koolegged

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i have been brewing at room temp for years but 2 nights ago i wanted to try something new. i brewed a pale ale with a danstar nottingham yeast starter temp range (54-70) it claims at lower temps it causes lager like smoothness. After my brew started to bubble i put it in a cooler filled with water and have been rotating a 2 liter bottle of ice every 8 to 10 hours. temp stays pretty consistently at 60. when it hits about 62 i change ice,but for a bit when ice is first put in the temp drops as low as 54. my question is,is it likely that much of a swing will cause any noticable off flavors? i have always brewed at a consistent 72 debrees or in my fridge at 50 degrees. no experience with temp shifting. any help wouild be appreciated. thanks!

Fordzilla

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I grew up in McKean, nice to see some NW PA representation on the forum!

As far as your fermentation temps, I know temperature swings are something you want to avoid, but I'll let someone else chime in on whether or not you'll get off flavors from it. A lot of people use the ice bath method though, and I imagine some degree of temp swing is impossible to avoid.

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Next Up -
Primary - wcarter1227's 15 min Pale Ale
Secondary - Hard Cider
Bottles - MysticMead's Irish Red Ale, Deception Cream Stout, Denny Conn's Boubon Vanilla Porter, English IPA
Kegs - Zombie Dust Clone

koolegged

Recipes 

thanks for the input. i never would have thought i would get a response from someone in mckean. dont know too many home brewers around here.

ChessRockwell

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Swings towards the lower end shouldn't cause any off flavors, the only thing you risk is the yeast going dormant. But if you're within the acceptable range stated for the yeast, you shouldn't have anything to worry about at all. Off flavors are more of a worry when the temp swings in the UPPER direction.

At least this is my understanding.

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captainL

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Are those temps the wort temp or the water surrounding the wort. It takes a while to change the temp of 5 gallons. Even in a temp controlled fridge the air temp can be down to 40 degrees while the wort is maintained at 65 or so.

dozer5454

Recipes 

I think you may be reading the stick on temp gauge and noticing the swing. This does not translate to the wort changing that much. Give it an hour or so, then come back and check the temp.

koolegged

Recipes 

thanks for input.yes i have a floating thermometer in the cooler.no temp on fermenter. but i think i got it down. its actually easy to keep it steadily at 60 with maybe a 2 degree change before adding new ice. once i got it to temp i check every 8 hours. put an ice in for about 30 minutes and remove and it keeps the temp stable.works very well indeed.