Brrrr, it's COLD!! (plus a derail (about beer))

So "cold" isn't a common thing here, usually "friggin' damn hot" is the norm. And my bro's been out of town, so the heat was turned off. Fermentation freezer/controller setup great for "hot," as it turns out, not so much for cold (duh!). Checked on beer yesterday, down to 54F. Both batches were pretty much done with a week or more of attenuation (minimum, actually they're 2 and 3 weeks old total, and it's only been cold for about a week). Before the cold really set in, they were probably well past done, so that's not an issue. The question is how to deal with it, and thoughts about working with yeast that's been below its optimal range (both had US-05).

Also, gonna brew again, want to have things optimized for the (rather short) winter season. Do tell.

derail: beer looks nasty when it's brewing. Bottling a small test batch yesterday showed a nice dark brown phlegm-y looking gunk floating just under the surface, but the beer smelled and tasted great (2 gallon extract batch, "black saison*," 3711). it's rare that a beer looks like anything other than "ewwww" before the final pour from the bottle. Well, I take that back, my Classic American Creme Ale was crystal clear, all the way to the bottom of the bucket. That's one, out of ALL. Miostly beer looks "less than appealing" until you serve the final thing. The more hops, usually the less appealing. /derail

2nd derail: if you're going to make a 2 gallon batch, the mr beer keg is MUCH easier than a 3 gallon better bottle, especially with cleaning. won't make that mistake twice. Can't wait to see what my black saison tastes liike tho!

*if you will, for lack of anything better to call it