What the heck do I know?!

I love lamp

 

What did it used to say?

 

is that the room or fermenter temp? Your beer will produce heat and ferment warmer than the room temp. If that is the room temp your beer could be around 75-78.

 

When they list the temperature range for a particular yeast is it for the room temp or the temp inside the fermenter?

 

Tell the truth, you are the reincarnation of jasonjlewis aren' you?

 

They list the temp the yeast should experience, so the fermenter temperature

 

an adhesive thermometer on the outside of the fermenter gives you a good idea what the temp is inside and unless you are brewing a lambic or something to sour, you dont want temps that high. the yeast will start to produces esters that may never condition out, ie. banana, bubble gum, or worse. if you can keep most of your ale below 70deg F you should be fine.

 

you can use this

http://www.amazon.com/Fermometer-Adhesive-Strip-Thermometer/dp/B004B4TS1S

or a electronic thermometer with the probe taped to the outside of the fermenter, or if you trust is it is sanitized you can hang it in the fermenter. For one method of keeping your fermentation temperature cooler look up "swamp coolers". The more expensive but most effective and precise way is to rig a fridge with a temp controller and attach the probe to the fermenter.

and 75 is high except for a few styles. I try to keep mine in mid to high 60's

 

It's not going to be bad, but you will get off-flavors for the beer style. The amount of hops you used probably will cover a lot of it though. Don't worry, relax. It'll be beer and you'll be able to drink it.

If your basement holds steady at 72, use a swamp cooler, which is as easy as putting the fermenter in shallow tub of water. Use a stick-on thermometer strip on the fermenter to watch your temp. If it still needs to be cooler, pull a old t-shirt around the fermenter so water soaks into it and evaporates. Easy and cheap.

 

I didn't either for the longest time (I brewed in a small apt). My IPAs never turned out how I wanted them. My best suggestion is to brew for the season. With high temps right now I would brew Saisons or berliner wiesse, maybe an american heff if you like a lot of esters and yeast flavors. I also found that the robustness of a stout is good at hiding imperfections from high temp fermentation. Once your area gets cooler you can move to other styles if you are noticing an issue. Otherwise, if you are happy with the results, then don't worry about it.

edit: as Danielbt said, a swamp cooler is an easy/cheap method. That is what I do, i will also add frozen water bottles into the water to help keep the temp down.

 

I don't know what "reaction oils" are, but the metabolic action of the yeast (e.g. fermentation) is an exothermic (heat producing) process, just like your own metabolic action is.

75-78 is definitely too warm for an IPA, with the worst case scenario being fusel alcohol production, which is not a flaw that you can cover up with hops in my opinion.

 

It depends on where you live. I use an airlock or blowoff hose to keep nasties like beer loving moths and fruit flies out of my beer. I suppose where you live that's not a problem but it's a legitimate issue here in the desert.