Convinced the lady of the house that we should buy an AC Unit. Thank you heat wave! Now I can leave my carboys alone and skip checking on them every 4 hours fretting over temps. Good day. Very good day.
Congrats on the AC!
I’m not comfortable if my house gets above 72F.
Are you not using any temp control methods with your carboys?
Cool!
heh heh…cool…
[quote=“Baratone Brewer”]Congrats on the AC!
I’m not comfortable if my house gets above 72F.
Are you not using any temp control methods with your carboys?[/quote]
Agreed! Our thermostat is set to 73F but certain rooms and closets in my house hover around 70F and one closet stays a cool 60F with the AC on and the door closed. Guess where I ferment my beers in the summer?
My “brew room” has had a room A/C unit for years. Keeps it in the 60’s when it is cranked if the outside temps are not really hot. I would much rather have some kind of fermentation chamber but almost never brew less than 20 gal so it would have to be pretty big.
The A/C will at least give you a fighting chance to keep your beer at a reasonable temp with a little less labor. Spring and fall are easy but this time of year if it gets hot enough just brew Belgian style beers that are normally fermented on the warm side.
I was using an amateur swamp cooler (usually only two five gallon batches in primary/secondary going at a time) with frozen two liter bottles and a fan. But I couldn’t leave the derned things alone for too long without fear of our recent heatwave assaulting our 3rd story apartment.
But, now, s’alright.
Wow, we couldn’t leave without an A/C. In the New Orleans area, we run ours about 8 months out the year! In fact, there have been some times in the winter I’ve had to put mine on. One time it was 86 on New Years Day! Not normal but it happens.
Anyway, I broke down and spent the $55 for this Cool-Brewing bag…https://www.cool-brewing.com/
Once I can get my temps down to pitching (not easy with a 81 degree water temp) I add a few re-useable ice packs and/or some frozen jugs, cover and zip the top and let it alone. In a few hours, the temp really starts to drop. After 12-18 hours, in my house with the A/C set to 78, I can get my fermenter to 62-64 degrees and stay that way with ice changes twice a day.
I’ve tried swamp coolers but they are messier and require more checking. Plus, they are testing this to be used in the winter to keep things warm. I recommend if you have the $$$.
I live in south Alabama so the temps here get pretty hot. Luckily i found a chest freezer at a yard sale for $50 bucks and purchased a Johnson temp controller so no worries unless the power goes out.
I agree with keeping the house cool. Growing up my parents always said,“when you pay the bills you can keep it at whatever temp you want.” I do and I do. They freeze when they come over now. Living in Oklahoma, you never can count on weather being what it should be for the time of year. Because of that our a/c gernerally gets turned on at least once every month of the year.
We have a laundry room that I ferment in during the summer because it stays nice and cold with the door closed and the a/c on.
