Too fussy about light and Temperature?

[TopDeadCenter]

I've got my first batch (Amber Ale) brewing, so I'm not expecting perfection, but...

I'm fermenting in a utility closet. A water heater and HVAC unit, in combination with 2 outside vents keep it between 65° and 72°. A very small amount of indirect sunlight leaks in through the vents, so I loosely covered them with foil. But that affects the airflow and the temp rose 2°.

I don't want to cover the carboy as that might trap heat.

Am I being too cautious?

 

[Brownalemikie]

Maybe cover carboy with wet t-shirt....better known as a swamp cooler.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Yes.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

The light is nothing to worry about...THe heat is another story. Fermentation creates heat and the temperature listed on the yeast is the liquid temp not the air temp. Agree with above look into a swamp cooler.
Basically you stick you bucket/carboy in a Rubbermaid container filled with room temp water...The water around the bucket keeps the fermenting beer at a stable temp...sorta...without a fermentation chamber its the best you can do...if theres a cooler place in the house use that area instead.

 

[TopDeadCenter]

I just bought a stick-on fermometer and my batch is right at 65°, with the ambient air temp at 69°. So I guess I'll chill now and empty a few bottles for bottling day.

Thanks!

 

[Vedexent]

Something I try and remember (with limited success as I fuss overly over my fermenter): Humans have been making beer for literally Nine. Thousand. Years.

We've only known about yeast since 1857 - so yeast can pretty much take of it'self.

I totally get that we all want to get it perfect from the very first attempt (I know I did).

And to get a brew exactly where you wanted it to go does take obsessive levels of attention and care.

But - it takes a pretty large screw up / accident to make a beer undrinkable.

A batch of beer might not be exactly what was intended, but it will be beer - and it might even be great beer - even if it's not perfectly what was planned.

Good luck!

 

[TopDeadCenter]

Thanks!

My challenge has been to find a location where I could just leave it alone, as I work long hours and can't monitor it. I have a semi-submerged garage which will work well for ales in the summer, or maybe lagers in the winter.

With all of the resources available on the internet, it's pretty easy to go down the rabbit-hole reading "horror" stories of batches gone wrong... getting skunked... going diacetyl.

But buying a fermometer I see that the wort temperature has remained fairly constant, despite swings in the ambient air temperatures. It's actually a couple degrees cooler, ranging from 65° to 68°, which is great for the S-04 I pitched.

I've got a lot to learn, but I want to dial-in the basics before I take on more advanced recipes.

But on day three, the air lock is bubbling away and the krausen has already collapsed, so I guess it's happy, and for now, so am I.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I'm no physicists but I cant see how your fermenting beer is cooler than the outside air when fermenting beer creates heat....especially with 04..that yeast cranks hard and fast. Its probably the number one yeast that people say needs temp control because if it gets to warm, most say over 65,it gives of funky flavors....Something seems off
Post your REAL results after drinking a few...if there is off flavors this is the place to figure out why and move forward....

If you want to lager look into 34/70 yeast it has a HUGE temp allowance

 

[jddevinn]

I just bought a stick-on fermometer and my batch is right at 65°, with the ambient air temp at 69°. So I guess I'll chill now and empty a few bottles for bottling day.

Thanks!

Fermentation is exothermic; beer should be hotter than the air not the other way around.

 

[TopDeadCenter]

Yeah, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me either. I've got two digital thermometers in next to the fermenter, both reading 72° ambient, and the fermometer on the bucket is reading 70°. It's bubbling away, but not too rapidly.

So I figure either the plastic bucket is insulated enough that the stick-on fermometer isn't getting an accurate reading, or the ambient temperature is slow to affect the temperature of 5 gallons of liquid.

For my next batch I'll leave it in my garage. Currently, it cools down to 53° and heats up to 60°. Even in mid-summer it doesn't get above 75° when it's 95° outside. My cave-like garage is one reason that made me want to try this.

I was also looking into a waterproof bluetooth thermometer. It might be fun to place that in the fermenter and pair it with a tablet to graph the temperatures.

If this batch goes fusel, then at least I'll know what that tastes like. It's a fun process!

 

[mongoose33]

Brownalemikie has the right suggestion--do a swamp cooler. I did that a lot until I got my fermentation chamber dialed in correctly. It'll knock down the temperature a good 5 degrees, maybe more depending on how you do it. You can add some frozen water bottles to the water in which the fermenter sits, and help maintain temp that way.

You are very much correct to be concerned about fermentation temp. Many say it's the one thing new brewers can do that will have the greatest effect.

A side effect of the swamp cooler is that if you use a dark shirt, light won't get through. Much.