Has anyone used Safale US-05 at low temp?

I'm going to be brewing an American Golden and I'm using Safale US-05 yeast. I'd like to keep the beer as clean and crisp as possible, so I'm thinking about fermenting at a lower temperature - probably around 58. Has anyone used this yeast at the lower end of the temp range?

Thanks!

yes, I have done the 58-59 range, takes longer but it is nice and steady.

Good to hear, thanks! How much slower is it at 58? My OG is going to be around 1.050

I'm also going to brew a Steam beer, so I figure they should both be pretty happy around 58.

MurderMittenBrewing said:

Good to hear, thanks! How much slower is it at 58? My OG is going to be around 1.050

I'm also going to brew a Steam beer, so I figure they should both be pretty happy around 58.

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That's funny, that is what I did too

I would say double your ferment time but you were going to leave it there for 3 weeks anyway right

I usually ferment ales in the mid 60s and I leave them in primary for around two weeks. Then, depending on the beer, I'll leave them in secondary for another couple of weeks.

I was going to leave the Steam beer for at least 3 weeks in primary - I've never used lager yeast (I'm using Wyeast 2112) but I've heard that it takes longer than ale yeast.

Thanks again for the help!

I did a 10 gal APA with Munton's Gold in one carboy and US05 in another at 55. The US05 was done in about a week and a half. I had secondaried it, carbed it up and was drinking it before the MG was done. They both came out excellent though, with a light clean crisp taste. The 05 did not attenuate as much as the MG did, which I thought was a bit weird.

I have an APA sitting @ 64df with 05, its been about a week now and its just starting to slow down.

I'm glad to see these posts since I currently have an ale in the works that's been bouncing between 57 and 62. I've got my temp override for the fridge set at 62, but the garage has been colder than that and I don't have anything in place to bring the temp up. Smells great and there's some huge Krausen. We'll see how it progresses.

Merry Christmas by the way.

I brewed today and pitched around 62. The wort is at 60 right now. I didn't rehydrate like I usually do... hopefully there won't be too much of a lag.

I'm reviving this thread, so I don't need to start a new one...

I have a porter that is fermenting right now in the basement. I didn't realize how cold it is down there. I looked at the temperature strip on the carboy, and it's about 56 F.

I pitched 2 packets of rehydrated US-05 at 68 F. It took about a day to get going. The krausen is pretty thick (3-4 inches) and fluffy...makes me want to jump into a pool of milk chocolate and marshmellow. It does seem like it's taking much longer for the krausen to drop than most of my other beers.

It's been about 10 days, so I think I'll move it out of the basement into the kitchen where it's warmer for the last days of fermentation. I'll report on the flavors.

I hope it goes well.
I have had peach flavor from 05 cool.

hlmbrwng said:

I'm reviving this thread, so I don't need to start a new one...

I have a porter that is fermenting right now in the basement. I didn't realize how cold it is down there. I looked at the temperature strip on the carboy, and it's about 56 F.

I pitched 2 packets of rehydrated US-05 at 68 F. It took about a day to get going. The krausen is pretty thick (3-4 inches) and fluffy...makes me want to jump into a pool of milk chocolate and marshmellow. It does seem like it's taking much longer for the krausen to drop than most of my other beers.

It's been about 10 days, so I think I'll move it out of the basement into the kitchen where it's warmer for the last days of fermentation. I'll report on the flavors.

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I've had several US 05 batches that were fermented in the low 60s and took forever to get the krausen to drop. Just wait it out, it'll be fine.

I've fermented with US-05 at 54F and I understand that the original manufacturer's spec sheet said that it would ferment down to 52F. It will be slower than typical since metabolism and reactions are often temperature dependent.

By the way, I've never picked up Peach when fermenting in this very cold range. But I understand that those who have picked it up were fermenting in the low 60's. I've never tried that. For ales, I'm fermenting at 67F to 70F and never detected Peach in this range either. I am a fan of this yeast. Versatile and clean.

I pitch and hold at 62F until active fermentation is complete, usually about 3 days and then inch up 1 degree a day and hold at 68F until I'm ready to rack off. No peach or other flavors and if dry hopping they like the high temp.

I normally ferment with US-05 at 66-68 to start. But, with two full kegs my my fridge, which happens to also be my fermentation chamber, no luck controlling the temp.
Guess I need another fridge! I wonder what my roommates would think. If they loved beer as much as I do, it wouldn't be an issue.

MurderMittenBrewing said:

I'm going to be brewing an American Golden and I'm using Safale US-05 yeast. I'd like to keep the beer as clean and crisp as possible, so I'm thinking about fermenting at a lower temperature - probably around 58. Has anyone used this yeast at the lower end of the temp range?

Thanks!

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I've used us-05 around 6x the last 3 weeks. The lowest i went was 61 it was fine, its a fine yeast much better the Nottingham taste wise in my experience. I used a ton of notty but i doubt i will use it again.

I'm currently using it in 10 c (50 f), after three weeks it's still fermenting! No bubbles but the wort is active (I can see gas bubbles going up). I want to raise temp to room temp for a day see if fermentation will stop.

I frequently ferment at 62 and just leave it there for 2 weeks. No problems. Brew on.

My porter that was fermenting at about 56 (no idea what the internal temp was during peak fermentation) is done and has been kegged. I haven't gotten any off flavors that I would think came from the low temp. Something I am getting is a slight metallic after taste, but that is likely from the water and/or grain or from the toasted coconut addition.
No peach or anything like that.

It did take a while to ferment. And when I thought it was done and brought into a warmer room, it did start up again and bubble (slowly) over a couple of days. So I wouldn't bottle right from the cold temp.

