Summer Brewing

[iowalad]

I do the ice and water in a massive old cool box.

I have had good luck keeping my temps regulated.

[BarryNL]

I don't (yet) have a converted fridge to fit a fermenter in.

I'd go for it. You can pick up secondhand fridges for about twenty quid. For that price I think they are one of the best value investments you can make for your beer. They mean you can brew in the summer, you can easily brew lager at any time and when you don't need them to brew you can use them to keep your beer at a perfect 12 deg.C

Best 20 quid I've spent on brewing equipment, I think.

[Madbrewer]

well i was thinking maybe a chest freezer but one that's maybe 3ft wide not 6 foot. It's finding space and thermostat regulating that's going to be difficult (but not impossible).

[prolix]

summer brewing last year was trouble I had to get the immersion heater out to keep it up at 20

though in May it did get to 30 for an afternoon

[agentgonzo]

Brewing in the summer is fine (assuming you do ales rather than lagers). If you can find an under-stairs cupboard or something like that then it should be fine. Main thing is to keep it out of sunlight and try and put it in a room that's the coldest in the middle of the day. Even if the air temperature does reach a staggering 35°C in a freak day, it'll only be that temperature for a few hours and the beer won't have time to raise to that temperature before it begins to cool off in the afternoon - especially if you have it in a room with not much airflow. Even on those stinking hot days, the beer temperature will probably not get above 25°C by the time it gets to evening and starts cooling.

You'll get better results if you hit the target fermentation temp spot on, but it'll only be a bit better - you'll still get good beer just by accepting that it gets warm. I brewed all through last summer and had some cracking ales.

[Stonechat]

I think that sunny Essex gets about as hot as Hampshire, but I just go ahead and brew using live brewery yeast. The only problem is with fruit flies,which mean I have to keep a lid on the fermenter till the yeast gets thick and creamy on top.

[booldawg]

I'd love to gear up with a fridge for brewing. I'd be able to do proper lager then and keep ales going during the summer. Its not so much the price of a 2nd hand fridge its more sanctioning its space in the house with SWMBO as I dont have a dedicated brewing area

[Aleman]

I'd love to gear up with a fridge for brewing. I'd be able to do proper lager then and keep ales going during the summer. Its not so much the price of a 2nd hand fridge its more sanctioning its space in the house with SWMBO as I dont have a dedicated brewing area

Then get a Maxi 110 Beer chiller, a Stainless coil (From Hamstead Homebrew) Immersed in the wort and use the Python circuit to chill the wort. You can hook the chiller pump up to a temp controller and you don't need anything much more complex than that.

I'm going to be doing this for my small pilot batches which will use a Corny with the top cut off as the FV

[SteveD]

For summer brewing - get a fridge or chest freezer and an ATC 800. Plug the fridge into the cooling circuit of the ATC800 and set whatever temp you want, and that's it. In winter, plug a small heater/lightbulb (placed in the fridge) into the heating circuit as well and the fridge will still stay at your desired temp. A doddle.

Cost? Old Fridge, bugger all. ATC 800, about £32 on eBay. Small heater/lightbulb - not much

In a chest freezer you can fit 2 FV's or 4-6 cornies depending on the size and design.