Fermentation temperature problems

Yeast & Fermentation
1

I just brewed a batch of carribou slobber yesterday. I live in Ocean City, NJ and summer time is rapidly approaching. I have moved my primary fermentor into my dark garage which is pretty cool, around 70 degrees. I noticed that the fermentation temp. gauge is around 74. I put my fermentor into a large rubbermaid tub and filled it with around 4 inches of cold water. Is this a good idea? Any other tips on keeping good temperature?

Thanks

2

Yep, that’s a great idea. I’ve been doing it for years. You can add some ice packs to the water to cool it down more.

3

You’ll get better cooling if you put more water in the container, at least half-way up the side of the fermenter and as Denny said, use some ice. I cut the top off gallon milk jugs and fill and freeze for this purpose - the open top allows the ice inside to have direct contact with the water (a sealed container will not chill nearly as effectively since there will be a water layer between the sides and the ice) and then I just scoop water into the jug, put it back in the fridge and replace with a frozen jug.

4

Yes, freeze some juice containers or other quart or smaller bottles. Depending on size, have a bunch handy and rotate them, a few at morning and night, to the water to keep it cool.

You will likely need a lot more than 4" of water. More like 10-12". The more you have, the higher the mass and the longer temp swings will take

5

See my signature line for more ideas to control your temps.

6

Since I’ve been fermenting in corny kegs, I’ve found sheet ice packs useful. I get them free from work before they hit the trash can, but you can buy something similar here:
http://www.keglove.com/product_details.php?category_id=11&item_id=42
.

Basically just a flexible ice pack that wraps around the keg, and then use a blanket or towel around that for insulation. It’s intended to keep beer cold for dispensing, but seems to work well for keeping ferm temps down. The drawback is that since there’s no bath water to take temperature of I don’t really know what my ferm temps are, but so far so good :smiley: