Hot Temperatures and the Secondary

How much can temperature affect the beer when it is in the secondary? Since I live in Texas and summer started two months ago, it gets kind of hot in my house during the day. The wife won't let me keep the A/C set at 65, so you can see my problem.

I've done the putting the fermenter in water with a t-shirt on it trick on my last batch. But that was a wheat ale that is going straight from 3 weeks in the primary to bottling today.

Do I need to keep the secondary in the swamp cooler as well? Or since fermentation is done, can I just leave it out?

Thanks

I would still at least keep in a cool and dark basement or closet. Even in the secondary the yeasties are still performing.

Boiling...Otherwise you're fine...Temp control is actually only crucial in the first few hours of fermentation, that's when off flavors can be caused by too high a temp affecting the yeasties...after that, especially after the first couple days, it really doesn't matter...You don't want it too hot, but you don't need to sweat the temp at that point (or while in the bottle) either.

And if you waited til fermentation was completed before racking it won't matter in the secondary one bit. Secondary is for clearing the beer, so no fermentation should be happening there that the temps would casue any problems.

Revvy said:

Boiling...Otherwise you're fine...Temp control is actually only crucial in the first few hours of fermentation, that's when off flavors can be caused by too high a temp affecting the yeasties...after that, especially after the first couple days, it really doesn't matter...You don't want it too hot, but you don't need to sweat the temp at that point (or while in the bottle) either.

And if you waited til fermentation was completed before racking it won't matter in the secondary one bit. Secondary is for clearing the beer, so no fermentation should be happening there that the temps would casue any problems.

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+1.

Even if you're 90% of the way through, fermenting the last 10% hot won't likely cause problems at all.

In the interest of full discolsure I would add that storing beer at warm temps can accelerate a variety of reactions - good or bad. For example, if you expose the secondary to a bunch of oxygen and then leave it for a month at 80F, it will display oxidation very quickly - much faster than it would at say 50F. So try to limit the time it's kept warm if you can.

That's a relatively minor concern in the grand scheme though.

I temp control for the first week, after that I move them to another room to make room for another new brew. They've reached 75-78 without any noticeable bad effects, it's the first week (and probably the first 3-4 days) that really matter.

Um. . . the above advice comes from far more knowledgeable brewers than myself, but I'm pretty sure that the style of beer you're brewing, and the yeast you're using, will be of importance. . . are you brewing a lager, for instance, or a bock?

How cold can an ale seconday be? Is 55 (below the range of most ale yeasts) too low?

The lower the temperature, the slower the action of the yeast. In MY experience, lower temperatures for ale yeast won't produce dramatic off flavors, but at that temperature you should expect to secondary at least a week longer than you ordinarily would.

Nanobru said:

I would still at least keep in a cool and dark basement or closet. Even in the secondary the yeasties are still performing.

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Texas doesnt have basements

I use the swamp cooler and replace out 4 frozen water bottles before work and after, stays around 63 degrees in it.

Boondoggie said:

How cold can an ale seconday be? Is 55 (below the range of most ale yeasts) too low?

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I think that's a great question with plenty of answers. From what I've seen people tend to secondary in slightly different ways. Here's my guess:

If you're transfering to 2ndary after fermentation is totally complete and your goal is simply to have the beer drop clearer, than this is fine.

However, if you're expecting results that require active yeast, like a diacetyl rest or if your still a few points off your gravity, than this probably is too low.

I don't 2ndary at all, except for dry-hopping, and for that I want it warm so that there is some activity from the yeast to clean up O2 i introduced with hops. I've never done a fruit beer, but same deal I would think.

I am further south than you in Texas, when a new beer needs to go into the fermenting freezer, one in secondary comes out and sits on the table for up to 10 days. I haven't noticed anything wrong with my beers from this.

My problem as an AG brewer, is that I can't get clear beer in the summer (march-november) because we are on well water and the coldest water I can get through my chiller is 120 degrees. Even with my mack daddy prechiller, I can only get it down to about 85. So, cloudy beer for me in the summer....

Nanobru said:

I would still at least keep in a cool and dark basement or closet. Even in the secondary the yeasties are still performing.

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No basements here in Texas. At least not in my part. That is one thing I miss from Michigan, my basement back there was pretty sweet.

ifishsum said:

I temp control for the first week, after that I move them to another room to make room for another new brew. They've reached 75-78 without any noticeable bad effects, it's the first week (and probably the first 3-4 days) that really matter.

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During the summer when we're at work, the AC is set to kick on at 78. The room where my beer is tends to stay a degree or two cooler than where the thermostat is. Right now the beer is in the primary which is in the swamp cooler. It looks like its done fermenting but I haven't checked the gravity yet.

Thanks for the answers.

TexasSpartan said:

No basements here in Texas. At least not in my part. That is one thing I miss from Michigan, my basement back there was pretty sweet.



During the summer when we're at work, the AC is set to kick on at 78. The room where my beer is tends to stay a degree or two cooler than where the thermostat is. Right now the beer is in the primary which is in the swamp cooler. It looks like its done fermenting but I haven't checked the gravity yet.

Thanks for the answers.

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I'm in AZ similar situation, 78 degrees on the stat and my fermenting room is usually about 76-77, swamp cooler is the only way to go unless your brewing a belgian.

Whether needed or not I keep the secondary in the swamp cooler with water. I try to keep it at 70 to 75 which may require a frozen bottle or two in the summer but its not a big deal compared to the primary and first few days as has been discussed. I don't know if it is needed but it makes me feel better.

I brewed a batch this Friday evening and about an hour after I was done my AC went out and I can't get it repaired until Monday. Yesterday's afternoon temp hit 99 at my house and inside is 85+. Needless to say I am working like a maniac keeping this beer cold. I've gone through my entire inventory of frozen bottles and 40 pounds of ice so far. It's amazing how fast the water in the cooler wants to go to room temp.

On my third batch of beer, after pitching the yeast, I unintentionally let the primary sit in 40 degree ice water for the first 8 hours (it's a long story but involves drinking while brewing). I thought I had screwed it up but this was a breakthrough for me. This beer turned out excellent. My Wyeast packet says to pitch the yeast at 70 to 75 and leave at that temp until you have visible signs of fermentation but I have found that my beer tastes better if I pitch and immediately cool down to around 60.


Dennis