Quick Fermentation Temp Question!

Hi gang,

I am still a little new to the crowd. I just recently hopped back into homebrewing and I have just had a great brew day. I brewed up a one gallon batch of brown ale and a 2.5 gallon batch of pale ale from separate kits. (I live in an apt so my brew size had to be scaled down)

As for my question I am currently fermenting both carboys in a mini-fridge with a johnson a419 controller hooked up to it. The probe is attached to the wall of the brown ale and insulated with insulating foam tape, a little bubble wrap and duct tape for good measure. The optimal temp for the brown ale is a wide range of 60-75, while the pale ale was recommended at 68-75. Currently I have the temp controller locked in at 69 degrees. Does this sound like a happy medium?

I look forward to your feedback.

Cheers!

Depends on what you want from the yeasts. I'd actually go 66, but I like to ferment a little cooler

I personally don't let ales get over 68 unless I'm doing some belgian.

I allow fermentation to take place near room temp with ok results. What I mean by this is I set my temp control so that it doesn't have to 'work' so much depending on the temp range for the beer.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I decided to lock in the fermenter at 66, which many seem to agree to be a good temperature for both ales.

Hopefully this works out well!

What yeast strains are you using? Given that you're going for a brown and a pale ale, I'm guessing you're using something British. In general, sticking to the cool side of the recommended range gives the best results, but if you're using some of the more temperamental British strains, you may have to ramp the temps back up after a few days and maybe even "rouse" the yeast to keep 'em working. However, if it's something like S-04, It's pretty hard to screw up.

gr8shandini said:

What yeast strains are you using? Given that you're going for a brown and a pale ale, I'm guessing you're using something British. In general, sticking to the cool side of the recommended range gives the best results, but if you're using some of the more temperamental British strains, you may have to ramp the temps back up after a few days and maybe even "rouse" the yeast to keep 'em working. However, if it's something like S-04, It's pretty hard to screw up.

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Just for your reference I am using Danstar Windsor ale yeast which came with the kit. I have the temp controller set to cut in with a set point of 67 and a diff of 1 degree. So the beer is holding between 66 and 67. Do you think this is still too high?

I'm not that keen on temps. I stick between 66-72. Best ipa I ever made was fermented at 72. Came out great. I guess it's just a personal preference, and what you are looking or in flavors. I was using wyeast 1056 made into a 1000ml starter.