where do you place your fermenter

[morebeermorebeermorebeer]

G'day all

New to the game of making me own beer.
When out and bought a Coopers Micro home kit.
Then bought the Mexican Cereza can.
As I like, hang on love the taste of corona's.

Have used pink stain to clean all items & have just made my first home brew.

After all that my question is.

Where do you put your fermenter so its at it optimal tempature.
Has anyone invented a cuboard space with heating or cooling or even manged to control the tempature with a thermostat etc.

As at the moment its in next doors cuboard with a flurecent light been on when needed. sitting around 22` to 24`(They Homebrew as well)

Anyone tried solar panels etc.
Have an old frindge at the back that on its way, can i do anything with this.
Cheers All
Macka

[derfly]

In the shower recess of the downstairs bathroom which sits it at about 19oC. Need to get in a few more brews before the weather hots up.

I'm fairly new to this for the second time around, however the common concensus would seem to be that 22 - 24oC might be a little too warm.

Have a read of this forum and you'll pick up HEAPS of info .....

[Lord Azrael]

well being fairly new to the game as well i've just recieved permission to 'requesition' the bath tub for a couple of weeks due to the fact that it's warming up around here too quickly...

going to fill the tub with cold water to try and keep the temp down a bit

[rwh]

The best way is with a fridge and a fridgemate, especially over summer. Also, you should be brewing the Mexican Cerveza at 12 degrees, not 22 (as it's a lager).

In winter, you can use your fridgemate in heating mode, with an immersible heater or light globe or whatever, inside the same fridge.

[Boonie]

Did not know Fluoros gave off any heat .

I use a 25 watt globe sometimes a 40 to heat, plus I have Fish Heaters in 2 of my kegs + a Heat Belt.

To cool I do not have a Fridgemate yet, but this seems the best method for heating or cooling. Just have to get off my arse and pick up the Fridge from Sydney. then I will buy the Fridgemate.

I have tried the wet towel method, but it did not cool it that much.

[morebeermorebeermorebeer]

Thanks for all the help so far, greatly appreciated.

Fridgemate? what is it & where can I get one.

Cheers Macka

12` hey shit .... is the 22 to 24` going to hurt it or have I stuffed up already?

Cheers
Macka

[rwh]

Well, flouros give off less heat... but thermodynamically speaking, all of the electrical energy consumed by any kind of lighting ends up as heat, no matter the type of lighting. Flouros just convert more of the electrical energy to light initially, but the light eventually gets converted to heat anyway.

Er, as for 22-24, that's a bit high, even for ales. Shouldn't be stuffed, though it won't taste as good as if it had been fermented slightly lower.

[morgs]

The best way is with a fridge and a fridgemate, especially over summer. Also, you should be brewing the Mexican Cerveza at 12 degrees, not 22 (as it's a lager).

In winter, you can use your fridgemate in heating mode, with an immersible heater or light globe or whatever, inside the same fridge.

Thats an ale yeast in the coopers mexican. 18-24 degrees should be fine

[Biggles]

I have a fridgemate, but only one, and one fridge.
So my other fermenter is outside under a covered patio that is shaded by trees in the mornings and is on the east side of the house so no direct sun in the afternoons. It is sitting on a 1 inch thick slab of marble. I keep 2 old winter ski type jackets wrapped around it during the day and it barely goes above 22C in the fermenter. I also have a flexible ice pack that I wrap in a towel and tie around the fermenter if it gets really hot outside, I managed to keep it at 22 a few days ago while it was 33 outside. At night I take the jackets off and by morning its around 20C, the other morning it was 18, but I figure cold is better than hot.

Its working so far.

[Chris]

Throw away the Coopers instructions! Aim for 18*C.

[lethaldog]

Go the fridgemate, brew whatever you want all year round

[mark68]

I always put my fermenter in the laundry trough,and then add cool water from the tap.If i want to brew a lager ,i just add some ice to the water,but with ales there is no need ,unless it's 35 degrees or more.It seems to work for me.

[Shaun]

In a fridge with a modified thermostat.

The temp range you need is determined by the yeast used. Most kits come with ale yeasts very few have a real lager yeast.

Temp range is:
18 -22 for most ale yeasts
8-12 for most lager yeasts
check with the yeast manufacture for the optimal temp range for there yeast.

[Longrasser]

Hi new to the forum and getting back into the brewing after a few years absence
As you can see by my nick Im in the top end were it goes from bloody hot and dry to extra bloody hot and wet
I have so far racked and bottled a few Coops lagers and a Cascade that all seemed to behave normally.
next i want to try is the coops mex cerveza
Soooo...its gonna be too hot sitting in 28C + ? maybe I can put it in my aircon bedroom ?
Is it a biggy issue anyhow i get the feeling if its chilled enough it will go down ok.

[Rod]

As of 1 hour ago I have a fridgemate

just wired up

ready to test

ready to make a batch tomoorow

[Shaun]

Hi new to the forum and getting back into the brewing after a few years absence
As you can see by my nick Im in the top end were it goes from bloody hot and dry to extra bloody hot and wet
I have so far racked and bottled a few Coops lagers and a Cascade that all seemed to behave normally.
next i want to try is the coops mex cerveza
Soooo...its gonna be too hot sitting in 28C + ? maybe I can put it in my aircon bedroom ?
Is it a biggy issue anyhow i get the feeling if its chilled enough it will go down ok.

I am also in the top end. You need some form of temperature control to get good consistent results up here. A lot of the tricks that are used down south don't work up here very well either (wrapping in wet towels placing in bath full of cold water (our cold water is 29C), placing ice in the water around the fermentor melts to quickly). Try keeping the fermentor in your Bedroom and hop the smell does not upset who ever is there with you. Or look around for a second fridge and get a fridgemate or similar device.

If you can not control the temp you will still get a drinkable beer, you want be able to reproduce the same results twice though and it will be very hard to get a great beer.

[gregb]

...extra bloody hot and wet ...

Nice if you're with a lady, but aint no good if you're tryin' to brew beer.

(I crack myself up )

Cheers,
Greg

[Longrasser]

Right got it in me bedroom and now cant sleep becoz of BLUP !...BLUP ! every 5 seconds and the room smells like a brewery

Erm...wats a fridgemate?

[lethaldog]

http://www.mashmaster.com.au

[Shaun]

http://craftbrewer.com.au/index.php?pag ... &Itemid=29

Used to control your fridge/freezer temp in place of its own thermostat.

Or there is a build it yourself kit from Jaycar.

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.as ... &SUBCATID=

Or you can buy a pre-made one. The Fan Control Model THF 0-40oC 10 Amp (fan/brew/fridge use) is the one you see in my photos above.

http://www.adloheat.com.au/climate.htm