OK so I'm trying out my new lagerator. I brewed yesterday and set the temp controller to 70 degrees, because I read that you're supposed to step down from 70 degrees to fermentation temp (52 in my case) slowly over several days. Well, I did a yeast starter, and I noticed bubbling last night, about 4 hours after pitching. It was bubbling just barely this morning as well, so I dropped it down 4 degrees or so. When I got home from work, I stuck my head in to read the temp on the fermenter, and took a breath. My nostrils started burning, and my eyes started watering. I assume this is from the CO2 and maybe some other stuff. I've heard lager yeasts put off some crazy odors. There is also a thick krausen, and the airlock is going nuts. I took this to mean that fermentation is REALLY kicking, so I can drop the temp on down to 52, and forget dropping it slowly over the week. Is this correct?
This is a fairly low gravity brew, so I'm worried about a significant part of the fermentation taking place above the correct fermentation temp. Is that going to hurt my beer?
This is a fairly low gravity brew, so I'm worried about a significant part of the fermentation taking place above the correct fermentation temp. Is that going to hurt my beer?