Revvy

Recipes 

So how does this not back me up that the core is WARMER than the sticker?

Like I said...you can believe what you want...But if you believe that it is possible...and try to keep the temp strip as cool as possible, then you don't have to WORRY about producing fuesils...Can we at least agree on that and NOT scare the Noobs further???

They have enough fears going on right now...then the semantics of this discussion.

__________________

The Open Heart Surgery Recovery "Dramedy" continues!

Revvy's one of the cool reverends. He has a Harley and a t-shirt that says on the back "If you can read this, the bitch was Raptured. - Madman

I gotta tell ya, just between us girls, that Revvy is HOT. Very tall, gorgeous grey hair and a terrific smile. He's very good looking in person, with a charismatic personality... he drives like a ****ing maniac! - YooperBrew

remilard

Recipes 

I would be interested in hearing more about how vespa2t conducted his experiment.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f37/belgian-dubbel-temperature-fluctuations-88238/

Sounds like his liquid crystal thermometer may have been in contact with ice water.

He was also comparing two different thermometers and doesn't talk about checking that they measure the same or are similarly calibrated.

If I tape the thermocouple from a temp controller to the side of a fermenting better bottle with insulation over it and then stick the same thermocouple into the center of the beer, the difference is nowhere near 5 degrees. Two take away points, I am using the same thermometer for both measurements and I am insulating the thermometer on the outside in a good faith attempt to measure the outside of the vessel and not the ambient air or water or some combination thereof.

If all you can do is measure the ambient air then, sure, you should target several degrees below your desired fermentation temperature. I think all brewers can aspire to better temperature measurement than that, and hopefully better control.

Revvy

Recipes 

Well you can take it up with him if you want...or start another thread to discuss the merits of his research...Or prove me wrong otherwise (which I don't care about as long as the info is accurate, and then I would use it, like I have the other info in the past to calm the noobs and teach.)

Like I said earlier, can't for the sake of the nervous new brewers lurking who a) are scared of breathing on their beers let alone having hot fermentations b) don't understand HALF of what you an I are discussing (let alone a word like exothermic), can we just agree that temp control is important and leave it at that here?

Because we've literally threadjacked this thread...

Like I said, this was/is a nervous n00b thread, which I think, until you decided to debate the semantics of this with me here, was working.

And I'd like to kinda have this thread stay that way...because the OP's beer is really probably fine, and that WAS the point of this thread...

OK?



Besides what you just said? I've been saying all along...so ultimately we are in agreement over everything, BUT the semantics...and semantics are irrelevant to that statement...

__________________

The Open Heart Surgery Recovery "Dramedy" continues!

Revvy's one of the cool reverends. He has a Harley and a t-shirt that says on the back "If you can read this, the bitch was Raptured. - Madman

I gotta tell ya, just between us girls, that Revvy is HOT. Very tall, gorgeous grey hair and a terrific smile. He's very good looking in person, with a charismatic personality... he drives like a ****ing maniac! - YooperBrew

reim0027

Recipes 

Being a n00b myself, all I care about is how to interpret the sticky thermometer that is on my fermentor. Based on what I've read, it is better to err on the cool side than on the warm side. Which, is kinda ideal, since my basement keeps the fermentor at about 64 degrees. How far to err, well, I just don't have tham much control right now, so I'll not worry about it.

dogfishandi

Recipes 

i definatley enjoyed reading ur debate there, pretty informative(?). so when certain yeasts and brews tell you to ferment at a certain temp, are they talking about the middle of the wort or the temp of the outside of the fermenter?

thanks again revvy for the advice. i stopped trying to heat my beer last night. it got up to 72 pretty much all last night and early this morning even though the heater was off, but still nothing changed at all. right now, its about 5pm and the temp is pretty steady at 65. im still a little nervous cause i dont see anything going on like my last brew which had a lot less fermentables. but i guess every brew is different. i just have to wait another week and a half or so, then bottle and maybe get a taste in the process.
cheers

__________________
Fermentor-Hop Juice IPA
Bottle Conditioning-
Drinking- Palace Porter
WCPA

dangerbrew

Recipes 

I had a similar experience with a stout recently. Gravity's really the only way to tell.

