Yeast Temp Question

I have the ingrdients for 4 AG brews setting in vaccum sealed bags ready to go. I was planning on doing a couple this weekend and a couple through the week next week. The issue is we have been hit with a heck of a storm and the temps have dropped way down to the point that in my house right now it is in the upper 50's low 60's.......I have s-05 yeast...we are snowed in so no going to town for an aquarium heater and plastic tub......am I gonna have to wait?

Unless you can hold that low 60* temp somehow I'd wait. I have a shop light pointing at my brew to keep the temps up at the moment.

This snow is something else huh?!

wyzazz said:

Unless you can hold that low 60* temp somehow I'd wait. I have a shop light pointing at my brew to keep the temps up at the moment.

This snow is something else huh?!

Click to expand...

yep..a buddy called and asked if I wanted a deer. He had shot 4 and didn't want or need another. I drove up yesterday to pick her up at the beginning of the storm.... Halfway back home on I-75 my brake line blew and I drove all the way back to Sidney with no brakes...I LITERALLY had to ease off the side of the road a couple times and nose into snow banks to stop the car....the real bummer is I JUST had the brakes fixed last weekend..... well heck, guess I have to put off the brewing AGAIN.

S-05 will ferment in the low 60s, but you may see a very sluggish start. If it drops into the 50s, you may run into problems.

Maybe stick the fermenter into a black t-shirt right underneath a powerful incandescent lamp? Or if you have a cooler, you can stick the fermenter in there along with some warmish water to moderate the temperatures.

If it's not too cold you could wrap your fermenters in a few blankets. That should be able to keep the temps up too.

I have a kegerator that quit. Could I drop a light in that to keep the temp up and put the bucket in there? Or would that get it too hot?

I wouldnt be too concerned, pitch the yeast at like 75 degrees and it will slowly come down into the low 60s, then fermentation should keep there. Low temps are good for a nice clean flavor profile, in fact some people swear by 59-61F. It takes 5 gallons of water a while to change temp at all but you might also wanna just wrap it up in a towel or something.

Put it in the kegerator, and use a container of warm/hot water after the initial fermentation is done to keep the temps up if needed. I'd put one of those sticky aquarium thermometers on your fermenter so you can monitor the temps if you can. I think the light bulb would probably be overkill, unless it's a really low wattage light bulb.

The dead kegerator idea is really using your noggin!