Fermentation temps

I found a kit at my LHBS for a California Common. Since I happen to like Anchor Steam and Liberty ales, I decided to go for it. Besides, the only other choices I had were very light lagers and so forth.

I decided to do some reading before jumping in, and also I'm waiting on the FedEx man to bring me a couple small things I need before I can get started. So I read that California Common beers are actually lagers. Cool, because it's colder than a well digger's bottom right now, and I don't like to keep the house any warmer than I just absolutely must. Colder-fermenting yeasts are welcome this time of year. However, I checked the instruction sheet for the kit, and it says ferment at 68°-72°F. Is that right? Or should I lower it to around 62°-65°?

Follow up question: If I keep my thermostat on 60° all the time, and the house stays pretty well that temp, will I need to blanket the primary, or will the normal heat of fermentation keep it warm enough? Do I need to find a warmer spot to put it? If need be, I could put it in the guest bathroom with a small space heater. At least that way if it blew a bunch of Kräusen it would be in the tub and therefore easier to clean.

Thanks for the help.

68-72 is way too warm for a Calif Common. Keep it in the low 60's and I would suggest a 2L starter if you are able to.

A quick Google search tells me a "2L starter" is a way to activate the yeast and get it going before actually pitching it. Am I on track?

Yes. A Yeast starter gives a large amount of yeast to tear into a beer. This style is in between a lager and ale in fermentation temps, with about 10 degrees cooler than normal ale temperatures.

I am currently brewing a California Common and have had it in the coldest part of my house and it's been around 56-60 degrees most of the time. The target on my recipe was 62. I made a 1.6L yeast starter using a Wyeast 2112 Lager. Yeast starters are a little advanced if you are a rookie, but you can read up and decide. It should have an appropriate yeast to get it done in the kit.

I made a German Altbier for my first beer that I didn't get to ferment at cold temperatures until it was in secondary. No yeast starter either. It came out awesome, plan on trying an altbier again soon.

Okay, I'm willing to try. I don't have one of those cool beakers, though, but I have several quart-size mason jars sitting around.

I've found a couple threads on here on how to do it. The only thing is that the yeast that came with the kit is dry yeast. What do I need to do differently to account for that?

I think pitching the yeast directly will be fine for this attempt. Most dry yeast is best pitched either dry or rehydrated, but starters are not used for dry yeast.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/yeast-starter-using-dry-yeast-79535/

For this batch I would just go with the kit directions and pitch it dry or rehydrate it. Starters are more for liquid yeasts which take a little more knowhow.

I wouldn't be worried about it since the kits are already refined. Most dry yeasts will have less yeast character than a liquid yeast, but that shouldn't be a big issue with this beer.

I went through about 6 batches before making a yeast starter.

The directions included will suffice.

Ah, gotcha. Like "proofing" the yeast when I bake bread or something.

BarefootFriar said:

Ah, gotcha. Like "proofing" the yeast when I bake bread or something.

Click to expand...

Bingo!

Rick

Update: Brewed this up today. Kit called for a partial boil, but I had read enough on here about full boils that I went ahead and did that. I managed to get the wort cooled to 62°F in about 45 minutes. I hit the estimated OG right on the nose -- 1.048. Rehydrated yeast has been pitched and now it's in my guest bathroom in the fermenter, blow-off tube installed, and going to work.

Only one mishap, and that was that I looked away for a sec and had a boilover. Not a huge deal because it was outside, but dang that was quick! I'll know for next time.