Brewing at room temperature

[Crappyfish]

I don't have a brew-fridge, I daresay like a lot of posters, and I doubt I'll be getting one anytime soon. Likewise I don't have any external heating facility. So this is effect seems to mean that certain times of beer are probably not suited to what I have., I see recipes where the fermentation is kept very warm, and, more commonly, brews where the temperature is maintained quite cool. So I'm really only interested in brews that will be behave at normal room temp (say 21 deg in the day-time, 18-19 deg at night).

I've already decided that lagers in general I won't bother with, previous attempts at lager production have been disappointing, and I'm not a massive lager fan anyway. So I'm prepared to write them off. But the temp range shouldn't prevent me trying for, say, an American-style IPA?

So what I'm asking is, are there other types of brew I should perhaps forget about, and, conversely, others than would be suited to room temp? Thus far I have brewing English-style bitter and some stouts, which have gone OK, and one simple weissbier, which also went well. I would welcome your comments.

I'm in the same boat as you I mainly brew variants of IPA using different hops and grain etc. Summer is the worst time for me as the shed will be warm where as its cold in winter. The only way I'll get a brew fridge is when one of the freezers pack up them I have the task of convincing the Mrs she don't need 2 freezers. It is a pain when it's warm but there is still loads that can be brewed. I have a stout going at the moment that seems to be doing OK at room temp.

 

[starseeker]

How about wheat beers ,crossmyloof wheat beer yeasts can be fermented up to 35 degrees ,i used it for a Dunkleweizen and brewed at 24 deg and it was lovely .I have now got a Belgium pale ale bottled and this yeast was good for up to 25 deg, I would recommend trying a few different beer styles from your supermarket and go from there , (try a weizen bock )

 

[Ahdinko]

How about wheat beers ,crossmyloof wheat beer yeasts can be fermented up to 35 degrees ,i used it for a Dunkleweizen and brewed at 24 deg and it was lovely .I have now got a Belgium pale ale bottled and this yeast was good for up to 25 deg, I would recommend trying a few different beer styles from your supermarket and go from there , (try a weizen bock )

WB-06 is a good hefeweizen yeast which produces different results at different temperatures. Its optimal range is 18-24c, and its said the lower end of that produces more clove flavour, whilst the higher end produces more banana/bubblegum flavours.

 

[moto748]

I am brewing one of Ahdinko's recipes right now (now that the heatwave seems to have passed!). I went for the first Kolsch recipe but am using the dry yeast from the second, as I could not source the liquid yeast in the UK. I'll be very interested to see how this turns out.

 

[Ahdinko]

I am brewing one of Ahdinko's recipes right now (now that the heatwave seems to have passed!). I went for the first Kolsch recipe but am using the dry yeast from the second, as I could not source the liquid yeast in the UK. I'll be very interested to see how this turns out.

Weirdly I've just kegged today the kolsch 2 recipe, but using the pack of UBBE kveik I mentioned on my earlier post. Tasted quite nice when sampled out of the fermenter warm and flat, a bit out of style for kolsch though as despite the UBBE marketing itself as very clean fermenting and lagery with no yeast character, it does have some fruity esters to it. Perhaps it's because I brewed at 25c in the heatwave which is out of UBBE's recommended 30-37.

Let's see what happens when it carbs up and has another week or two to drop out.

Best tip I can give for a Kolsch if you've not brewed one before, is to be patient. It's supposed to be a very clear style and normally takes a good 2-3 weeks post kegging/bottling to drop out nicely.

 

[moto748]

Thanks, I intend to! I am a bottler only, and this is where it's so handy to have a few clear glass bottles in your batch. As you say, this type of beer wants to be clear, so I shall be patient! Are you in the UK, Ahdinko?

 

[Ahdinko]

Thanks, I intend to! I am a bottler only, and this is where it's so handy to have a few clear glass bottles in your batch. As you say, this type of beer wants to be clear, so I shall be patient! Are you in the UK, Ahdinko?

I hope it turns out nice! And I am indeed in the UK.

 

[moto748]

Then I'll send you a bottle if it's any good!

 

[boozy_shoes]

I've brewed for 12 years living in both a very hot flat and an old cold house never using a fridge. As others have said most styles can be done by using the temperature of the seasons to help

Summer brewing - I have done high temp (22-28c) wheat beers and saisons taking advantage of what conditions I've been given. IF I have wanted a more sensible temperature style or yeast I have put my fermenter in a trug of water (did this today for s black IPA). This keeps the temperature more constant - if it's really hot you can change the water and use the warm stuff to water plants etc or keep swapping cool blocks, frozen bottles of water in the trug too (luckily don't need to do this anymore!)


Winter / British weather brewing - the rest of the year for constant temperature for all ale yeasts I still use the trug and water but I have a submersible 25w fish tank heater that I put in the trug water to keep it steady at the set temperature. I have been able to brew at 15-23c this way and not found an ale yeast out of these temperatures yet.

Hope this helps.