After 3 weeks in 50 F, fermentation was not over. It began after warming up. I racked to a secondary fermenter and let it finish fermenting in room temp.
This yeast tolerates cold temp as low as 50F but its speed decreases considerably.

hlmbrwng said:

I'm reviving this thread, so I don't need to start a new one...

I have a porter that is fermenting right now in the basement. I didn't realize how cold it is down there. I looked at the temperature strip on the carboy, and it's about 56 F.

I pitched 2 packets of rehydrated US-05 at 68 F. It took about a day to get going. The krausen is pretty thick (3-4 inches) and fluffy...makes me want to jump into a pool of milk chocolate and marshmellow. It does seem like it's taking much longer for the krausen to drop than most of my other beers.

It's been about 10 days, so I think I'll move it out of the basement into the kitchen where it's warmer for the last days of fermentation. I'll report on the flavors.

Click to expand...

I use US-05 all the time and I never get such a healthy looking fermentation. Could you share your yeast prepping technique with me? I have a batch fermenting now (brewed Saturday 4/24 and it has the smallest layer of krausen.

Thank you

MADBADGER said:

I use US-05 all the time and I never get such a healthy looking fermentation. Could you share your yeast prepping technique with me? I have a batch fermenting now (brewed Saturday 4/24 and it has the smallest layer of krausen.

Thank you

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I just did a simple hydration:
- boiled water
- poured 4 oz into sterilized jar/glass
- let cool to ~100F and pitched in yeast
- stir, and then stirred again at 15 min
- chilled wort to 68F and pitched yeast

What kind of beer are you making? What is the original gravity?
Mine was about 1.065, so I only shook the carboy to aerate the wort.
If I go about 1.070, I might use an oxygen wand with pure O2. But I don't worry at this OG.

What temperature are you fermenting at?

I went below 58 three times and got a putrid rotten strawberry like aroma. Just awefull. Great around 60-65 though.

hlmbrwng said:

I just did a simple hydration:
- boiled water
- poured 4 oz into sterilized jar/glass
- let cool to ~100F and pitched in yeast
- stir, and then stirred again at 15 min
- chilled wort to 68F and pitched yeast

What kind of beer are you making? What is the original gravity?
Mine was about 1.065, so I only shook the carboy to aerate the wort.
If I go about 1.070, I might use an oxygen wand with pure O2. But I don't worry at this OG.

What temperature are you fermenting at?

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My process is very similar:
- boiled water 1 cup
- let cool to below 80F and pitched in yeast
- stir, hydrate for 1 - 1 1/2 hours
- chilled wort to 68F and pitched yeast
- 2 packets us-05

Pale Ale, OG 1.060. The only aeration I do is while I stir during immersion chilling and when I dump from kettle to FV. Fermentation Temp was around 66 - 68F.

This was my most recent brew. I've used US-05 with other process parameters and never got a great fermentation. Just meh fermentation.

Calichusetts said:

I went below 58 three times and got a putrid rotten strawberry like aroma. Just awefull. Great around 60-65 though.

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Glad I saw this as I brewed a Cream Ale this weekend, set the ATC at 68F and had to run out of town. I have the hysteresis set too high and the temp was at 63F. Seems I should be ok.

When I rehydrate my dry yeast, I add a scant 1/2 teaspoon of yeast nutrient in the water before stirring in my yeast to bloom. Anyone else do this? If so, is this beneficial?

MADBADGER said:

My process is very similar:
- boiled water 1 cup
- let cool to below 80F and pitched in yeast
- stir, hydrate for 1 - 1 1/2 hours
- chilled wort to 68F and pitched yeast
- 2 packets us-05

Pale Ale, OG 1.060. The only aeration I do is while I stir during immersion chilling and when I dump from kettle to FV. Fermentation Temp was around 66 - 68F.

This was my most recent brew. I've used US-05 with other process parameters and never got a great fermentation. Just meh fermentation.

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I emailed Danstar about how long to wait before pitching. They answered "Our technical manager suggests that you don't go longer than 30 minutes after the start of rehydration before pitching the yeast into wort as the yeast needs nutrients. If there is a delay you could actually add more wort to the rehydration water to give the yeast something to eat while you are waiting to pitch it, so long as it isn't too hot." It's hard to complain if you're getting good results, but it's worth considering.

Morrey said:

When I rehydrate my dry yeast, I add a scant 1/2 teaspoon of yeast nutrient in the water before stirring in my yeast to bloom. Anyone else do this? If so, is this beneficial?

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I don't believe so. You want the rehydration water to have low ionic content so that the osmotic pressure is low. Depending on the volume of water you are using to rehydrate, that could be pretty minerally water. Add your nutrient to the wort if you feel it is needed. I feel that its not needed in wort since an all malt wort should have everything the yeast need.

MADBADGER said:

This was my most recent brew. I've used US-05 with other process parameters and never got a great fermentation. Just meh fermentation.

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You may consider this:

I have stellar results with US-05. Typically I notice that liquid yeast from a starter takes off like a rocket but dry yeast (even rehydrated) takes maybe 12 hours longer.

As mentioned above, I rehydrate my yeast with a scant half teaspoon of yeast nutrient. I make my rehydration while I am in the middle of my boil for timing reasons. When wort is cooled the yeast is ready to pitch.

When I add nutrient the rehydrated yeast takes off for a healthy fermentation similar to the time liquid from a starter takes to get started. Really does make a difference. When I ran out of nutrient, back to the same ole 12 hour longer time lag.

EDIT: Martin, give it a try sometime....you may be surprised. Would be a good Brulosophy exbeeriment.