Thanks everyone for your helpful replies to my 'minimum ale yeast temperature' question.
I did a preliminary test before brewing to see what my actual median temperature would be in the garage. I racked the carboy with just water at
75F (to simulate a new batch) and checked it a couple of times per day for 2 days. The temperature hovered around 66-68F so I went ahead with my ale yeast and everything seems to be coming a long nicely. I made a yeast starter to be sure my cell count would be high and it's been bubbling, burping and spewing krausen for the last 48 hours, so I think it's happy enough at the temperatures it's getting.Thanks all, and I'll let you know how it turns out. I'll be interested to see how long fermentation takes at these temperatures. I put a hot water bottle under the blanket next to my carboy this morning, just to make sure it was happy.
This is my first homebrew and I'm hooked just from smelling that delicious "fresh bread" aroma of the 1st day of fermentation.
Now if I can just find some bottles to brew in! HA! No big. I have a few more days to figure that part out.
Regards,
Jeremy Anderson (janderson at miletwo dawt calm)