Temp Control Fermentation

[pecosvalleybrewer]

I am relatively new to home brewing and I am in the process of buying/building equipment and such. I have all grain setup complete and now I want to build a fermenting chamber. I have heard and read a lot of the importance of fermentation temperatures. Do these temperatures pertain only to primary fermentation or is aging/conditioning temp also important. I am asking because I need to know if my fermentation chamber needs to be big enough to only house 1 or 2 beers going through primary fermentation or does it need to be large enough to house beers also in secondary/aging fermentation. Hope that makes sense. Thanks>

 

[lumpher]

primary fermentation - all kinds of beers
secondary - only those that get secondaried
aging/conditioning - you get to lager anything before drinking so they all come out better

in other words, yes, use temp control through all phases. you can ferment at a controlled temp, and when done, you can lager/cold-condition. it makes for a MUCH better beer when you do control either ferm temp or lagering, but especially both

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Really, the *key* reason you need fermentation control is for the first week (primary). This is when the main off flavors from temperature will be developed.

After that, higher temps will cause any staling or oxidation to occur more quickly than at lower temps, but in general you can age at room temp without any real worries.

 

[BigFloyd]

Since most beers don't need to go into a secondary fermenter, the focus for temp control is on primary fermentation, especially during the first week after pitching (when it is most active). Bottle carbing/conditioning happens best at room temp (70-76*F)

1) Find a decent used fridge or freezer (Craigslist is your friend as is cash and a pickup truck)

2) Build a dual-temp controller box based on an STC-1000 ($20 on Amazon) if you can do basic wiring. If you can't, buy one of the plug & play kind.

 

[meltroha]

Primary is the biggest concern for ales, the whole process is important for lagers. I control primary in the bathtub with water and ice, also any beers that require secondary. Then bottle condition in a closet, which is always 68°-72° for 2-4 weeks, then cold crash in refrigerator, or garage depending on the season for two weeks. So if you have the room, build a bigger chamber, but remember, different beers will require different temperatures at different stages.

 

[stvo]

I just did this... I picked up a stand up freezer and controller (bought mine wired up didn't want to deal with finding parts) it works beautifully! Got a "mild" fermenting away now, no more frozen bottles of ice!!! If you go the stand up freezer route make sure it's frostless (the shelves are removable) if not the freezer coils are actually part of the shelf itself and are not removable, although I've read a few threads here where people have bent them out of the way successfully I personally didn't want to deal with that.
BTW I'm using the ranco controller couldn't be happier