fermentation heat

I started a batch of Northerns'St.Paul Porter' on Wed..checked the OG=1.059
Put in an unheated pantry,that holds a temp of 63-64..I had air lock action after 18 hrs[us-05 yeast]..Just checked a while ago and the temp on my bucket reads 67-room still 63-64...would I be correct is saying that fermenting creats a temp rise similar to 'composting...??..If so,how much temp gain is the norm ??..don't want it any higher..

Yep, fermentation is an exothermic reaction. I've had certain yeast strains boost temps almost 10 degrees above ambient during high krausen.

If the room stays cooler a fan could be used to keep the brew cooler too.

I live in Texas, so I usually ferment with my primary in a tub of water with a tee shirt over it to wick up the water and under a fan. On my current brew, I figured the house is staying 70 degrees so I would just let it ferment at room temps since the yeast I am using has a range up to 74 degrees. I checked the fermentor yesterday at high krausen and that blasted temps were almost 80! I had to take it outside in the 53 degree temps to get the temp down on the fermentor. That is almost a 10 degree increase over ambient temps.

Looks like I will be leaving the brew in the fermentor a bit longer than normal to let the yeasties clean up what they can...

Wow...I am glad you asked that question. I was just signing on to do the same. I could not find anything in my books about it but from what little I remember from my quality puplic edujabication I figured as much. In anticipation of this I fermented my beer in a tub of water in which I held an ambient 60-65 degree temp. So, I figure my fermentation was around 70 or so. Do you think those little stick on fermometers are fairly accurate?