Maveric777
Well-Known Member
I am stuck in a situation where my fermenting temps seem to fluctuate a decent amount. I keep my carboys & aging bottles in my walk in closet. Well, I didn't notice it much at first, but after getting into brewing I notice my closet gets pretty cool in winter and warm in the summer. I picked up a thermometer to keep in the closet and found it has been down as low as 58 deg in the mornings (most yeast I use recomend 65 to 70 deg.). It does seem to keep roughly 65 during the day when the outside temp seems to mellow out a tad. With my closet butting up against my garage (which does get very cold) I don't for see a simple solution to this dilemma.
I been reading up in John Palmer's book "How To Brew" and I'm in the section about pitching rates. I learned that the amount of yeast pitched is actually based on the OG of the brew to get the correct count to properly do the job. So I am thinking with a cooler temp the yeast has slowed way down at times. I am wondering if adding more yeast (go with 2 packs of dry yeast for a border line or a little less OG reading than I normaly would pitch) would help out the primary time.
I ask this due to keeping a close eye on my Hefeweizen. This Saturday will be three weeks in primary. I see that little dude still going nuts in the carboy (shining a light through the neck and watching bubbles... a lot of them...lol). Also I found with my first batch I noticed slightly different carbonation in my bottles. I found less carbonation in bottles that was closer to the back wall (against the garage) in my closet than the ones that where farther away.
I guess long and short what I am asking is if pitching more yeast during cooler times of year would that help primary and aging time to compensate for slower activity. Sorry about being long winded. Just wanted to explain my reason for thinking this way.
Thanks for any input......
I been reading up in John Palmer's book "How To Brew" and I'm in the section about pitching rates. I learned that the amount of yeast pitched is actually based on the OG of the brew to get the correct count to properly do the job. So I am thinking with a cooler temp the yeast has slowed way down at times. I am wondering if adding more yeast (go with 2 packs of dry yeast for a border line or a little less OG reading than I normaly would pitch) would help out the primary time.
I ask this due to keeping a close eye on my Hefeweizen. This Saturday will be three weeks in primary. I see that little dude still going nuts in the carboy (shining a light through the neck and watching bubbles... a lot of them...lol). Also I found with my first batch I noticed slightly different carbonation in my bottles. I found less carbonation in bottles that was closer to the back wall (against the garage) in my closet than the ones that where farther away.
I guess long and short what I am asking is if pitching more yeast during cooler times of year would that help primary and aging time to compensate for slower activity. Sorry about being long winded. Just wanted to explain my reason for thinking this way.
Thanks for any input......