Started my hefe today - temperature issue

Using Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan yeast. The info says it's temp range is 64-75 degrees Fahrenheit. I've tried to cool it down and it's still sitting at about 77 degrees. I have a room in the front of my house that stays about 64 degrees. Would it be better to move my fermenter to the cool room or should I let it sit where it is and hope the temps come down a bit overnight? 64 is the bottom of the temp range but I know the temps inside get warmer with active fermentation so I'd guess the cooler room might fare better? Or maybe should I let fermentation start and only move it if the temps go higher?

Oh, forgot to mention all my other rooms in the house are 68-70 degrees.


Rev.

Move to the cooler room for sure. It takes a long time for 5 gallons of beer to drop a huge amount. You'd rather have it cooling down overnight than starting to ferment at those temps.

I would try using a swamp cooler system. That is what I did for my last beer and it turned out great. Basically put the fermenter in a crate/bin with about 4 inches of water, put a t shirt over the fermenter so that it dangles into the water. Then put 1 or 2 1 liter bottles in the water to cool it. The cool water wicks up the t shirt and lays on the fermenter cooling the fermenter significantly.

Get it cooled down by moving it to the cold room...too sudden a temp drop can send the yeast into stress. Fast cooling can cause them to put off some strange flavor compounds. You may have to condition in the bottle a little longer to get the beer to clean up. I have made pretty undrinkable beer with 3068, only with pitching temp above 80. Don't give up on it if it tastes "bad" after bottling...just let it sit a while.

Cheers,
PikledBill

get it cooler quickly. if you leave it where it is, it is likely to rise even a few degrees further as the yeast reach the peak of activity, and that could result in a bubblegum/bandaid bomb.

Thanks guys. I moved it into the cooler room last night after the first response. The temp is now showing 24 celsius on the stick on thermometer. The room temp is about 64-65 so I guess it's just the fermentation keeping it at the top end of the temp range. As long as it's no more than 24 I feel ok with it. It's fermenting like crazy!! The foam inside is insane, all the way up to the top lid. It's a good thing the Coopers fermenter has so much extra headroom.

Another question:

So with my last beer batch I never once saw the airlock bubble. This is also a Coopers kit but this is a brand new kit, I now have two. Even with this crazy fermentation I still have not seen a single airlock bubble. However, I do see the airlock levels change a lot. Often it gets higher on one side, then later I see it's leveled out again. Then later the levels changed again. I know this shows activity but why don't I ever see it bubble? I know I know, I shouldn't be concerned at all and bubbling airlocks aren't a reliable indicator. But I'm really curious as to why this is with both fermenters. The seal seems airtight, I also see the level change if I press on the lid or gently squeeze the fermenter. Any ideas?


Rev.

K, the fermenter was staying at 24 celsius (75F) in the 65 degree room according to the cheapo stick on liquid crystal thermometer so I moved it just now to the hallway which is closer to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Temps might drop a little at night in there with the door closed so I may leave it open a crack so as to not get too cool.

I noticed I can smell a light bubble gum aroma around the lid seal of the fermenter, does this mean that the Coopers lid isn't a perfectly air tight seal? This would explain the airlock question above. I'm not very worried about it cause I know with all that's going on inside even a less than perfect seal probably wouldn't let anything in. Now, I know Weihenstephan itself does have a slight bubblegum taste anyway, so is this normal for this yeast or is it indeed a sign of esters from a slightly too warm fermentation? I do love the banana/clove esters so I'm just wondering here. Lastly, was it ok to move it to a slightly cooler area again after about 27 hours time fermenting?

Any responses would be greatly appreciated!


Rev.

Youll be fine to move it cooler, just dont dramatically cool it. I'd say that at temps above 75F for the growth phase of the yeast, you're going to have some esters you might not have been planning on. You're too far in to prevent that, but hey...it could and probably will end up being a good beer still!

Ya know, I was also thinking... what if this stick on thermometer is just plain wrong? Of course, I'm not gonna open the lid up and put in my lab thermometer now. Guess next time I have an empty fermenter I'll test it by comparing the temps between the two. I just find it a bit hard to believe the fermenter is still holding a 10+ degree higher than room temp. Seems a bit much.

Anyhow, I smelled it again and it does smell a lot more like banana than bubblegum so that seems a good sign.


Rev.

Following up to my mention about the airlock.... the Amber Ale I made today is bubbling along very nicely!! So, I thought about it and I think the only difference was the lid sealing area was still wet when I sealed it whereas I think it was dry when I sealed the hefe and my first beer. Would that make any difference, making sure the rubber seal set in the rim is wet or not?


Rev.

I just made a hefe with Wyeast 3068 yesterday too. I can't tell you how my beer turned out yet, but here is my experience so far:

I pitched at 72 degrees. I put the fermenter in my bedroom where it dropped to 68, and then to 66 overnight (It probably was 60 or less in my room during the night). It climbed back up to 68-70 during the day as the room was at 66 or so. It seems that fermentation has been keeping the temperature 4-6 degrees over ambient temperature according to my stick on thermometer.

Fermentation started in less than 10 hours and is quite vigorous. I've been using a blowoff tube and jug of sanitizer as I've heard this yeast has been known to blow off stoppers and clog airlocks.

I've read that low temperatures <65 produce more clove flavors and >65 produce more banana flavors. My recipe says to ferment at 70-72 with this yeast which seems high from others experiences. I'm trying to reduce the temperature because I prefer more clove than banana.

At first the gas bubbling through the sanitizers had a wonderful wheat smell, but recently, in the past 2 or 3 hours (24 hours after pitching), it's beginning to give off a sulfur smell. I'm worried. I've heard this is a very tempermental yeast. Good luck.

According to the 3068 page on the Wyeast website the sulfur smell is normal and goes away. My Cooper's fermenter has so much headroom, especially being desgined for their own 6 gallon batches, that I didn't have any blowoff in the airlock at all. As mention though the krausen even left crud on the top lid so it did get up there

Rev.

normal. if you can smell the sulfur then it's coming out of the beer on the co2 from fermentation and it'll be totally scrubbed out by the time everything is finished.