Temperature of Ale Fermentation

I brewed an amber ale yesterday using Safale US-56 dry yeast. It's been in the carboy for about 16 hours. There's a good head of foam on top and it's bubbling about every 4 seconds now. The only thing is, I noticed that the temp on the carboy is 61 F. Normally ale yeast is supposed to be at at least 65, isn't it?

Do you thing I should move it to somewhere warmer, or just see what happens?

If the yeast is happy, daddy's happy. Still, I'd move it to a slightly warmer spot or wrap a blanket around it, because as the ferment slows less heat will be created which slows the ferment more, which ...

I ferment to completion in 3 days at 17C (which is about 61, I think) never had any issues. If you are fermenting, and you have the carboy where you like it... leave it alone. I think cooler fermentation gives ales better flavour.. you are minimizing bacterial activity, and producing nothing in the way of esters. Does it take an extra day? Maybe.

Uudate, Day 3: Temp is still around 61F. Bubbling once every 2 seconds now. Everything seems to be looking good.

It is true in my experience that cooler temps do make better tasting beers although the process takes longer. I think sometimes under hot conditions yeast kind of "sweats" for a lack of a better term. Sweat doesn't taste good. At the same time, if it gets too cold it might stall the fermentation which would not be good. 61F is probably fine.

sooo:

I should look at the yeast strain and aim for the middle of the recommended range? I am getting ready to move from the toss-the-fermenter-into-a-bucket-of-water-for-a-month method to a fermentation chamber where I can control temps better. For the sake of discussion, I have selected a random yeast as follows:

WLP300 Hefeweizen Ale Yeast
This famous German yeast is a strain used in the production of traditional, authentic wheat beers. It produces the banana and clove nose traditionally associated with German wheat beers and leaves the desired cloudy look of traditional German wheat beers.
Attenuation: 72-76%
Flocculation: Low
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 68-72°F
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

Using the reasoning above, I would seek to maintain fermentation temp at 70F. True? What about a yeast that has a wider temp range? Aim for mid, or upper? Looking for a logic method I can apply initially until my senses take over. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Each yeast strain has their own optimum temp range. It is usually printed on the package. If not, you can find it on the manufacturer's website.

Anyway, US-56, which is the old name for US-05 (same yeast, just updated the name for some reason), is optimum from 59-75 F.

You are in good shape at 61. Remember that the temperature of the wort solution is going to be 3-5 degrees warmer than the temp of the outside of the carboy during active fermentation. It wouldn't hurt to bump it up a few degrees, but you are in good shape as-is if you just want to leave it. I personally always ferment at a 63 degree ambiant temp for an average ale yeast.

Also remember that you really only need to temp control during active fermentation. I find that keeping on temp control after active fermentation is complete actually slows down the benefits of bulk conditioning, so it is best to go ahead and move it to room temp fpr 10-14 more days after FG is reached.

Anyway, you are in good shape. Here's a link to your yeast's stats, if you're interested:

http://www.brewshop.co.nz/pdf/safale_US-05_yeast.pdf

WilliamShakesBeer:

Two things:

#1: like stated above, the temp as measured from the outside of the carboy/bucket is always going to be 3-5 degrees cooler than it actually is in the solution. The yeast produce a bit of heat energy during active fermentation that accounts for the difference.

#2: I aim for the lower end of the optimum range. This leads to a SLOWER, but CLEANER fermentation, which is the point of controlling ferm temps in the first place. If you are used to 2-3 day fermentations, you are going to have to be patient with temp controlled ferms. I usually give them 7-10 days under temp control, then another 10 days at room temp in primary before I bottle or keg.

So, if it were me, and the optimum temp range were 68-72, I'd probably put my temp control on 68 with a 0 offset, so it would hold pretty darn close to 68. For a typical ale yeast, where the opt. temp. range is like 59-70, I set my temp control at about 63 with a 3 degree offset, which means the ambiant temps would stick around 60-63, and probably be about 63-66 in solution.

McCall St. Brewer said:

I brewed an amber ale yesterday using Safale US-56 dry yeast. It's been in the carboy for about 16 hours. There's a good head of foam on top and it's bubbling about every 4 seconds now. The only thing is, I noticed that the temp on the carboy is 61 F. Normally ale yeast is supposed to be at at least 65, isn't it?

Do you thing I should move it to somewhere warmer, or just see what happens?

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How the hell did you get it that low? I have to stick mine in a fermentataion fridge to get my temps that low at this time of the year. And you in the deep south?