How low to set freezer for active fermentation

Hi guys,

For cost and complexity reasons, I can't simply use a thermowell or tape the thermometer to my carboys because I ferment multiple beers at once. Right now I have my first beer that is fermenting so actively that I needed to make a blow off tube.

I've read that the temperature inside the carboys can be from 5-10 degrees warmer than the ambient temperature, so I set my freezer to 58F (14.4C) and plan to crank it up slowly to 65F over the next few days. Should I go lower in the future?

Also, while I'm on this topic, as I said this is my first time that we've used a blowoff for overflow. We have it overflowing into about a gallon of sanitizer (water/starsan mixture) and the water has turned a murky brown. Should we clean this daily or is there no risk associated with this?

For ales I would just set it at 65 and forget it. The yeast will work in a pretty wide range without issue.

The blow off will not do any harm. In other words it won't get sucked back in.

Relax, have a home brew!

I tape the thermometer probe to the side of the carboy and then cover it with a foam pad and tape it down for insulation. Then set the temp on the STC-1000 to the temp i want to wort to be. I have a digital thermometer sitting inside to measure ambient temps and they are almost always different than what the probe is reading. That tells me the probe is reading the wort temp accurately and not any of the air temp.

Also leave the water til fermentation slows or stops and just replace the blow off with an airlock.

Get the thermometer stickers. They will give you a good idea of the actual beer temp. They're just a few dollars. You'd have to actively adjust the temp controller though to keep a steady temp. I don't understand why you can't tape the temp probe to the outside of the carboy with some insulation.

seabass07 said:

Get the thermometer stickers. They will give you a good idea of the actual beer temp. They're just a few dollars. You'd have to actively adjust the temp controller though to keep a steady temp. I don't understand why you can't tape the temp probe to the outside of the carboy with some insulation.

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I suppose I could tape it to the most active, so in the worst case it will just be a little too cold for the other.

I normally set my chest freezer to 17 C with the probe taped to the side. Works great for me

Paradigm said:

I suppose I could tape it to the most active, so in the worst case it will just be a little too cold for the other.

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I think that's the best bet.

You don't have to but this is what I use to know exactly what the temp is in my beer. It's probably over kill but I like to know. Stopper Thermowell

If you can fit a rubbermaid in there and fill it with water it will buffer the temp swing from fermentation by conducting away heat and bring internal temps closer to ambient.

I use 2 cinch straps around a new sponge to cover the temp probe...it's rock solid and does not move...sometimes condensation makes any tape come off.