But I wouldn't worry about it. If you have seen *some* fermentation in the beginning and it has continued to ferment, even in small, almost non-noticeable amounts, there probably isn't anything wrong. As far as I've seen that probably the case with most stouts in contrast to other beers.

Mine seemed to stop fermenting very well within 24 hours, but after a week the gravity was well within what I expected and the beer eventually turned out great.

If you're really worried, keep an eye on the gravity. Otherwise, just let it be. You're probably fine.

__________________
THE NOOK BREWERY
On Tap: "Colossal Wassail" Holiday Spiced Ale, "Voodoo Child" Black IPA

"Never shake the beer. It just makes it angry."
Proud member of The Fairmont Homebrewers Club

Revvy

Recipes 

A lot of us err on the side of temp caution...trying to shoot for a strip temp a few degrees less than what we want....UNLESS we are using some form of temp control....like a refrigerator, chest freezer of even a swamp cooler full of ice water where we are driving the temp of the liguid down...then after a while we can assume the liguid and the strip are in equalibrium...That's why a water bath is even a good idea...because the water will hold temp longer and help cushion any wild temp fluctuations....Or if you have it in a fridge you have to figure that after a few hours the fermenter and the lquid and the strip are in alignment...

But obviously that other guy disagrees...(like they say as 10 brewers a question and get 12 different answers. I'm not going to debate it here...and I'm just passing on what I was taught by many of the people on here.) )

But a mister beer is tiny...so if you had a thermometer strip on that I would say it is close...but in a 5 gallon bucket many of us err on the side of caution...I've been doing it this way for a lot of batches both in a mr beer, and in bigger fermenters..and my beers have turned out.


And to your other statement about it being different from your last batch......

One thing you HAVE to realize....you can NEVER compare one fermentation with another...even a split batch into two carboys with the same yeast will sometimes act totally different to each other...it could be any number of reasons, including a single temp degree difference....or something else we will never know..

You have to remember, as opposed to in organic chemistry, or even most cooking, the minute you pitch the yeast, you introduced a LIVING MICRO ORGANISM....you didn't just mix coolaid powder, sugar and water, you gave up control of the process to another living creature...So you introduced a "wild card" to the equation....a random factor left up to the whims of the little buggies...

Think of the yeasties as a teenager or a partner, and you will understand how powerless you are...

A lot of new brewers think THEY are in charge...they decide when they think the should rack or bottle, and they don't pay attention to whether the beer is ready for the next step...

Then they start is my beer ruined threads because the beer is not living up to THEIR expectations...it's not carbonated when THEY want it to be...or the secondary it to soon, and all of a sudden it starts another krausen (which freaks them out because they didn't see it in the bucket...now in the carboy it is scary and ugly) and the panic...or it doesn't appear to be fermenting in their primary and they want to fix it by warming it up

But the truth of the matter is, WE ARE NOT IN CHARGE...the yeasties are...all we are responsible for is building a nice clean factory (a sanitized fermenter) stocked with plenty of food and materials to work with (the wort) and then we just are supposed to step away and let them do what they've been doing since time began....

That's why you will find a lot of us don't secondary...we walk away from the fermenter for 3-4 weeks, then we bottle or keg...we let the yeasties do their job, and also something that a lot of people who secondary don't get the benefit of.....they clean up their own messes...the get rid of a lot of the byproducts of their fermentation...Palmer talks about the yeasts cleaning up after themselves in How to Brew...

SO basically a lot of us now just leave the yeas plenty of time to do their jobs...figuring a month is enough time to ferment, clean and settle, and still way within the safety window of the "dreaded boogeyman autolysis," then we just bottle or keg...

THis is a game of patience and trust.

SO again, don't compare it to your last batch...and don't worry about it...all is well.

And definitely check out the Mr Beer sticky at the top of the beginners forum...you will find a lot of good tips and info...



A lot of new brewer's thinl

__________________

The Open Heart Surgery Recovery "Dramedy" continues!

Revvy's one of the cool reverends. He has a Harley and a t-shirt that says on the back "If you can read this, the bitch was Raptured. - Madman

I gotta tell ya, just between us girls, that Revvy is HOT. Very tall, gorgeous grey hair and a terrific smile. He's very good looking in person, with a charismatic personality... he drives like a ****ing maniac! - YooperBrew