Taking Primary Fermenter in a car

[The Brewed Palate]

Living in NYC where most apartments (including mine) do not have central AC makes it hard to home brew in the summer because only certain rooms have window unit ACs and leaving them running can get quite expensive. As such, I had an idea to move my primary fermenter to my parents house in NJ by car. Meaning, I'd have my brother pick me up from my AC and quickly bring the fermenter to the car that'll be cool already and sit with it for the 30-40 minute car ride to NJ.

Is this a good idea?

 

[Chudz]

I'm assuming this is an ale. So I think it would be fine early on in the fermentation where aeration, from a possibly bumpy car ride, wouldn't be as much of a factor. Heck, it may be fine later on as well, but that I'm not sure about. I guess it depends on what temps your rooms would be hitting and if you wanted to do a water bath with ice or another way to control temp.

 

[ChshreCat]

You're going to stir it up really bad, so it'll need more time to clear again when you get to your destination. If you're using a better bottle, make sure that you take the airlock out when you're moving it to and from the car or you might end up sucking in your airlock water. You might end up introducing a little air into the carboy, but I don't think it should be enough to be a worry.

You can always just use the swamp cooler method that many of us use here. If you're not familiar with it, just do a search for "swamp cooler" on the site and you'll find tons of threads. I kept a beer in the 60's with no ac in my apartment when it was around 100 out for a few days. Simple and easy.

 

[Pivzavod]

Get a cooler and save 60-80 min round trip each time you brew.

 

[thebamaking]

+1 for the swamp cooler...get a big trash can with a lid, put water in it,get some 1 liter bottles, fill the bottles with water and freeze them, use as ice packs, submerge your primary in the water, and voila. sustains around 60 and its very easy to regulate (if it gets too cold take the ice out, too hot and add more ice)