Do any ales work best when brewed on the colder side?

I usually keep my place at around 60-64 degrees, are there certain ales/yeasts that work best under a somewhat lower temperature? I don't plan on lagering, it's not that cold in my apartment. Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks

Most ales ferment the best at about 68 degrees, so if you keep your place at 60-64 degrees, it should be pretty good, though fermentation typically adds 10 degrees to the ambient temp.

Ales will be a little smoother and produce fewer fruity esters when brewed on the colder side, and you apartment isn't too cold for most ales. Check out the websites of the yeast you are purchasing to see the temperature ranges for those yeasts. There is a yeast guide stuck to the top of one of the forums around here.

Thanks guys. What if at night, and I can't confirm this because I'm asleep, it drops down to about 58, is that pushing it?

brunswickbrewer said:

Thanks guys. What if at night, and I can't confirm this because I'm asleep, it drops down to about 58, is that pushing it?

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Even if the air temp dips, the fluctuation in temperature of the liquid in the fermentation vessel won't change by that much. You have to figure that some fridge thermostats come with a temperature differential of 5˚ anyway.

Altbier and Kölsch are styles that benefit when fermented cooler.

How about the flip side of this? It's November and was 88 today... anyone know what ales like it warm?

Some yeasts such as saisons and some belgians are better fermented warmer for the true taste of the style. I'd check out Wyeast's website, they have lots of good info. on this.

After a temperature issue (too high) on one of my fermentations, I started doing the water bath supplemented with frozen water bottle trick. From then on, I ferment all my ales at 64-65.

I often like brown ales, brown porters, and stouts that are fermented at lower temperatures. You might want to give one of those a try.

There is a reason why many styles associated with winter have lower ester profiles, and you just hit upon that reason.


TL

Kubed said:

How about the flip side of this? It's November and was 88 today... anyone know what ales like it warm?

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MOST ale yeasts will give you an undesirable fruity ester character if you ferment it too warm. Usually, I don't like to let my ales get above 70f. With Saisons and maybe a few other styles (hefe's sometimes), they can go warmer, but that's the exception and not the rule.

I was listening to the Jamil Show podcast re: Saisons yesterday, and they got to talking about yeast, and Jamil said, unequivocally, that the best thing you can do to make your beer better is control your fermentation temps. He said it's right up there with sanitation...it's that important.

Kolsh yeast will be real smooth at lower temps

According to Jamil, Scottish ales are better in the lower end too.

Alt beers are typically fermented cooler say around 55-65f
Mine is going ape$hit right now at 59f, and that's even with the 1056 american ale yeast.

I have gotten earthy flavors kind of like a root vegetable (celery) at higher temps with some ale yeasts.

What are you, a fish?

rohanski said:

What are you, a fish?

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He's cheap like me. Programmable thermostat 53 at night, 63 during the day. Once in a while, as a treat on a weekend I might turn it up to 67.

I do turn it up for guests though. Certain ones anyway.

Yeah, as all have said:

British/German ales do really well when fermented cooler.

Belgian/French ales do well warmer.

I usually ferment ales around 60-62°, no matter what the yeast spec sheet says.

craiger ny said:

He's cheap like me. Programmable thermostat 53 at night, 63 during the day. Once in a while, as a treat on a weekend I might turn it up to 67.

I do turn it up for guests though. Certain ones anyway.

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Hell 63 isn't warm. My dog needs it warmer than that.

I understand temp control is vital. My basement stays around 68 which is good but when it's really fermenting it goes up to like 74 sometimes, what's a good way to keep it down lower than this but not take it down too far (An ice bath seems like a bad idea, might take it down too low)

The wet t shirt over the carboy, sitting in a tub of luke warm water is good for lowering it 7-8 degrees, more if you put a fan on it.

When brewing at 60-62, should you typically ferment longer to reach desired gravity readings? That is, are the yeast less active-lower attenuation rates when you brew at a lower temperature than recommended?

Fermentation might take a day or two longer because the yeast are working slower, but at the same time they are creating fewer esters and other by products. It takes longer to produce a "cleaner" ale. I ferment most of my ales around 62-64F and I live in AZ, I like the smoother, cleaner flavor of a lower fermentation temperature.

All the beers I've made so far I've done in the 67-70 range, maybe they bumped a bit higher during the day if I wasn't paying attention.

But my beers I'm doing right now are fermenting nicely in the low 60s, so I'm really hoping for an improvement.

Gotta love this cold weather, I set the beer out on my back porch in the shade during the day and its a nice constant 62 degrees. Open the kitchen door and set it inside at night when its colder and the beer only gets a chance to get up to 65 or so before morning and then its right back outside. Way easier than messing with an ice bath!

Mutilated1 said:

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Gotta love this cold weather, I set the beer out on my back porch in the shade during the day and its a nice constant 62 degrees. Open the kitchen door and set it inside at night when its colder and the beer only gets a chance to get up to 65 or so before morning and then its right back outside. Way easier than messing with an ice bath!

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What cold weather? I just checked the outside thermometer and it's 72... at 1am!!!! I'm going to be the only guy running my AC in January ... for beer