Open Fermentation to control heat

So the temps here in Northern Virginia have lept from the 40s to the 80s over night.

I have been waiting for so 60 degee weather but we may not get much this year.

SO I am brewing anyway because I need the beer, I am down to my last 2 gallons from November's 38 gallons.

I was thinking that if I did not use an airlock until the "bubbling" slow I would have the added benifit of having the heat escape...

I mean the escaping CO2 is moving gas right?, it should cool the top of the wort and since the wort is self mixing it should cool it down... (like a poured Guiness)

After that I really don't care if it warms up in to the 70s because most of the heavy lifting is done.

At least that is my idea...

An interesting idea. I imagine a bucket lid probably holds in quite a bit of heat. I bet you could drop a couple degrees by going topless, and in my experience, the beer will be fine if you cover it up when fermentation is slowing. I'm trying to think of a way to experimentally test it, but I guess you'd have to brew a split batch and pitch equal quantities of yeast.

BetterSense said:

An interesting idea. I imagine a bucket lid probably holds in quite a bit of heat. I bet you could drop a couple degrees by going topless, and in my experience, the beer will be fine if you cover it up when fermentation is slowing. I'm trying to think of a way to experimentally test it, but I guess you'd have to brew a split batch and pitch equal quantities of yeast.

Click to expand...

It just made sense to me.... and I am reading all this stuff about people doing more open fermentations because they "think" that the pressure does affect the yeast.

"not that they said it that way but that was my interpretation"

Happy Brewing....

Not having a lid over the bucket will certainly aid heat loss, in the same sense that a covered pot of water will always boil faster than an uncovered pot. And it's true that many people feel that open fermentations (and fermenter geometry in general) can have a drastic effect on yeast-derived phenols/esters. But your theory about the escaping CO2 doesn't hold up, since the CO2 will leave the bucket either through an airlock or through the open top. You aren't really building up pressure in the bucket unless the airlock is clogged; to get through one inch of water in an airlock will only create 0.04 psi of backpressure.

In reality I doubt you'll notice a difference in your temperature this way, but like I said any difference will just be due to the lack of a lid. I'd recommend you get a little more active with your cooling; a swamp cooler can work wonders, especially when you couple it with some ice. And you're just $20 (for an ebay temp controller) and an old minifridge away from a "proper" fermentation temperature.

zachattack said:

In reality I doubt you'll notice a difference in your temperature this way, but like I said any difference will just be due to the lack of a lid. I'd recommend you get a little more active with your cooling; a swamp cooler can work wonders, especially when you couple it with some ice. And you're just $20 (for an ebay temp controller) and an old minifridge away from a "proper" fermentation temperature.

Click to expand...

I have a fermentation chamber... unfortuately my sister has cooped it and is using it as a freezer.

DPB