1/3 Fermentation Control?

[FifteenTen]

I’m at the point in my brewing career wherein I know fermentation temp control should be my next investment. However, I only have room for a mini fridge. I typically leave my beer in primary for three weeks even if I have a three day stable gravity before that. I, at this point, have three fermenters that I try to keep full at all times. I know I can only fit one fermenter in a mini fridge at a time. My thought is that I could brew a batch, ferment it in the mini fridge until terminal gravity and then take it out leaving it at room temp for the remaining two weeks or so allowing me to place a new batch in the mini fridge. It seems to me that this would increase the quality of the beer because at least the active fermentation was controlled. My question is, will the two weeks at room temp, 69f-71f (if I’m wining the thermostat war with SWIMBO) to 72f-75f (if SWIMBO is winning) will negate the attributes of the active week at controlled temps?

Either way, I’ll still get the fridge. But should I ferment one batch for the entire three weeks in the mini and keep the other two in my current swamp coolers, or will my initial plan work?

Thanks in advance, FifteenTen.

 

[dpeanut7]

+1 Looking forward to responses. I have the exact same concern/question. You just worded it much better than my recent post, haha.

 

[djfriesen]

Fermentation temp control is much more vital during the active fermentation phase. In fact, ramping the temps up to 70° for the end of fermentation can actually help the yeast finish strong and drop those last few pesky points. If I were you, I'd go with your plan. 1 week should be enough for many ale fermentations. If you're using a slow yeast, you might need to monitor it, and adjust future brewing to account for it. But then again, you could always use the swamp cooler method intermittently to supplement your temp control needs.