary and put another batch on fermentation.

 

[solidghost]

Blow a fan at the fermenter without the cardboard box and see what kind of temps it can get. In Singapore, I can get about 22 if left in a storeroom away from any sunlight or heat source.

Or you can just use a foam box and put the fermenter in it and cover it. Add ice packs to cool it. I got 13 degrees before, just change the ice packs every 12 hours (but you need a lot of ice packs).

 

[The Big Burper]

I just hope it will taste better than the beer I made 20 years ago, all the info on the forum makes me quite confident about that, I realize mistake after mistake from back then while reading around here. Not sure how it was possible to live before internet .

Hi B7,

I'm a re-starter as well. I think the biggest mistake with our early brews was using good ole cane sugar instead of dextrose.

I used to brew Coopers beers, as I found their yeasts quite reliable at my outback brewing temperatures of around 30dC. I used to get worried if it got over 30, but never had a "bad" batch, although some were more fruity than others. Coopers Real Ale became the beer of choice.

I'm living on the coast now, so the temperatures don't fluctuate as much. I still like my
ales, and have taken a note of Marston's Pedigree Bitter, a good pommie descendant of the original IPA, although a bit less hoppy. Anyway Marstons use a recipe that says Malt 83% and dextrose 17%. This will need the addition of an extra kilo of dried malt or 1.5 kg of liquid malt, as well as the tin of Coopers Bitter or Real Ale and about 450g of dextrose.

See how we go, have just put this one down.

cheers,
Dave