fermentation temps

Hello everyone. I am new to this forum and new to brewing. I have several questions and im sure this is the place for awnsers.

I made my first batch last night. It is a True Brew Pale Ale home brewing kit. Ran into immediate problems with my stove and the boil. It is a ceramic top stove, electric, and im not sure if the boil was hot enough and went for right ammout of time. I pitched the yeast, waited 10 minutes like the directions said, stired 3 times and put the lid with airlock on it. Temp of wort was 78 to 80 when I pitched yeast. Everything was complete at roughly 11:30 pm lastnight.

The fermentation container is in my basement. Im not really sure what temp it should be at. I put it in the basement so it would be out of the way. Should I move it to a warmer place. Basement is pretty cold. Maybe 60 or 65.

Any info or feed back is greatly appreciated and always welcome.

Your temperature of 65 sounds perfect for most ales. Usually, the proper temperature is determined by the yeast you used. The manufacturer gives you a range of temperatures for that yeast strain. For example, Nottingham yeast is recommended for temperatures 59-72 degrees or something like that. Most yeasts do very well at 62-68 degrees.

A couple things to add to what yooper said:

1. If you don't have one already, I highly recommend a stick-on thermometer for the side of your fermenter. Ambient temps are never a good indicator of wort/beer temps in the bucket or carboy.
2. Due to the aerobic activity of fermenting yeast, plenty of heat is generated, meaning your wort can be 10 degrees F or more higher than the ambient temps (which goes back to item #1).

Thanks guys for all the info and the quick responses. I will be adding a stick on thermometer today. Is it safe to move the bucket or should I not mess with it. I did very little arreation of the wort, I wasnt sure if I should stir the wort or move the bucket around since its only been 11 hours and fermentation has not begun.

Also I never took any hydrometer readings. have yet to purchase that item. hope this isnt to critical of a step...

You can move your bucket, don't worry. It's good to minimize the splashing around if you can, of course. I move my fermenters from place to place around my house when I need to. A stick on thermometer is a great way to know what the temperature is inside. Like Evan! said, ambient temperature isn't as important as the temperature of the fermentation.

I think a hydrometer is one of the most crucial items in brewing. That is truly the only way to know for sure if fermentation is finished.

Sounds like your first brew went pretty well, and you're on your way to making some good beer!

Thanks Yooper. When will it be safe to take a hydrometer reading. I wasnt sure if removing the lid would ruin the process...Thanx for helping the rookie brewer

While I wouldn't recommend that you take off and on all the time, its OK to do so if you need to. That being said, I'd leave it on myself until the bubbling slows or stops and not disturb the active fermentation. Once alcohol is created it will itself act to kill bacteria, so it is safer at that point, but still sanitize anything that will come in contact, and don't breath into it.