Oh so cold.

I recently made my first visit to my closest home brewing shop, Harvey's in Fareham, which is just 11 miles from my house. (Check out their somewhat limited website 4u2brew on my blogroll.) I somehow managed to spend around 40 quid, but I'll save talking about most of the things I bought for when I actually get chance to use them.

One item I had wanted for a while and finally managed to get on my visit was a thermometer. I was amazed that I couldn't get hold of a simple glass one like I used to use at school from anywhere else. Anyway, I wanted it to measure the temperature of "The Brewery" which I suspected is too cold most of the time for ideal brewing conditions. (I will also use it in the future to check the temperature of the beer mixture before adding the yeast.) I found that the room temperature seems to stay at about 18 degrees C but increased a little when the heating is on in the house. I recalled reading that anything below 20 degrees is not good for brewing, but after asking a few experienced brewers on jimsbeerkit forum (check my blogroll) it seems it should be fine.

However, the recent failure of my boiler has sent temperatures down to 16 degrees C, which is definitely too cold, but there really isn't much I can do about it. The boiler man came today and is due back tomorrow with the required parts. I've got my fingers crossed that all will be well after he has returned. It's bad enough being freezing cold, and not being able to get a shower, but if it ruins my first home brew beer too - it doesn't bare thinking about.