fermenting my brew in a underground celler and other Q's

[skurvy84]

hi everyone,

being as this is my 3rd or 4th post and im still a complete noob i have a question on the enviroment i have to ferment in.

due to lack of space at the house, we have a mechanics pit that my dad converted into a wine cellar.
now, the entire thing is underground and a sort of labrynth so even with the door open (we have to go down a ramp to get to it) no light gets in (similer toa dark room used for photos) and its perfect for storing wine, its stays a nice constant tempt (not sure exactly what tempt) but its very constant.

would this be a suitable place to allow the beer to ferment? or is this not recommend.

[Kevnlis]

Thats quite ideal and would really be your best option even if it wasn't the only option.

[skurvy84]

so getting it all set up and then check on it every couple of hours to get the temps right should be good enough then....excellent.

next question, because we are in a competition of sorts with our sister, is it recommended to use a spring water, distilled water or will the heavly clorinated tap water of south austalia be ok?

[drsmurto]

Depends what sort of beer you are making. Kits/extract/AG? Ale/lager?

[skurvy84]

well at this stage i'm only doing the one that came with the set.....lager i think.

i do however want to try out wassa's honey porter.

but as a general rule, does it really matter what we use or will filtered water always be better (less impurites).

[drsmurto]

Tap water is fine. Despite the bad rep we get our water isnt actually that bad. It does contain chlorine so AG brews prefer to get rid of this as it can form chlorophenols during the brewing process.

Kit brewers dont have that issue as you arent doing full 60+ min boils.

If you have clean rainwater (ie you happily drink it) then use that.

I use Adelaide tap water for all my beers except a few pilsners and have had no issues (and picked up a few awards along the way). The water is heated prior to use which does lower the chlorine levels but i am quite outspoken against those people who remove the chlorine/chloramines by adding a chemical. Robbing Peter to pay Paul. Its very illogical.

Breathe in, breathe out. Off to find a coffee before i start ranting...

[skurvy84]

lol, keep ranting i find it usefull.

congrats on the awards mate, i checked your bar set up yesterday in the other thread....well done mate....well done

[Smabb]

You have the perfect setting for your brewery scurvy.

You just need to figure out the temperature down there and then brew either ale or lager (with lager yeast) depending upon that. I've found climate control makes a big difference in beer quality but its hard to control without big outlays unless you get lucky with a good location, like you just have!

[bensfarm]

sounds great but also be careful.as pits and the like tend to gather nasty gasses.i did a confined space course a couple of years back ,people have died in seemingly harmless places ,ventilation is good