Ale Yeast - Temperature Drop ?

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zoddy

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This is my first post here, however I've been a reader of the boards for sometime. So hi to everyone!

My question is I put down an Ale yesterday afternoon and the air temperature was around 24 degrees. Over night it was expected to remain around the 19-20 degree mark. I thought it was perfect for my brew. I had also put a Lager down at the same time in a second fermenter.

I checked this morning and overnight we had an unexpected temperature drop and my digital thermometer registered it dropped down as low as 14 degrees in my garage where I have the brew.

My lager is bubbling away (about 1 bubble every 10-15 seconds) but the Ale isn't doing anything. I understand Lagers can handle lower temperatures than an Ale can so I suspect the overnight drop has caused the yeast to go dormant..?

Should I just repitch with another packet of yeast and turn my heater on for that fermenter? Or is the 'stuck' yeast likely to start up again as the temperature warms up throughout the day?
 
I hope you're talking about 14c, because up here at 14 degrees I got a block of frozen beer.

I'm going to assume you are talking about 14c and say warm that fermentor up and you should be fine. If after it's warmed up if you dont start to see some activity repitch some more yeast. Either way You should work out just fine.
 
Yes, 14c. Sorry I should have specified that in my post.

Thanks for the reply, I'll put my heater on it this afternoon after work and I'll take it from there.
 
14c isn't all that low and your yeast should be able to ferment (slowly) at that temperture. I ferment my ales at 64f brew tempertures as a rule, and my ales ferment out in 7 to 10 days. I get a cleaner flavor on my brews that way, but you can warm it up to ferment out faster if you like.
 
64f is roughly 18c though? I was under the belief that most Ale yeasts should be between 18-24c or 69-75f, hence my conern about being 4c below the recommended range.

Im not fussed about the time taken to ferment out, I just want it to ferment and not turn into a bad batch :D
 
Yes but I'm talking about actual wort temperture not ambient room temperture. my basement gets to around 56f in the winter and I have yet to worry about my brews not working. Fermentation causes heat.
 
I just wanted to pass on my thanks again for you help on these boards. After work yesterday afternoon I warmed it up with a heat pad for a few hours until the temp was reading 22c. I then turned it off and left it for a few hours until it started bubbling. I then left it wrapped in a blanket overnight and returned this morning to find it still bubbling away.

Many thanks!
 
I knew you were talking Celcius (Kelvin) when I saw you were from Down Under.

OK, so you are about to go into your winter there and the temps should be dropping which is great for lagers.

What I've done in the past is move the ales closer to the water heater (or furnace) and monitor the temp using the adhesive thermometer strip. You don't even have to permanetly adhere it to the fermenter. Just set it on top or use tape to hold it to the side instead.

If the brews temp goes too high move it away from the heat source about a foot or so until the fermenter is within a good temp range for the style.:D
 
Good idea about the water heater. My water heater is nearby, cheaper then running a seperate heater :D
 
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