Cool Ale Fermentation

For my honey ale, I've decided to ferment in the garage where it is currently 52 degrees. I am using Danstar Windsor yeast. Any thoughts on how this will impact my beer?

That sounds pretty low for an ale yeast. How about switching to making a lager? Or you could do a water bath with an aquarium heater.

I don't think Windsor will ferment that low. Heck, Windsor doesn't like to ferment even at optimum temperatures and is prone to being finicky and having high finishing FGs. I wouldn't even attempt to ferment Windsor under 65 degrees.

My experience is the opposite of #3. I ferment Danstar Windsor at around 60F and it is hard to keep the reins back on it. Typically ferments out in 3 days or so. It might be interesting to try to ferment it lower to see how the lower temperature inhibits ester formation.

Why don't you just pitch lager yeast? 52 degrees is much too cold for an ale yeast, but the optimal temperature for lager yeast

Never had luck with Windsor that low but have used Nottingham with success at 60

Or you could ferment your ales inside the house? I usually put my ale in the bottom of the coat closet. We have our house temperature set at 65 this time of year and it works out perfectly

My garage has stayed in the mid 50's so far. The fermentation is in it's 3rd day and still going. I decided to let it go out there for a few days after reading about the esters this strain produces at higher temps. I'll let it warm up to the house tonight to finish, I just wanted to keep it under control for the first few days. So far so good, I'll post once I get an FG. Hopefully, I didn't screw it up.

52 is too low, as mentioned above. I ferment Windsor at 62F with good results, most recently with the White House Honey Ale. http://www.singingboysbrewing.com/White-House-Honey-Ale.html

Pappers_ said:

52 is too low, as mentioned above. I ferment Windsor at 62F with good results, most recently with the White House Honey Ale. http://www.singingboysbrewing.com/White-House-Honey-Ale.html

Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing that, I'm glad to see that people such as yourself have had a good experience with this strain. I got a bit uneasy after reading some stories of bubble gum flavored beer. The fermenter has been moved inside to warm up for the remaining time. I was estimating my actual wort temp to be in the low 60's when considering the heat generated by the yeast in an insulated bucket. Does that estimation seem reasonable?

edds5p0 said:

Does that estimation seem reasonable?

Click to expand...

Maybe. Maybe not. It might be much cooler than your estimate.

Don't you have one of those "stick on" thermometers? They have them at homebrew shops or at Walmart (for aquariums). Then you can see at a glance what the actual temperature is, instead of trying to guess.

I've never had "bubblegum" out of Windsor yeast, ever. I've had it stick at 1.022, and other issues with it fermenting, but never off flavors.

Yooper said:

Maybe. Maybe not. It might be much cooler than your estimate.

Don't you have one of those "stick on" thermometers? They have them at homebrew shops or at Walmart (for aquariums). Then you can see at a glance what the actual temperature is, instead of trying to guess.

Click to expand...

I should probably pick one up. I've just been keeping a digital thermometer on the lid.

Hey I saw this thread after talking to ya in the white house thread and thought I'd add my info here for reference. I'm using the Windsor Dry Ale yeast and my wort temp. is 62.8. Starting Gravity was 1.066 and after 24 hours it is down to 1.061. I think it started kinda slow at first. I might bring the temp. up to 67.5 in four days or so to help with attenuation but I haven't decided for sure yet. Gonna see how the ferment goes.

Edit: I mashed at 155 for an hour

DaBills said:

Hey I saw this thread after talking to ya in the white house thread and thought I'd add my info here for reference. I'm using the Windsor Dry Ale yeast and my wort temp. is 62.8. Starting Gravity was 1.066 and after 24 hours it is down to 1.061. I think it started kinda slow at first. I might bring the temp. up to 67.5 in four days or so to help with attenuation but I haven't decided for sure yet. Gonna see how the ferment goes.

Click to expand...

Yeah, it would be good to know. I've read numerous posts on various threads that the yeast will go nuts producing fruity esters if it gets too warm. I've also read that Windsor finishes up pretty quickly, hence my desire to slow it down in the early stages.

edds5p0 said:

Yeah, it would be good to know. I've read numerous posts on various threads that the yeast will go nuts producing fruity esters if it gets too warm. I've also read that Windsor finishes up pretty quickly, hence my desire to slow it down in the early stages.

Click to expand...

Yeah I hear ya. I have no problem with letting it ferment for a month if it has to my only concern is a stuck fermentation like yooper was talking about. This thread isn't too encouraging: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/windsor-yeast-223648/