Secondary Tempurature

Hey All,

I've got my brew in the secondary (carboy) and it's bubbling about once every 20 seconds.

The tempurature of the carboy is 22 celcius. It this to low???

The brew has been in the secondary since Monday night.

Thanks,

No, that's probably an optimum temp. Certainly in the range of ale yeasts. I try and stick to the lower end of the temp range. You got 10 more days for it to hang out (if doing 2 weeks).

Yeah, I am planning for two weeks. I would like it to clear as much as possible.

I ferment successfully in the basement, max temperature being maybe 19 or 20 C, but I don't think I've ever seen 20.... usually it sits at about 18, and my beers are working out fine. My understanding is that above room temperature, (say, 25C) you start to get funny tasting beer. Given that you're in an airlocked carboy, quick fermentation is not really what you're in need of. That beer is safe for some time, as long as you keep it airlocked. So if it bubbles slowly for 2 more weeks, relax, and have a homebrew. Some of my beers have bubbled for 10 days, others seem to be totally finished after 3.

Higher temps result in greater amounts of esters which supposedly taste fruity or like bananas. Very high fermentation temps (upwards of 80 F) can result in fusel alcohol production which imparts a paint thinner like taste to the brew. The lower end of the temp range.. say 68 F (20 C) is probably optimal.. cooler temps will slow fermentation a bit but should not affect taste in a bad way.

It's hot here and I'm running up the electric bill just keeping the house below 75 F (23 C) while I'm brewing.

I understand that if at room temperature let say about 85 F I leave a bucket of water, the water will stay cooler than 85. But what about beer, is it the same? Will the temperature of the liquid (beer) inside the cardbory will be cooler than room temperature?

It'd probably be slightly cooler as that's a lot of volume to warm up. But given a steady duration at 85, it would probably get warmer than you might want it to.

I place my carboy in a rubbermade-style bin with some water in it and some bottles of ice to keep the temp down.

I think 80F is ok. Admittedly it not ideal but it is still acceptable. Once you start to hitting 85-90F then yeah you are going to want some sort of cooling.

Simply placing the carboy in a bucket of water will not cool it. While touching water in a 70 F room seems a lot colder than touching.. say.. wood the wood and water are both the same temp. This all has to do with the heat transfer rate.. simply put, the water will transfer the heat from your hand into the water at a much faster rate than the wood will. This higher transfer rate makes the water feel colder than the wood. Metal is another example.. for example, the metal bar comprising part of a classroom desk will feel much colder than the desktop. However, the metal and the wood are both the same temp since they are sitting in the same room.

Keeping your carboy in water is a great way to keep it cool, you simply have to be sure that the water it's sitting in is the temp you'd like your beer to ferment at (70 F) - accomplish this with ice and check it with a thermometer and not your finger.

Sorry if any of this is unclear, I've just returned from a party where they had a keg of (yes.. I know this is sacrilege)..... natural light. Yes.. it is still quite terrible.. thank God for homebrew.

I always keep a thermometer in the bin with the ice water to be sure of what the temp is. With daily changing of the ice-filled water bottles, I can keep the temp steady at about 68.

What about temperature in the bottles. will it be ok if after controling a secondary temperature at 70 F, I bottle and store at 85 F?