temp control with water bath and a towel

[LesFCHB]

I'm not good with 'Search' so I'll ask here. What is the technique used to keep wort cool during fermentation on hot days without refrigeration? On hot days in PA the basement hangs around 73-74 degrees. (winter is ideal in the mid 60's) I have a large plastic bucket just purchased from Lowes and set my fermentation bucket in it with tap water. Do you wrap the bucket with a towel and leave it rest in the water to wick water with a fan blowing on it? Any other better techniques?

 

[Dixon9717]

I use frozen water bottles that I rotate everyday with a similar setup as yours. Drape a towel over the fermenter and call it good.

 

[JustLooking]

Any other better techniques?

That's way too old school from when homebrewing was about resourcefulness and innovation. Now that the hipsters are here, it's how much money you can spend. You're going to have to buy a temperature controlled fermentation chamber.

 

[LesFCHB]

That's way too old school from when homebrewing was about resourcefulness and innovation. Now that the hipsters are here, it's how much money you can spend. You're going to have to buy a temperature controlled fermentation chamber.

Yeah I'll TELL my wife I'm getting a temp control chamber today. No hipster here, I'm an oldster.
Anyone use those Brew Jacket Immersions? They're only $300.

 

[tennesseean_87]

That's a pretty warm temp in your basement. The beer could be pushing 80 degrees with those ambient temps. Maybe try something like the SOF chiller or at least using that same insulation board to make a box you can rotate ice bottles into. Otherwise, use 3711 since it's an easy yeast and brew saisons in the summer.

 

[GCPHomebrew]

A bucket, water up to the beer line and rotating ice bottles will maintain as low of a temp as you can manage. 73 isn't so high that you can't get 64 it might take a few extra bottles to get there. Once it's achieved its easily maintained.

I used a frozen milk jug once. Forgot to check it and it was at 55 in a 68 degree room.

 

[ESBrewer]

Towels would cool it a bit, especially with a fan. But water bath for the whole carboy is better, with some large insulated ice bottles that take up heat slowly and maybe a tiny aquarium pump to circulate water. Large enough water volume and insulation (polyurethane) of ice will ensure that fluctuations remain small and u don't need to supply ice all the time. It is not going to be as easy as an old fridge with sensors and needs a bit of experimenting but it will make good ale type beers that only need 65-72F.

 

[mulletmaster]

Before I got my mini fridge I used an igloo Cube cooler and a Carboy with a t-shirt over it to Wick the moisture over the top of the carboy. I would also keep rotating 20 ounce frozen soda bottles to keep the temperature down. The cooler helped maintain temperatures and not get condensation on the floor. To answer your question I would drape the towel over the top of the bucket and put the fan on that and monitor the water level.