how sensitive to temperature fluctuations?

[glassgiant]

My basement seems to consistently about 18C with the heat turned off (furnace and hot water heater keep it from getting cool). I have about a week to go on my cerveza. I was wondering if it would benefit from going out in outside stairs to the basement (rarely used). It's the type that's insulated, between 2 sets of doors. Inside door is poorly insulated, with a big gap at the bottom. Outside door is weather tight. I'm not sure what kind of temps I get in there, but it always seems cooler than the basement. 7 day forecast says a low of 6C some evening, high of 17C. I'd guess it won't go below 10C. Would my cerveza likely benefit from being out there? Is it better to keep a higher, consistent temp of about 18C or go for a more variable temp but cooler? It's been going for 6 days at about 18C. I just transferred to a carboy. I should probably check the temp in there a few times a day to get a feel for how it varies, but I haven't yet, and beer should be done in a week or so.

Thoughts? Opinions? Does anyone else have trouble finding a cool place? How do you deal with it?

[sleepyjamie]

What yeast are you using? Lager yeasts like to be around 8-12 degc.

[glassgiant]

I'm pretty sure it was a lager yeast. Sound should be safe putting it out?

[adams81]

From my understanding:

Assuming that you are using a lager yeast outside sounds better.

If you decide to keep it inside and end up with off flavours you can always store the bottles until the residual yeast clear it up (a month or more extra)

Edit: if its been going for six days there may not be much of a difference if you put it outside. Most of the fermentation should be done.

[glassgiant]

So if there are off flavors, I'd bottle at the same time I normally would, but leave it in the bottle for 6-8 weeks? How long does yeast live in the bottles?

[Tony L]

So if there are off flavors, I'd bottle at the same time I normally would, but leave it in the bottle for 6-8 weeks? How long does yeast live in the bottles?

I have a few bottles of brew I did in 2007 that I drink every now and then of a Northern English Brown that is still good, so yeast will hold out a long time, lol.

All yeast have a range in which temperature they will ferment best at. Lager yeast is the coolest starting at about 8c to 12c usually. Any change from that will result in more off flavours like diacetyl etc. that can skew the taste of your beer.

I would say your batch is ruined, so in order to help you out, I'll take it off your hands when you have bottled and carbonated them, so I can properly dispose of them.

[adams81]

Your beer will probably be fine at that fermentation temp. If you do have off flavors there won't be a lot. I think that you will enjoy it.

[chalmers]

From what I understand, having big temperature fluctuations (could be 5C from what I'm understanding of your setup) is worse than something that is a little high, but consistent. I'd leave it where it is.

To overcome high temps, you could set up a swamp cooler: put your bucket/carboy in a larger bucket/water tight container, put some water in larger container, and drape a damp towel over your bucket. The evaporating water will cool down the bucket. You can add ice/frozen pop bottles to keep it even lower.

[glassgiant]

Cool, I'll keep this one inside and try to monitor the temp outside to get a handle on how much it actually swings for future batches. How big a dip can a swamp cooler provide?

Also, is it possible to filter this before I bottle? Aesthetically, I'd prefer a clear cerveza, I think.

[LeafMan66_67]

Cool, I'll keep this one inside and try to monitor the temp outside to get a handle on how much it actually swings for future batches. How big a dip can a swamp cooler provide?

At the height of the summer last year, swamp cooler was dropping my ferment temps to approx 3 degrees C below ambient - with water, towel and ice packs changed out every six to eight hours. I was doing ales, not lagers though.