So I live in Maine, and lets just say it is a struggle some days to keep my fermenting buckets in the proper temperature ranges. And as I have never really had many lagers I like we can just say I would rather stay in a good temperature range. I have seen a lot of things out there, but what is the best for maintaining a nice steady temperature? I have seen belts and wraps, and fermenting chambers (would love to build one but can't take to Frankenstein-ing my beer fridge). My fear with anything would be running too warm, as I don't even want to think about running into saison temperatures, or maybe something turns its self off.
If you are looking at fermenting a lager, maybe the title of this thread should be Keeping Cool. Unless you have a garage or a cold basement (brrr) with low-fluctuating temps around 50 degrees, you will have to use your beer fridge with an external thermostat to keep your fermentor around that temp level.
A heat wrap with a temp controller is what I use. I have a thermowell in my fermentation bucket, I wrap the bucket, plug said wrap into my controller, and put the thermometer in the thermowell. Boom! Problem solved.
Mothergoose03, nope not doing lagers, I thought about it will what my entry way and basement are, but have yet to have a lager that I want to try and make something like. I am sure there are good ones out there, just haven't had one yet. SFACRKnight, what wrap do you use? I see some people say good and bad about a couple different ones out there. Did you have to drill an extra hole for your thermowell? kind of confused about using them in this application.
I use a fermwrap and an inkbird dual stage controller with a regular fridge for heating and cooling. Works great and both are fairly cheap. The thermowell would depend on your type of fermenter. Plenty of stoppers and caps with built in thermowells.
I'm not @SFACRKnight, but I have several heat wraps of the "fermwrap" type. They are various brands, but all of the type that has a resistive element running through a transparent plastic sheet. They all seem to work the same, i.e. they can keep the temps in a very narrow range when used with a controller. I can't speak for brew-belts or heat mats, having never used them.
My wife picked up the temp control combo kit from northern brewer for me for Christmas last year. It came with a temp controller that controls both heating and cooling. It also came with a fermwrap style heater. Its easy to use, I just tape it on and go. I put a 16" (IIRC) thermowell into the lid of my ale pail. It was a weldless bulkhead set up, super easy. It just screws together after you drill your hole.
I would not discount lager yeast entirely, even if you do not like lager styles. Some can be used in ale styles that call for neutral ale yeast anyway. W-34/70 and WY2124 both also ferment well over a wide range of temperatures.
Whichever route you take, you will need a temp controller, otherwise you do run the risk of getting too warm. Me personally, I use a chest freezer and a generic heating pad connected to a temp controller to regulate temps in the winter.
I use heat mats, propagation mats with a controller . I surround up to 4 bucket, or carboys per mat with insulation board and keep temps where I want them. In Vermont it gets chilly as well.
This is what raised my question. Of course the deal ended so missed out on a "deal" but will be watching for more. Just trying to get an idea of what people are using and what I might do in the future. I wouldn't throw lager yeast under the bus just because I don't like lagers. If a yeast was suggested for something and fit what I needed I would use it, which might help with my temps in my basement (under 58 degrees in one corner) or my entry way(usually around 50 degrees), but am not sure what effect that would have on the beer I am making. I guess I am not sure what styles are OK with using lager yeast.
Any batch of beer where your goal is to not have a big ester (e.g., fruity flavor) aspect to the beer. For example any batch where you would consider using a neutral ale yeast (e.g., Chico yeast - WY1056/WLP001/US-05) you could instead use a lager yeast. Cheers!
Pretty much what jack said above. I would not use lager yeast in a style where the ale yeast is expected to be expressive (British ales, Belgian ales, hefes, saisons, etc). But for a neutral ale strain, it might work well, especially at the temps you mention.
I have an old chest freezer that crapped out after using it for a few years with a temp controller. I tipped it on end and use it with a heat belt/2 litre ice bottles to keep mostly lagers at temp in the garage during the winter. Most of the time the heat belt and ice don't even get used as the exothermic heat and freezer insulation seem to keep fermenter temps steady. Just a thought if you have an old freezer laying around.
Similar to what I do but my 'controller' is a cheap on/off timer. Total cost of heating pad and timer was 16 bucks. It takes a little trial and error to get the on/off right for the desired temp (I'd do this with a carboy of water so you don't accidentally overheat any beer). This method also lets me make saisons in the winter if I really crank it.
