Without a chest cooler, I’m dependent on old-school methods of temp control. My mead is (relatively) safe in a big bucket of water receiving four swapped out freezer packs twice a day and staying at about 65F (though I’d prefer it a bit lower). The session ipa (1.046, US-05) from last Sunday is probably about done with the bulk of its fermentation, and I managed to keep it at 70F in the cellar next to the mead bucket. Ideally, it, too, would be 5 degrees cooler. How are you guys managing the heat - wet towels, other ideas? (Short of buying a freezer!)
I have a small room in my basement that I keep cool with a window unit. It stays at a nice cool 60 degrees.
Probably not helpful for you…
I put my fermenter in a large plastic tub full of water and add ice packs to the water.
Before I got a ferm chamber this method can be very effective, also know as a swamp cooler and works on the science of evaporative cooling.
wet t-shirt 
fan, ice if necessary.
I like brewing saisons in the summer because the yeast are happy at higher temps. Then again, summer in Seattle isn’t exactly a real summer so the basement stays a great temp for ales for most of the time.
Water bath. But really what I try to do is not to fight it. I brew lower gravity beers (more because I need to stay cool), saisons (where higher temp is helpful) and American sours with Brett as my primary yeast (also good at warmer temps).
I have a better way, controls temps =?- 1 or 2 degrees. I use an internal SS coil in my Brewhemoth and a simple glycol chiller made from an old window AC. Check out http://penrosepicobrewery.blogspot.com/
Currently I’m fermenting a British Ale at 66 in a shed that exceeds 100 degrees every afternoon.
I gave up and bought a freezer. In fact I bought two…
Ditto
Did the wet T-shirt thing. Did the swamp cooler thing. Nothing like precise, effortless, carefree temperature control and the quality of beer it produces in any season.
But I did have a keezer catch on fire a while back…
I lust for a freezer or two, but I’ve got nowhere to put them.
Lust, covet… I say make room! ;D :
You’d think that would be possible…but it’s not…yet…
Working hard trying to convince my wife that I need a fermentation fridge, but no luck so far. My basement ranges from about 62F-70F ambient in different locations during the summer, so I can get away with it for most ales. What’s nice is that I can control temps to some extent based on where I put the fermenter. The corner that is deepest underground generally ranges from 62-64F, while the area closest to the outside ranges from 67-70F.
I try to at least chill to the low 60’s before pitching, then let it rise from there. If needed I’ll use a swamp cooler for temp control. I’ve even brewed lagers using a swamp cooler in August, but it’s a royal PITA changing out frozen soda bottles 2-3 times a day to maintain temps within a reasonable range.
I guess it’s almost embarrassing to say that at the height of my home brewing days I had three 14 cubic foot chest freezers (one of them for serving) not to mention carboys laid out fermenting on basement floor. That doesn’t even include when I added the three 55 gallon vessel brew system on back porch and upright freezer with 42 gallon blichman conical in garage. Though I at least didn’t exclusively pay for all that and it was only there 4 or 5 months.
Don’t have any of that now. Nearly no brewing supplies in the house (I do a little fruit wine now here and there but nothing like home brewing). Course we had to invest a large chunk of our life savings to move it all out of the house and into the brewery.
I truly married an angel. Or maybe it’s just I’m that good in the sack.
I could never get the whole tub of water with ice to produce consistent results except during the “coldest” part of our winter for like two weeks if the tub was in the coldest corner of the house and I monitored it hourly to add frozen water packs. The rest of the year it’s too hot and too humid to get good results. We don’t have basements in Texas so there’s nowhere cool in the house and nowhere in the house with the temperature stability of a basement.
I vote for married an angel.
It’s always black and white with you! 
It’s more that the other choice was so unbelievable…