Secondary Fermentation Temperature

Should a beer in secondary be held at the same temp that the primary was?

How about once a beer is bottled?

Yes this would be optimal for most ale yeasts as far as yeast health goes. Keep in mind, however, that most of the flavor from fermentation is produced in the first few days when it's real vigorous. As long as there aren't big changes in temperature don't worry about the temp quite as much as you would when it's in the primary.

Brett0424 said:

Yes this would be optimal for most ale yeasts as far as yeast health goes. Keep in mind, however, that most of the flavor from fermentation is produced in the first few days when it's real vigorous. As long as there aren't big changes in temperature don't worry about the temp quite as much as you would when it's in the primary.

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Great answer

If I am only conditioning, I usually keep my secondary temperature temperature at the upper end of the range for the yeast.


TL

TexLaw said:

If I am only conditioning, I usually keep my secondary temperature temperature at the upper end of the range for the yeast.


TL

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I agree, that way you can be sure that fermentation has completed (as the higher temps can encourage the yeast to finish up) and you won't be getting a lot of esters at that point.

Also remember that putting it in secondary should not be another fermentation, that is for clearing and conditioning.

Thanks for the answers. I am going to try and start controlling fermentation temps and didn't know how that should apply to seconday conditioning.

i usually don't control my secondary temps. higher room temperature is fine...if there is any fermentation left to be done it won't create much flavor.

lower temps will help clear the beer.

DeathBrewer said:

i usually don't control my secondary temps. higher room temperature is fine...if there is any fermentation left to be done it won't create much flavor.

lower temps will help clear the beer.

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:rockin: 65-70

Tex, Your pic looks like it belongs in a beer hall in Geremany.

I ferment my beers in an old wine cooler that does a pretty good job at keeping the temps fairly constant. But I guess I was naive to think that the thing was actually insulated well! I keep it outside and we had a pretty drastic temperature drop last week and it affected the cooler's temp. I checked it yesterday and it was reading 50F, down from 68F. I kind of panicked and moved the ale, which is in it's secondary, inside where it's about 69F. Would I have been better off to leave it in the cooler and let the temp gradually come back up with the outside temp? And has the changing of temps now affected my beer's taste?

Secondary should not be for fermentation, it should be a "brite tank" - for conditioning and clarity. As such, temperature is really not a big concern.

Hello. I'm new to the forum. Can I add to the OP's question? I've read a number of ale recipes that require significantly lower temps for secondary. If this is to achieve clarity, is the assumption made that one did not use Irish moss in the boil? Second, if the secondary temp is that much lower, ie 35 degF, will the yeast be able to re activate for bottle conditioning? (Example would be using an ale yeast, recipe calls for 2 vials for a 5 gal batch). Or is a new vial added at bottling?

Bump

Again. Any takers on my quest for clarity?

A lower secondary temp for an ale? Shoot, a lot of people don't even do a secondary anymore these days. I've only done it once or twice, and I had specific reasons for doing so (secondary flavor additions). I wouldn't sweat it. Most recipes you find online are written by people that barely know what they're doing. Whether you lower secondary temp or not, you'll wind up with beer, and if you did it both ways and had a blind taste test, I doubt you'd notice a difference.

As far as clarity, a lot of people do a cold crash, or dropping to lager temps for 24-48 hours prior to packaging. I find Irish moss works as well or better.

Yes, your yeast will be able to bottle condition if you do either of these things.

Thanks for the reply. Much appreciated. The recipes that I was reading were on the Briess web site...you'd think that they know what they're doing. But sometimes more directions in recipes require more info as to "why" for me. I like to understand the process somewhat as I go through it. Thank you again.

kadijk said:

Hello. I'm new to the forum. Can I add to the OP's question? I've read a number of ale recipes that require significantly lower temps for secondary. If this is to achieve clarity, is the assumption made that one did not use Irish moss in the boil? Second, if the secondary temp is that much lower, ie 35 degF, will the yeast be able to re activate for bottle conditioning? (Example would be using an ale yeast, recipe calls for 2 vials for a 5 gal batch). Or is a new vial added at bottling?

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The slang term for what you speak of is crash cooling. Yes you can secondary, but the much lower temperature can be done in the primary fermentation vessel as well. Essentially wait for the fermentation to be completely done, including the diacetyl rest. Then reduce the temp to just above freezing. This causes yeast to drop out of suspension and create a clearer beer. You will have less yeast at bottle time, but it will carb. It may be slower by a week or two though. And yes people use this in conjunction with irish moss. Irish moss creates a better cold break at wort chilling time which does add some clarity. Crash cooling takes that further.