When to start to bring fermentation temp down?

3 days into an amber ale with White Labs -WLP051
All is well, yeast is floculating well and the blow off tube is constantly noisy.

It says on the yeast vial to keep it between 70 and 75 to ensure a good start to fermentation. I have 72 or 73 for 3 days.

Then on their site it has:
WLP051 California Ale V Yeast
From Northern California. This strain is more fruity than WLP001, and slightly more flocculent. Attenuation is lower, resulting in a fuller bodied beer than with WLP001.
Attenuation: 70-75%
Flocculation: Medium to High
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 66-70°F
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium-High

So at what point do I take it under 70? When the blowofff stops completely or just slows down a whole lot? When I see the yeast has stopped going crazy all over the place?

Obviously, per their site I don't want over 70 the whole time, so when to drop it down for the remainder?

thanks
Joe

most people will tell you to bring the wort down to pitching temp before you pitch the yeast. then you want to keep it down. my beer usually ferments in the mid 60s

for this yeast it says on the tube to keep over 70 until fermentation begins. It said pitch at 70 - 75. I just want to take it to say 65 - 68 but don't want to too soon.

from what i understand you want to pitch at or below fermenting temps to prevent the yeast from making off flavors or esters

Too late now mate, the tube's instructions were off. Like Clann said, better to pitch slightly low and let it naturally rise a few degrees to desired fermenation temp. Now, technically you can pitch at higher temps as this won't cause any problems during the lag phase, however you will pick up off flavors if the temp is still high after the yeast begin glycolysis as you have done. At this point, it would be pointless to try and drop the temp below 70, you have already set the flavor of the beer and if you drop it the yeast may fall out of suspension and begin to go dormant and then you will have an under attenuated beer and possible problems like diacetyl. Don't worry, your temps aren't too high, but you will have some definate character due to the low 70's you have it at.

i am going to gradually take it down to about 70 then, may 69, it has been 3 days at about 72-73 dependent on the weather

joeunc said:

for this yeast it says on the tube to keep over 70 until fermentation begins. It said pitch at 70 - 75. I just want to take it to say 65 - 68 but don't want to too soon.

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Bensiff said:

Too late now mate, the tube's instructions were off. Like Clann said, better to pitch slightly low and let it naturally rise a few degrees to desired fermenation temp. Now, technically you can pitch at higher temps as this won't cause any problems during the lag phase, however you will pick up off flavors if the temp is still high after the yeast begin glycolysis as you have done. At this point, it would be pointless to try and drop the temp below 70, you have already set the flavor of the beer and if you drop it the yeast may fall out of suspension and begin to go dormant and then you will have an under attenuated beer and possible problems like diacetyl. Don't worry, your temps aren't too high, but you will have some definate character due to the low 70's you have it at.

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Exactly. Their instructions suck. What they do is don't give you quite enough yeast to do the job so they tell you to keep the temperature too high so that the yeast will reproduce, but then put it at the correct temperature as soon as signs of fermentation begin.

The best thing to do is to NOT follow their instructions. Purchase enough yeast from the outset, or make a starter. Pitch the correct amount of yeast at the low end of the yeast strain's optimum temperature range.

It's too late now, so you may have some fruity flavors as a result. It's a fruity-ish yeast anyway so it may not be unpleasant.

So the website at White Labs is right, but on the tube that tell you too high huh.


take it down to 70 now, is that ok? I already am in the process of dropping it.
Plan on keeping it there for 3 weeks then keg

joeunc said:

So the website at White Labs is right, but on the tube that tell you too high huh.


take it down to 70 now, is that ok? I already am in the process of dropping it.
Plan on keeping it there for 3 weeks then keg

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It probably doesn't matter now, as fermentation is probably just about over.

but would "you" let it sit for 3 weeks at higher than recommended, or drop it to more of a 68 3 week set instead of a 72 or 73 3 week set.

joeunc said:

but would "you" let it sit for 3 weeks at higher than recommended, or drop it to more of a 68 3 week set instead of a 72 or 73 3 week set.

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It doesn't matter after fermentation is over- most of the yeast flavors come from the first few days of active fermentation. I'd probably NOT have it above 70 degrees, though.

thanks, guess I know now that the side of the tube temps are off go more based on what their site says.

It still has co2 activity now at about 69 so I will check gravity in a few weeks and see where we are.
Then next time, pitch at about 68 or so and let the actual ferment raise the temp if needed.

big thanks

joeunc said:

thanks, guess I know now that the side of the tube temps are off go more based on what their site says.

It still has co2 activity now at about 69 so I will check gravity in a few weeks and see where we are.
Then next time, pitch at about 68 or so and let the actual ferment raise the temp if needed.

big thanks

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Actually, it's more ideal to pitch LOWER and let it rise to fermentation temperatures. Remember that fermentation produces heat itself, so if you pithc at 68, the beer will easily be 5-10 degrees higher than that when fermentation gets going. I pitch in the low 60s if I want to ferment at 67 or so.

Well I checked at lunch today and my swamp cooler has got it a nice 65.
I am going to maintain that for the 3 weeks before I check gravity and keg.
I am hoping this extended cooler time may help out that over 70 ferment the first day and half just a little.

thanks

Yoop said:

Actually, it's more ideal to pitch LOWER and let it rise to fermentation temperatures. Remember that fermentation produces heat itself, so if you pithc at 68, the beer will easily be 5-10 degrees higher than that when fermentation gets going. I pitch in the low 60s if I want to ferment at 67 or so.

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