fermenting temperature

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pass1over

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Bottled our first 2 batches last night (golden wheat and a cream ale), so since our fermenting buckets were empty, we started brewing our 3rd batch of beer today, a dunkelweiss, extract recipe.

was reading the instruction on the vial of yeast and im a little confused on something. Instructions on the vial of White Labs hefeweizen ale yeast IV says to pitch it when the wort is 70-75 deg, and to keep it there until fermentation begins (5-15 hours).

Should I ferment this batch at that range, or once fermentation starts, bring it down into the mid 60s like the other 2 ale batches we did? Kept it around 67-68 for the other batches.
 
that yeast works just fine from 65-75. the question is, what flavors do you want to accentuate? banana is high temp, low pitching rate. clove is lower temp.
I like hefe yeast at like 70.
 
I love White Labs' products- but NOT their instructions on their yeast vial! They tell you to do that to make up for probably not having enough yeast in the vial- that pitching at a higher temperature will encourage yeast reproduction so that you can sort of make up for not using enough yeast. I wouldn't do that. Instead, I'd use the proper amount of yeast (consult mrmalty.com for a good yeast pitching calculator), and follow the instructions on White Labs' website on fermentation temperatures.

Here's the info directly from White Labs:

WLP380 Hefeweizen IV Ale Yeast
Large clove and phenolic aroma and flavor, with minimal banana. Refreshing citrus and apricot notes. Crisp, drinkable hefeweizen. Less flocculent than WLP300, and sulfur production is higher.
Attenuation: 73-80%
Flocculation: Low
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 66-70°F
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium
 
Pitched @ 72 degrees, bucket has been at between 68-72 degrees overnight. I was getting worried that something was awry b/c as of the 15 hour mark I hadn't started seeing any air bubbles in the airlock (I know thats not an indicator that fermentation isnt going on).

Pushed the airlock down a little more in the o-ring, and the little cap in the airlock started to rise. We have fermentation! Now the waiting process begins.

Thanks for the info all.
 
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