I'm looking forward to brewing my first beer in the next week or two. I plan on using my basement to store the fermenter. The temperature down there, although pretty stable is definitely likely to change by give or take five degrees during the course of fermentation. Given that I don't have another place to store the beer, 1.) How likely is it the beer is to come out as I would like? 2.) How do you most home brewers control climate? Thanks in advance.
thats pretty typical for basements, the real question is how quick does your basement change temps? my summer temp is a few degrees warmer than my winter temps but stable during their respective months. for that reason i dont really have to control temperature in the basement, though i do sometimes use the basement bathtub as a cool bath when i'm worried about the temps being a little higher during active fermentation. if your basement maintains the temps needed for the yeast you're using then you should be able to turn out beer that is as you expect. as you become a more adept brewer you might be able to pick up slight differences...for me, if i brew the same IPA and ferment one at 68 and the other at 70 i sure can't tell the difference.
During fermentation the temps inside the carboy/bucket are going to be higher than the ambient air temp, so you want to account for that too. If your cellar temp is a little too high, you can use a "swamp cooler" Place the carboy/bucket into a larger container with water and drape a damp towel over the fermenter. Add ice to the water and a fan blowing on it if necessary. I try to keep my water near 60f. You're better off keeping the fermentation temp a little too low rather than a little too high.
My understanding is 5-7 deg is a good number to assume. I keep my water below that because a few extra degrees colder isn't going to hurt anything.
