Home Brewing in a Hot Apartment

Hey all,

I just transfered an extract batch to the secondary. It was my first homebrew at my new apartment and I held off for so long because I knew I’d run into issues. So my biggest one is the temperature. I live in an old brown stone, on the 3rd floor, and have no control over the thermostat. It’ s hot year round, I just did a batch and the temp ranges from about 72-74.9 degrees. I made a batch and the optimal temp says 65-75 degrees, I know the yeast while fermenting also heat up, I fear I killed my yeast into the fermentation process. Primary fermentation started about a day after I made the wort, I had a very thin yeast cake on top and it fell back within just over a day or so. The temp at that time was probably around 72-73. It had a bit of activity but only for like 3 days or so.

I hope it comes out alright, but I feel it’s a wasted batch and likely will taste like crap. I’m really curious though if anyone here has any suggestions as to what I can possibly do to home brew here. I’m likely going to stay here for at least another 2 years, and I’d like to be able to homebrew. Any suggestions as to what I can do next time to perhaps control the temp a bit better for fermenting that isn’t to costly.I don’t have much space either, no way can I fit a big cooler or anything, something small maybe. I could use some help, if I have to wait 2 years just to home brew I’ll go mad.

You don’t need much more floor space than the carboy/pail.

In order of expense:

Tub of water with frozen ice bottles.
Picnic cooler with frozen ice bottles.
Mini fridge with a temp controller.
Freezer with a temp controller.

See my signature line for pictures of the above.

[quote=“chrispacileo”]Hey all,

I just transfered an extract batch to the secondary. It was my first homebrew at my new apartment and I held off for so long because I knew I’d run into issues. So my biggest one is the temperature. I live in an old brown stone, on the 3rd floor, and have no control over the thermostat. It’ s hot year round, I just did a batch and the temp ranges from about 72-74.9 degrees. I made a batch and the optimal temp says 65-75 degrees, I know the yeast while fermenting also heat up, I fear I killed my yeast into the fermentation process. Primary fermentation started about a day after I made the wort, I had a very thin yeast cake on top and it fell back within just over a day or so. The temp at that time was probably around 72-73. It had a bit of activity but only for like 3 days or so.

I hope it comes out alright, but I feel it’s a wasted batch and likely will taste like crap. I’m really curious though if anyone here has any suggestions as to what I can possibly do to home brew here. I’m likely going to stay here for at least another 2 years, and I’d like to be able to homebrew. Any suggestions as to what I can do next time to perhaps control the temp a bit better for fermenting that isn’t to costly.I don’t have much space either, no way can I fit a big cooler or anything, something small maybe. I could use some help, if I have to wait 2 years just to home brew I’ll go mad.[/quote]
Don’t worry too much. My first few batches were not temp controlled either. They weren’t terrible and I enjoyed drinking all of the beer. The flavor will improve with Nighthawk’s suggestion. I started with the first but have upgraded to the last. When I lager, I still bust out the trusty tub… Save your extract jugs to freeze water in. Try to keep the temps in the low 60’s for a clean brew.

Good luck!

I wish I thought of that before I made this batch. Just dumped a ton of money and time down the drain. I don’t even know if it’s worth it to bottle it or not. I will definetely try and take up that cooler method. Maybe just stock up on some ice packs and rotate them during fermentation. After it’s done in the primary and I rack to secondary I wouldn’t really need to keep it in a cooler would I?

Some yeasts do better at higher temperatures than others. Which yeast did you use?

Generally you only need to really keep temps down during the early and most active part of fermentation

I used Wyeast’s Northwestern ale yeast, it was for a batch of Caribou Slobber. It was fermenting at probably a room temp around 72-74. So, yeah a bit high. I’m in the processes of looking for a cooler to modify a glass carboy in to keep the temp down a bit for the future. Couldn’t find any at the store.

RDWHAHB.

Optimal: no.

Undrinkable: also no, unless you are a “National” level BJCP judge, it is likely that you will find this beer to be pretty darned good…because you made it.

Homebrewing is about improving. Use the great suggestions above to control this aspect of your process, and in the meantime, relax and have fun.

cheers!