oberon567
Well-Known Member
So, now I am all stressed out. And I dont have any homebrew to RDWHAHB. Here is the deal.
This last weekend I brewed 15 gallons of beer, three different recipes. I am still relatively new, these three batches put me hovering somewhere around 15 - 17 batches. I realize now that one of my biggest problems in the past has been fermentation (and pitching) temperatures, and so I really wanted to control that as much as possible starting from now on.
It still takes me along time to cool my wort to an acceptable pitching temp, even with soaking in an ice bath and a wet t-shirt and an A/C. By the time I ended up pitching, I pitched all of these low, 61 - 64 degrees. I know this might knock out some of the yeast, but I figured it would be OK, especially as the act of fermentation produces some heat anyway. For all of them I pitched a starter, 1.5 - 2 liters, that had been going for about 18 - 24 hours or so.
All three of them are in my bedroom with the A/C on low, all day long. Using a standard outdoor, alcohol thermometer, this keeps my ambient temperature right around 66 - 69 degrees, which I figure is perfect, enough to warm the yeast up and hopefully prevent fusel production.
Well, I have been reading more and more and listening more and more about the importance of temperature, and decided to check the temp of my brew/wort by removing the airlock and sticking my sanitized probe thermometer in the hole in the lid. I know, this introduces a bit of oxygen and potential for baddies, but figured it would be worth the check, because if they're too cold the yeast might drop out, and these are all 6 - 10ABV beers. I only did this two two of the brews, and the readings came back at 59 and 57. Which is ridiculously low for an ale, I know. I didnt expect the ambient temperature to be so radically different than the actual temperature!
Then I remembered that one of my buckets has one of the sticky thermometers on the outside, which I never look at because I don't trust it. It says that the soon-to-be beer inside is 73.
So now I am really, really confused and not sure what to do. On one hand, I would rather the ferment take a long time and I need to re-pitch more yeast to finish and clean up the Acetaldehyde than the production of fusel alcohol.
I can make the A/C colder, or I can run it at a lower temp, or I can turn it off. But I have no clue what I should do.
I know that I should just wait and be patient and check my FG to ensure that fermentation is done. Well, it isnt even time for that yet, the oldest brew is less than 7 days old, so that is a few days in the future. But in the meantime, what the hell is happening?
If the ambient temperature is 67, what should I expect the actual temperature of the brew to be? What can I do for better regulation?
Thanks for your time and advice!
This last weekend I brewed 15 gallons of beer, three different recipes. I am still relatively new, these three batches put me hovering somewhere around 15 - 17 batches. I realize now that one of my biggest problems in the past has been fermentation (and pitching) temperatures, and so I really wanted to control that as much as possible starting from now on.
It still takes me along time to cool my wort to an acceptable pitching temp, even with soaking in an ice bath and a wet t-shirt and an A/C. By the time I ended up pitching, I pitched all of these low, 61 - 64 degrees. I know this might knock out some of the yeast, but I figured it would be OK, especially as the act of fermentation produces some heat anyway. For all of them I pitched a starter, 1.5 - 2 liters, that had been going for about 18 - 24 hours or so.
All three of them are in my bedroom with the A/C on low, all day long. Using a standard outdoor, alcohol thermometer, this keeps my ambient temperature right around 66 - 69 degrees, which I figure is perfect, enough to warm the yeast up and hopefully prevent fusel production.
Well, I have been reading more and more and listening more and more about the importance of temperature, and decided to check the temp of my brew/wort by removing the airlock and sticking my sanitized probe thermometer in the hole in the lid. I know, this introduces a bit of oxygen and potential for baddies, but figured it would be worth the check, because if they're too cold the yeast might drop out, and these are all 6 - 10ABV beers. I only did this two two of the brews, and the readings came back at 59 and 57. Which is ridiculously low for an ale, I know. I didnt expect the ambient temperature to be so radically different than the actual temperature!
Then I remembered that one of my buckets has one of the sticky thermometers on the outside, which I never look at because I don't trust it. It says that the soon-to-be beer inside is 73.
So now I am really, really confused and not sure what to do. On one hand, I would rather the ferment take a long time and I need to re-pitch more yeast to finish and clean up the Acetaldehyde than the production of fusel alcohol.
I can make the A/C colder, or I can run it at a lower temp, or I can turn it off. But I have no clue what I should do.
I know that I should just wait and be patient and check my FG to ensure that fermentation is done. Well, it isnt even time for that yet, the oldest brew is less than 7 days old, so that is a few days in the future. But in the meantime, what the hell is happening?
If the ambient temperature is 67, what should I expect the actual temperature of the brew to be? What can I do for better regulation?
Thanks for your time and advice!