Just started trying out homebrewing after a decade+ hiatus. I live in central California in a pretty “Mediterranean” climate. My downstairs in the summer is roughly 60-65 degrees. Upstairs roughly 65-75. Which would be more recommended for fermentating an American pale ale?
60-65. Assume the temp of the wort is a few degrees higher than ambient in most cases. 65-68 is typically in the sweet spot depending on the exact yeast and gravity.
If you don't intend to use any type of fermentation temperature control, your downstairs would usually be better than your upstairs. But also, if you haven't already, measure your actual basement temps over some time period (days/weeks). IME, people are usually not very close when just estimating their average basement temps.
And measure the temp at the height that your fermentor will be sitting. Floor temp can be 3-4 degrees colder than table-top height.
What type of flooring do you have in your downstairs (basement?). I ferment in my basement and I place the fermenter on the concrete floor which helps to maintain a cooler temperature since it operates like a heat sink. Cheers!
I found wifi connected govee thermometers do well for this kind of thing, gives you a nice graph over time regarding how temps vary.
Swamp coolers are also great for evening out temperature. Even if your basement is 65, the beer could jump up quite a bit during fermentation. Start off in one, the when things calm down, pull it off.
Wood, generally speaking, is more like insulation. Likely not a good conductor to operate like a heat sink. If you would need to cool down the heat created by fermentation, a plastic pan with some water added could be helpful to bring down the temperature a few degrees. And periodically added freezable blue blocks will provide additional cooling if needed. Cheers!
If I'm doing an Ale in the basement I put the fermenter in a large bucket of water. Temperature control is essential if you want to improve the quality of the beer. My poor man's hack is to use an aquarium heater plugged into a temperature controller, the probe can be tapped to the side of the fermenter, or better practice is to use a thermowell in the beer. I start at a lower temp and ramp to a higher temp.
