Ferm temp control question

I recently bought a small chest freezer for use as a fermentation chamber. It's very hot out and difficult to keep my office cool. Sometimes the temp gets into the mid to high 70's in here.

So I put the fermenter into the fridge and set it for 65. Here's the question - how long does it need to stay there? Can I take it out of there after a week and leave it at room temp for another week? Or does it need to stay in there for the whole primary fermentation?

I typically don't do a secondary.

Once you reach FG you can remove it and the temp won't really be an issue

LovesIPA said:

I recently bought a small chest freezer for use as a fermentation chamber. It's very hot out and difficult to keep my office cool. Sometimes the temp gets into the mid to high 70's in here.

So I put the fermenter into the fridge and set it for 65. Here's the question - how long does it need to stay there? Can I take it out of there after a week and leave it at room temp for another week? Or does it need to stay in there for the whole primary fermentation?

I typically don't do a secondary.

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Yes 3 to 7 days (for most yeast @ low end of recommended Yeast temp) depending how long active primary fermentation takes, then you can move to a warmer location to age/condition, this will actually help speed up the aging/conditioning process.

Cheers

Today I checked on the batch I brewed last Monday (5 days ago). It's 5.5 gallons with an OG of 1.076. It's been fermenting at 62-64 since then and I don't know if it's OK to take it out so I can brew another batch. There is airlock activity every 5-6 seconds and the krausen hasn't fallen yet. I took a hydro sample and it's at 1.024. Beersmith says the FG should be 1.012.

I don't want to brew my next batch until I'm sure that this can come up to room temp without an issue.

LovesIPA said:

Today I checked on the batch I brewed last Monday (5 days ago). It's 5.5 gallons with an OG of 1.076. It's been fermenting at 62-64 since then and I don't know if it's OK to take it out so I can brew another batch. There is airlock activity every 5-6 seconds and the krausen hasn't fallen yet. I took a hydro sample and it's at 1.024. Beersmith says the FG should be 1.012.

I don't want to brew my next batch until I'm sure that this can come up to room temp without an issue.

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As long as the new temperature isn't an extreme rise you can certainly remove it and let it rise to help the yeast finish up over the next few days.

I have no basement and the temp in the house is 75 to 78 depending on time of day. It gets pretty hot outside and the house isn't well insulated. We do have central air but it's tough to get it below the high 70's when it's 100 outside.

I'm glad you posted this, I just purchased a temp control for a chest freezer that wasn't being used on my property. It is also very warm where I live year round, and I figured I kept the primary/secondary in the freezer until ready to bottle. My chest freezer is literally about a CM too small to hold both my carboys, I was thinking about altering the freezer with a good old fashion hammer and some force, and even considered doing a few one gallon batches in between. I can handle 7-14 days in between brews for now, but still might break out the hammer anyways.

How about dry hopping? Is there a need to keep it in the temp controlled freezer?

LovesIPA said:

I have no basement and the temp in the house is 75 to 78 depending on time of day. It gets pretty hot outside and the house isn't well insulated. We do have central air but it's tough to get it below the high 70's when it's 100 outside.

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13-15 degrees is kind of a lot so leave it be for now