Wouldn't you know it? The very week that I get both a chest freezer and a ranco digital controller - we get a cold snap. It's less than 50 degrees in my garage. I know, I know - I can almost hear Crut telling me to cry him a couple of icycles. He probably has to keep his car on an engine block heater.... But I live in freakin' Arizona! It rarely gets this cold here. Consequentally, I bought a single stage controller. I guess I'll be doing lagers for a few months...
Well here's the quandry. I planned on brewing a Cali common tomorrow - using Papazian's Cry Havoc. Correct me if I am wrong - but what give it its distinctive taste is the fact that you use lager yeast at ale temps....
Should I - a) put a small lamp (always on) in the freezer to raise the temp - and then plug the freezer into the control to bring it down to 65, b) plug the lamp into the controller in heat mode (freezer unplugged), or c) just ferment it at 50? If I go with option "a", I need to pick a small wattage bulb - since I won't be turning it on and off. I just need to raise it about 15-20 degrees. Maybe a small wattage is the best - like 25-40 watts... What do you guys think?
Mylo