 

[phillc]

There's a German/Austrian beer style called Zwickel (also closely related to Kellerbier). There are both light and dark Zwickels. You could make one using majority Pilsner or Pale Ale malt. It's meant to be served young and hazy. Using a nice neutral ale yeast like Nottingham, which ferments over a wide range of temperatures, could produce some decent results. As it's meant to be hazy, no need for cold crashing or extended lagering.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

I have a brew fridge but mainly use it for lagers or in the depth of winter, mostly my fermenters are in the utility room (much to my wifes delight). I've had to use a wet towel a handful of times but otherwise it's been fine. I reckon temps range from 16-20 usually, unless particularly cold or in September when the sun shines in through the window. It also obviously shines in during March but ambient temps are lower....

 

[moto748]

So having embarked on a Kolsch yesterday, I realised that I didn't really know what one tasted like! So I've just been to my local beer shop and bought a couple of bottles! Going to try one tonight.

[edit] And reading phillc's post, I see that they also stocked a kellerbier for £2.50 a 500 ml bottle; I would have bought one of those too if I'd known!

 

[phillc]

I indulged in one or two last night:

 

[Ahdinko]

So having embarked on a Kolsch yesterday, I realised that I didn't really know what one tasted like! So I've just been to my local beer shop and bought a couple of bottles! Going to try one tonight.

[edit] And reading phillc's post, I see that they also stocked a kellerbier for £2.50 a 500 ml bottle; I would have bought one of those too if I'd known!

How was it? When I was in cologne, Fruh and Gaffel were the two brands that I remember seeing the most. If you didn't get round to it yet, don't drink it straight out of the fridge, I think its supposed to be served at cellar temperature so about 10c

 

[dad_of_jon]

I don't have a brew-fridge, I daresay like a lot of posters, and I doubt I'll be getting one anytime soon. Likewise I don't have any external heating facility. So this is effect seems to mean that certain times of beer are probably not suited to what I have., I see recipes where the fermentation is kept very warm, and, more commonly, brews where the temperature is maintained quite cool. So I'm really only interested in brews that will be behave at normal room temp (say 21 deg in the day-time, 18-19 deg at night).

I've already decided that lagers in general I won't bother with, previous attempts at lager production have been disappointing, and I'm not a massive lager fan anyway. So I'm prepared to write them off. But the temp range shouldn't prevent me trying for, say, an American-style IPA?

So what I'm asking is, are there other types of brew I should perhaps forget about, and, conversely, others than would be suited to room temp? Thus far I have brewing English-style bitter and some stouts, which have gone OK, and one simple weissbier, which also went well. I would welcome your comments.

Try a cali-common. ive used mj cali 3 times now and loved it. (except for the lethal farts afterwards)

 

[Jim Brewster]

I've never used a fridge and never really had a beer with off flavours (POF+ yeasts aside)
At really hot times I've took advantage and brewed Witbier, Hefeweizen, Saison
Also used US-05, S-33 and Wilko ale yeast, all came out fine.
As mentioned there are also California common, Kviek and Kolsch yeasts that are intended to be brewed warm.

 

[moto748]

Try a cali-common. ive used mj cali 3 times now and loved it. (except for the lethal farts afterwards)

I have one one the go, recently bottled!

How was it? When I was in cologne, Fruh and Gaffel were the two brands that I remember seeing the most. If you didn't get round to it yet, don't drink it straight out of the fridge, I think its supposed to be served at cellar temperature so about 10c

I'm afraid to my uncultured taste, it was 'just lager'! I dunno, I suppose I was expecting something a bit different. The two brands I had were Dom and Kuppers.

 

[Ahdinko]

I have one one the go, recently bottled!




I'm afraid to my uncultured taste, it was 'just lager'! I dunno, I suppose I was expecting something a bit different. The two brands I had were Dom and Kuppers.

I've not had the two you mentioned, should be quite lager like in colour, but to me they taste in ways quite similar to your regular lager, and in ways very different.
The similarities to me are colour, the clean, crisp, dry taste, with low bitterness. An easy drinking summer beer. Where a Kolsch differs is that there is a much more of a malt taste, to me it is almost biscuity. There is also usually more hop flavour and fragrance, but definitely still on the low end of the scale.

I had enough left over from kegging my kolsch 2 for a few bottles, so if you want to swap one for a kolsch 1 to compare taste, that might be good. I've never actually made them side by side before.

 

[crowcrow]

Don't forget that you can brew with lager yeast at room temp (or even higher!) if you brew under pressure. My last beer brewed with lager yeast (is it really lager, I don't care!) was at 25c and brewed in less than a week. Will be 2 weeks in Sunday since I made it, and already been drinking it for a week.

I use a corny to pressure ferment, very cheap way of doing it.

 

[moto748]

I'm not interested in going near that pressure rigmarole!

Ahdinko>

I think 'a bit maltier' is exactly what I was expecting from the bought kolsch, but it wasn't there, for me. But that was just one bottle, I have another one I haven't tried yet.