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Southern brewing,,,, Temperature, fermentation ?

tommiwommi

Master Brewer
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Location
West virginia
Just a random thought,
  I know there are brewers on here from the southern parts of the states, It gets a little warmer down there certain times of the year.
  Have any of you guys noticed a change with your brewing as far as temperature / fermentation / aging?
I was just curious, I think it would cause different outcomes (of course), but I don't know, whats your take on it.
  Besides air-conditioning and coolers, do you exempt certain times of the year because it's too warm etc., Or are there certain strains of yeasts that would work better in warmer climates or flavor changes because of temperature, I know there is alot of variables, I was just wanting to hear from personal experience.
I was just curious as to what you might do in warmer climates compaired to cooler climates.
 
This is an interesting question because its pretty much the opposite of the one I asked the other day.  I live in St. Petersburg FL but am moving to Grand Forks ND this summer so I'm interested in what cold weather changes I'm going to have to make. 

Anyway, I don't let the Florida heat stop my brewing.  If I did that then I wouldn't brew but a few times a year since the heat is so persistent.  It stays pretty hot around here I'd say up to and sometime through November and then usually (though not this year) it gets warm again around March.  Of course December through February aren't really all that cold either, its just cooler but that is when its the nicest to brew in my opinion. 

I live in an apartment so it doesn't cost as much to run the air conditioner and I usually have it set somewhere between 73-74 so my ambient air is pretty close to where I need to be for ales which is what I brew.  To get those extra few degrees I stick the fermenter in a tub full of cold water and put a wet towel that has been sitting in the freezer over it and then put a fan on everything to dry the towel.  It seems to work okay as my beers have been coming out pretty good in my opinion.  The toughest thing with this system is to keep the water cold and the towel wet.  Every few hours or when I first wake up I'll add some ice or switch the towel out for a new one that has been sitting in the freezer. 

The toughest thing about the warm weather is getting the full wort boil chilled.  I have one immersion chiller and one pre-chiller that sits in the sink full of ice and my boil kettle gets put in the tub full of ice water.  I'm looking forward to not having to do this when I move up north.

Hope that helps, maybe more of an answer than what you're looking for but my coffee hasn't set in yet so I'm still rambling
 
I brew year round. I have a bathroom in the center of the house that I use for temp control. In the summer I can pretty much keep the fermentation temp below 70F, and in the winter it is around 65.

In the summer, I keep bring my yeast to room temp and my immersion chiller can get the wort to 75 and thats where I pitch. I don't use a pre-chiller, although it would make it easier to get the wort down faster in the summer.

Cheers
Preston
 
Charlotte NC - hot sticky summers.  Some people skip the summer entirely, or brew quick easy "lawnmowers" or even saisons that benefit from an extended hot spell out in the garage.  But many keep brewing, relying on ferm "box chillers" and freezers etc. to maintain the ferm temps.
 
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