another question

[joemez]

Now that I am actually making drinkable beer(thank god), I want to fill all my kegs up. I use a fermentation chiller, but I only have one. Now that winter is approaching my basement usually stays below 70deg F but might get a little over during the day. Would it be OK to just use the chiller for the primary and then leave the secondary at room temp? I would like to start another brew when I rack in a few days

[fitz]

Unless you place the secondary in a waterbath, wrapped with a towel dipped into the water. This will calm the temp fluctuations in your beer.

[Push Eject]

I always found a t-shirt worked better than a towel.

Cheers,
Charlie

[joemez]

I have a good thing going here, so I'm not gonna rush it. If you guys think that not controlling the temp all the way through the full fermentation is not a good idea then I will just wait. Maybe I will make another chiller in the future.

[jayhawk]

Well, I guess I'll be the one to offer a different view this time. It sounds to me, joemez, that you have dealt with the major issues that were affecting the quality of your beer. As far as your temp flucuations, I wouldn't worry. Since air heats/cools much quicker than water (and beer) a minor air temp flucuations should have a minimal impact on fermenting. As long as your temps are close to 70, you should be care free. I know that this is what happens in my house, and my beer is good.

One thing to watch out for is trying to brew too much at once. I have had 5 batches fermenting at one time, but only 2 made to bottling because I got careless. I took sanitation for granted, and perhaps spread infections across batches by not properly cleaning my gear. I was over my head, and it was tough to keep on top of everything. So just brew what your system and you can handle.

Good luck
Chris