"Bill Velek" <billvelek@alltel.net> wrote in message
news:411ED6F8.8080403@alltel.net...
[color=blue]
> I remembered recent discussions in which several reliable and
> experienced brewers said that it's just a myth that sucrose causes a
> cidery flavor ... and I take them at their word. Hmmm. Should I dump
> about three pounds of table sugar in with the kit?? Then I also
> remembered that the cidery flavor was attributed to stale extract, and
> there was no telling how old that can was, and I also remembered that
> just recently folks said something like 65F/18C is the ideal temp for
> ales, and without my cooler working, I'd be real hard pressed to get
> down below 70F. I therefore decided not to gamble with the sugar, but
> one of the first things I'm going to do when I get my cooler working, is
> to see how a brew comes out with a good dose of sugar. As for this
> brew, I used it to make a little tiny 2.5gallon batch and put it in my
> old Mr. Beer kit, so I've managed to come full-circle, so to speak --
> doing simple extract kits with dry yeast packs in my original
> fermentor. :-/ I knew that it would come in handy again some day.[/color]

I have to chuckle at how precise we are in modern times. Beer has been
around for thousands of years and suddenly we are concerned with
fermentation temps.

I have done the complete opposite of your premise stated above. I added the
sugar, and brown sugar, let the primary fermentation run in a stainless keg
outside. I live due east from you in Memphis so you know what a low temp
summer we have had this year.

This has been the stage for all the brewing for the summer. Wheats,
Belgiums, APA, Cal Common, IPA's. You know that the extra esters are from
the higher temps. The Wheats really had that umph that is at times less
pronounced!

Anyway. All these rules on temp and ideals, well toss them for a one time
experiment. Let your primary go in your garage or in a shed out back. You
will find that the wort/beer temp is not as volatile as the mercury in the
thermometer. This is how the beer was made for your grandparents. (60/80
years ago)