oms1981
Scum
This coming saturday I am going to have some friends over and we are going to be brewing 2 batches. We are doing a nut brown ale and a basic hefe. I do all of my fermentation in the basement in my "beer area." The basement is basically just 1 huge open space so I just use the area that has the least light exposure. Anyway, I went down there last night with my digital instant thermometer and got a reading of 61.3 degrees F. I will be using Wyeast #3333 which has optimum of 63-72 degrees F and Wyeast #1028 with optimum of 60-72.
I am wondering what are the ramifications of fermenting at the bottom end of the yeast's optimum range (or just below optimum in the case of the hefe yeast)? I'm assuming that I will just have a slower rate of fermentation, but is there anything else I should be concerned about? I will be using starters for both batches to ensure they get going as quickly as possible.
I guess the real pain here is that it's not really possible for me to control the temperature down there. This became a problem at the opposite end of the spectrum for a batch I did in july. It fermented at around 73-74 degrees and although the beer still tastes quite good, the discerning connoisseur will definitely detect the fusel alcohol.
I'm moving in May so I'm not really concerned with trying to remedy my temp control issues too much right now. This will probably be my last or second to last brew session at this house so I just want to worry about this one right now.
So, yeah.. any concerns or comments I should be aware of for fermenting ales at around 60 degrees? I've never done a batch at a temp this low before.
I am wondering what are the ramifications of fermenting at the bottom end of the yeast's optimum range (or just below optimum in the case of the hefe yeast)? I'm assuming that I will just have a slower rate of fermentation, but is there anything else I should be concerned about? I will be using starters for both batches to ensure they get going as quickly as possible.
I guess the real pain here is that it's not really possible for me to control the temperature down there. This became a problem at the opposite end of the spectrum for a batch I did in july. It fermented at around 73-74 degrees and although the beer still tastes quite good, the discerning connoisseur will definitely detect the fusel alcohol.
I'm moving in May so I'm not really concerned with trying to remedy my temp control issues too much right now. This will probably be my last or second to last brew session at this house so I just want to worry about this one right now.
So, yeah.. any concerns or comments I should be aware of for fermenting ales at around 60 degrees? I've never done a batch at a temp this low before.