Winter brewing - fermenting around 60 deg?

Hi everyone,

My home stays around 60 degrees this time of year, and I can keep a steady temp on my fermenters anywhere from 58 to 62 degrees. Does anyone have any good suggestions for yeast in this range? I don't want to brew Kolsch all winter long. Anyone else keep their heat way down?

-Lager yeasts that do alright a little on the warm side?
-Ale yeasts that do alright on the cool side?
-Other solutions that are practiceable for someone living in a tiny apartment (no basement, garage, etc)?

Nottingham ale yeast works great at those temps. S-04 will work but need more time to finish. You can use a blanket to keep it warmer.

S-05 dry will work in the low 60s so use a blanket for it too.

For a lager yeast that is very underutilized try Superior Lager yeast. I use 21 grams per 5 gallons and I have fermented at 60 degrees many times with very good results. It is a neutral yeast and mostly balanced. It will attenuate well. It is a sneaky yeast though... not a very aggressive fermenter unless you re-pitch it.

60 for ambient would be perfect for most ale yeasts since your wort would probably be around 65 during the vigorous fermentation part.

Why not ferment low at 60 with the ambient temp raising the early ferment to oh, 65 or so. Then as things slow down dial in some sort of heater. One of those wine thinges might work.

Ok so it sounds like 60 is not a crisis for ales generally speaking. I had thought of the fact that during the beginning of fermentation the temps inside the fermenter would be higher but was just concerned that when it cooled down, the yeast would drop out too soon.

Thanks for the tip on the lager yeast - sounds like this is a good opportunity to make a foray into the world of lagers. Yum! I'm thinking that the wet t-shirt method in combination with the coldest corner of my apartment may be able to cool it down to below 55.


Gammon n Beer, do you mean one of those heat wraps?

My co-worker uses Cry Havoc because his basement hangs around 55F in the Winter. I'm not sure how long his fermentations take to complete, but the results are very nice. Yeast details here: http://http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/newstrains.html

barely said:

My co-worker uses Cry Havoc because his basement hangs around 55F in the Winter. I'm not sure how long his fermentations take to complete, but the results are very nice. Yeast details here: http://http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/newstrains.html

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This strain sounds interesting...Anybody have first hand experience to share?

Pacman will work pretty well at 60, just don't get it too far below 55. And, like others have said, US-05 works well at 58 - 60, as well; and pretty much any ale yeast will work at this temp, depending on how long you want to wait for completion of fermentation. Just don't expect most Belgians to work well at this temp.

No experience with Cry Havoc, as of today.

katja said:

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Gammon n Beer, do you mean one of those heat wraps?

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Yup. Could not think of the term before.

try out the cry havoc so we have someone to tell us what they think about it!

I have used Cry Havoc twice and it should work fairly well at those temps. It was last year and if I remember right it took longer to finish because of the low temperatures.It seemed like it burped along for over 10 days.The beer was fine although it was a little hazy and took some time to clear.

I have been wondering about this myself. My basement is around 55 over the winter so I was thinking about giving a lager a shot. Any recommendations for an extract/partial recipe?

barely said:

My co-worker uses Cry Havoc because his basement hangs around 55F in the Winter. I'm not sure how long his fermentations take to complete, but the results are very nice. Yeast details here: http://http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/newstrains.html

Click to expand...

Ooooooo yeah I was just reading about that on the White Labs website yesterday! There is a podcast from Chris White about how this is the yeast Papazian was using with all (lager and ale) his recipes from Joy of Homebrewing and Homebrewer's Companion.

Here are the origins - really interesting!

I just pitched a red ale on an existing cake and over 24 hours later no bubbles. I'm going to set it next to the radiator and turn up the heat to see if that helps move things along. I'll let you all know when I order Cry Havoc.

Blender said:

I have used Cry Havoc twice and it should work fairly well at those temps. It was last year and if I remember right it took longer to finish because of the low temperatures.It seemed like it burped along for over 10 days.The beer was fine although it was a little hazy and took some time to clear.

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I tend to forget my beer in the primary anyway for a couple weeks so a little slower fermentation could do no harm.

I use Wyeast California Lager yeast. From their website: Temperature range: 58-68 deg. F. I've used this since my basement is about 62