Question about temperature and transferring to secondary

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HIT_MAN

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I started my fermentation in my primary fermenter on Monday which was about 6 days ago. I had an original hydrometer reading of 1.050 for a Pilsner brew. It has been fermenting in my garage which the temperature has been roughly 58-62F the entire time it has been fermenting. Should I try to put in my refrigerator or should I keep it there in the garage at those temps. The weather is suppose to get much cooler the next couple of days too.

I apologize for the knucklehead questions but I really don't feel confident in what I'm doing. Thanks for the help guys.
 
That is probably a little warm for a pilsner. What kind of yeast did you use?
 
That is probably a little warm for a pilsner. What kind of yeast did you use?

Muntons yeast. So what are the consequences that i will have because I fermented at to high of a temperature?
 
Is it Munton's lager yeast? Fermenting lagers warm will mean that you won't get that really clean, crisp taste that you traditionally get from something like a pilsner. Your temp range seems to be kind of in between real lager temps and temps for a steam beer, so you won't have over the top yeast/ester profiles, but some.
 
Is it Munton's lager yeast? Fermenting lagers warm will mean that you won't get that really clean, crisp taste that you traditionally get from something like a pilsner. Your temp range seems to be kind of in between real lager temps and temps for a steam beer, so you won't have over the top yeast/ester profiles, but some.

I'm so novice I don't even know what the last sentence meant. The package looked like this.
muntunsdry.jpg
 
That looks like an ale yeast- that's pretty cold for an ale yeast, so I would expect that it wouldn't ferment very well at all.

What was the recipe? Did you take any SG readings since the beginning? I'd take the SG and see where it was at, and try to get it above 65 degrees.

There's some confusion here, because a true pilsner beer is a lager, which is fermented around 50 degrees or so. But many kits aren't instructing you to use lager yeast and to do that, so it's actually an ale kit. If you're making an ale kit, then it should be fermented at the yeast's optimum fermenting temperature. From Munton's website, I found this:

Muntons Standard Yeast

It has very hardy characteristics and will tolerate a wide variety of temperature variations during fermentation.

For recipes demanding the use of sugar our Standard Yeast is ideal. If all malt brewing is undertaken we would recommend that you use our Premium Gold Yeast as our Standard Yeast will struggle to ferment some of the more complex sugars which are more prevalent in all malt recipes.

The major benefit for you of using Muntons Standard Yeast is its relatively low cost.

All of our yeasts are supplied in six gramme sachets sufficient to brew five U.K.gallons, six U.S. gallons or twenty three litres of beer.




So, I'd check the SG and see if it was finishing up. If not, I'd put it somewhere in the mid 60s to get it going.
 
Alright I just did a hyrdometer reading and it showed up at around 1.016 from the initial 1.045 that I started out with. The brew sheet says it should be around 1.010 to 1.014 though.

I didn't contaminate my brew by opening the lid and scooping out a cup of brew to check to do my hydrometer reading did I?

What should I do next?
 
You probably didn't contaminate the brew by opening and scooping, but you might have aerated it a bit. Next time you need a sample, use a sanitized wine thief or even a sanitized turkey baster and gently take out when you need. No scooping, splashing or stirring.

Wait two more days and take another sample. Try to keep it above 60 degrees- 65 is better. When the reading doesn't change over at least three days, you can get ready to bottle or rack to secondary.
 
im surprised the gravity even got that low. yooper has a lot more say than i do, but i would maybe keep it in the primary for 2-3 weeks total to maybe clear up some of the off flavors that might have occurred and then put it in the cooler area for a week in the secondary to help clear it up and condition.
 
im surprised the gravity even got that low. yooper has a lot more say than i do, but i would maybe keep it in the primary for 2-3 weeks total to maybe clear up some of the off flavors that might have occurred and then put it in the cooler area for a week in the secondary to help clear it up and condition.

I'm a little confused. Am I doing the correct thing by getting a hydrometer reading since you talk about clearing up some of the off flavors that occurred. Did these off flavors occur because I didn't use the proper technique to getting a hydrometer reading??
 
I'm a little confused. Am I doing the correct thing by getting a hydrometer reading since you talk about clearing up some of the off flavors that occurred. Did these off flavors occur because I didn't use the proper technique to getting a hydrometer reading??

No, I think he's referring to the possibility of off flavors from stressed yeast. That yeast strain seems to do ok at a wide variety at temperatures- but up and down temperatures and fermenting too cool can cause some stress to the yeast. Stressed yeast can lead to some unwanted flavors.

For ale yeast strains, most fermentation temps are 62-70 degrees, and a steady temperature is perferable. For lager strains, temps are generally 48-52 degrees. Fluctuations in temperature and fermenting out of the optimum temperature can be a cause of those off-flavors. I read the literature on that Munton's and it looks like it'll do ok at a much wider temperature range, but a steady temperature is still best.

If you must ferment in your garage, at least insulate the fermenter so that the temperature fluctuations are minimized, and again try to keep it at 65 degrees if you can.
 
No, I think he's referring to the possibility of off flavors from stressed yeast. That yeast strain seems to do ok at a wide variety at temperatures- but up and down temperatures and fermenting too cool can cause some stress to the yeast. Stressed yeast can lead to some unwanted flavors.

For ale yeast strains, most fermentation temps are 62-70 degrees, and a steady temperature is perferable. For lager strains, temps are generally 48-52 degrees. Fluctuations in temperature and fermenting out of the optimum temperature can be a cause of those off-flavors. I read the literature on that Munton's and it looks like it'll do ok at a much wider temperature range, but a steady temperature is still best.

If you must ferment in your garage, at least insulate the fermenter so that the temperature fluctuations are minimized, and again try to keep it at 65 degrees if you can.

Thank you tremendously!:mug:
 
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