Fermenting in Arizona
Greetings all,
New transplant brewer from Maine, and new ASH member checking in with his first post.
I have a fermentation question for you all.
With living in a rental here in Mesa while I am searching for a house, I a finding that keeping temps in the 60-70 degree range a bit harder than when I was in Maine.
Right now I have my brews sitting in a "swamp cooler" sitting in the shower in the spare bathroom.
However, even that keeps the temps close to 72 degrees. Other ideas that you all do for summer fermenting?
I realize that in a few months it will be a bit easier...
Love to hear what you all do to compensate for the heat.
Tags: cooler, fermentation, fermenting, swamp
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Andrew Bauman on -
From the looks of your fancy valve avatar, you're way ahead of me... ;)
I bought a freezer for $50 off of Craigslist and use an external temperature controller to maintain fermentation temps.
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Permalink Reply by Jay Baack on -
Heh.. that is a new purchase, waiting for the temps in the garage to drop about 20 degrees before I use it.
I was thinking that the freezer was going to be the route that I will need to take.
And, let's be honest.. when is another freezer NOT a good idea? ;-)
Thanks
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Permalink Reply by Andrew Bauman on
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My fancy schmantzy ETC build.
http://club.azhomebrewers.org/forum/topics/etc-self-build
Not to brag, but- it's frickin' sweet
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Permalink Reply by Ken Saxe on -
OK, Carboy in shower...put a T-shirt over it, keep the T-Shirt wet and use a fan to blow air on it or better yet spend $5 on some cooler pad and wrap that around your carboy, plug your shower drain and keep around 4" of water in the base then use a $10 pump to recirculate water over the cooler pad, use the fan too. If you are around 78 degrees ambient air temp the beer should be about 68 degrees using this method.
Once you get out of the apartment and into a house invest in a used frige or freezer and use a Johnson Controller. Proper and consistant fermentation temps are key to a good beer.
BTW, I can help you find a house when your ready:)
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Competition CommitteePermalink Reply by Barry Weeg on -
This is pretty much the setup Ken is talking about except with a t-shirt instead of cooler pads. The pump is a fountain pump that lead to a bubbler hose that you usually use in a garden planter. The white bag is an ice pack that I would change out twice a day to keep the water even colder. You can't see it, but there is a fan sitting on the counter blowing over the whole apparatus. I could get it down to just under 60 degrees with an ambient air temperature that would fluctuate between 76 and 80. The full bathtub had the added advantage of regulating temperature swings. In the winter I could easily get down to lager temps. However, I use a freezer now.
If you like this, you should see my setup for chilling my wort. ;)
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Permalink Reply by Andrew Bauman on
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Oh, you're TOTALLY bringin' sexy back.
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Competition CommitteePermalink Reply by Barry Weeg on -
Ghetto lagering at it's finest baby!
Andrew Bauman said:
Oh, you're TOTALLY bringin' sexy back.
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Permalink Reply by Jay Baack on
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awesome.. thanks guys.. this should work until I can have the space for an extra freezer.
Best discount place in Mesa to find a fountain pump ?
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Permalink Reply by Ken "Triple Hopped" Forrey on -
Check one of the home improvement stores. I think they will be the best places to check. Unlike Barry my wife would not let me ferment in the bath tub, so I bought a plastic tub and a tile saw pump and made one that looks like Barry's. There is a picture posted on my page that you can check out. The tubing that goes around the top of the carboy has holes drilled on the underside and a plug clamped in the end.
Don't wait for the temperature to cool down. You can still brew when it is 115F outside.
Welcome to sunny Arizona.
Jay Baack said:awesome.. thanks guys.. this should work until I can have the space for an extra freezer.
Best discount place in Mesa to find a fountain pump ?
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Permalink Reply by Andrew Bauman on
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I'm stealing the pump out of the fountain in the back yard for a cooling pump. Another thought is a swamp cooler pump?
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Permalink Reply by Jon Warren on -
I would like to see how you chill your wort Barry
Barry Weeg said:
This is pretty much the setup Ken is talking about except with a t-shirt instead of cooler pads. The pump is a fountain pump that lead to a bubbler hose that you usually use in a garden planter. The white bag is an ice pack that I would change out twice a day to keep the water even colder. You can't see it, but there is a fan sitting on the counter blowing over the whole apparatus. I could get it down to just under 60 degrees with an ambient air temperature that would fluctuate between 76 and 80. The full bathtub had the added advantage of regulating temperature swings. In the winter I could easily get down to lager temps. However, I use a freezer now.If you like this, you should see my setup for chilling my wort. ;)
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Permalink Reply by Gary Petersen on -
Last fall I bought a small wine fridge at one of the home improvement stores for just over $100. Fits a 6 1/2 gal carboy easily and holds temp between 40-75 with ease and doesn't take up a lot of space.
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