Newby question on fermentation temperature

Those temps will certainly allow the yeast to make beer. 64F ambient is actually pretty good for many yeasts/styles. 71F ambient is a little high for most yeasts/styles (leading to excessive esters/fusel alcohols), because the beer/wort will reach temperatures several degrees higher than the ambient temp.

 

67 ambient would be the maximum you should ferment most ales at. If you can get that down to 60-62 ambient your beer should be much better, depending on the yeast you use. Remember that at high krausen your beer';s internal temp is 5-8 degrees higher than ambient.

 

I'm not sure frozen water bottles (in the surrounding air) would do a lot. Some people use cold water/ice baths (better thermal transfer) though. But whatever you can do to keep the temperature of the wort itself under control is a good thing.

 

With the fermenter sitting inside a moving box I think that should help moderate the temp to avoid a large variation. Inside a closet or a small confined area with dead air would also help moderate the temp.

 

That will probably be a good place for it, but how certain are you of the room temps that you are mentioning? You don't want to take a chance of putting it into a place that is too cold because the yeast will want to go dormant. You need to have some certainty of what conditions you'll put the yeast into.

 

I would recommend that you place a thermometer in your closet and monitor a few times throughout a day (or two). That way you will precisely know the ambient temperature conditions of your closet.

I would recommend using a neutral yeast like US-05. The manufacturer publishes a recommended temperature range of 60-75°F. That yeast would be very conducive to your apartment conditions.

Cheers!

 

I agree with Jack, US-05 is a good closet yeast. I used to ferment in a closet which was a steady 67-68F, used a lot of US-05 too. However, I feel that my switching to a temperature controlled freezer+controller is certainly a major milestone towards making much better beer. Of course since I live in TX now, it's also an absolute must, because I don't have any more cool closets! Troof be told 64F is probably a much better ambient air temperature even than 67F, because as has been stated, the beer will get to a higher than ambient temperature during fermentation (which is exothermic).

 

How big is your batch? A small batch is more susceptible to any temperature swings, so if you are less than 5 gallons you'll need to pay closer attention to the closet temp. Your brewing thermometer or a cooking thermometer should suffice to give you a good idea of how cold it is in the closet, so you may not need to purchase a wall version.

 

That's better than my place, you should be fine.

 

I think the cooking thermometer can be fairly reliable, but I'm mostly thinking of the type that is not a probe. My wife has one that she puts in the oven to double check the oven's thermostat setting.

If it looks like it could be too chilly in the closet then leave the door open or consider wrapping the beer in a blanket to moderate the temp.

 

I once read a cool idea for keeping fermentator temp down. Go get an oil pan, like the plastic thing you use when changing oil. Put a little cool water in and a block of ice. Then place the fermentor on top, if you play around a bit you will be able to get decent control. I have never tried this but read it on a forum somewhere and thought it would be a good idea. Then of course you can just change the ice block periodically. Ice blocks take a while to melt. Has anyone here tried something like this?