Fermentation Temperature?

Is there a chart or something to show what temperature to ferment certain styles of beer at?

I am trying to clone the Hoptober recipe from New Belgium, which is a golden ale. I have found the recipe ingredients but there is no information on fermentation temp.

i would guess that you'd be shooting for a fairly neutral yeast profile with that beer, so try sometime like 1056, 001, us-05 with a fermentation temp around 65-68.

Hoptober is an ale. Most ale yeast like 66-68˚F. Some like it a bit cooler, like PacMan.

Where did you find the recipe? Hoptober is one of my favorite NB brews. Please post.

Googled it and found it on Northern Brewers website forum. Some person with the name onthekeg posted this:

"I am thinking of trying this on for size to see if I may be able to imitate a little of this tasty beer.
All feedback is appreciated!

GRAIN
6lb Rahr 2-row
2lb Wheat Malt
1lb Rye Malt
1lb Flaked Oats


HOPS
Glacier .5oz FWH (14g)
Sterling .75oz FWH (21g)
Centennial .3oz 60min (9g)
Willamette .5oz 15min (14g)
Cascade .75oz 5min (21g)

T-58 cake. I am liking this yeast better than the 3522 for this style of beer. Wrong?? I like to ferment in the low 60's.


I am not sure where I should put the Willamette in this beer. I didn't really pick it out with the tongue, but maybe bittering and move the Cents around? I suppose I could email them a ravingly good endorsement of the beer and see if they give any info.. Thats too easy though right?? "

OK, I saw that one a while back. Thanks.

I'm really surprised that there aren't more recipes out there for this tasty brew. Post back about hoe it turns out and how close you think it is.

I've been looking through a lot of recipes and most call for a fermentation temp of 68 degrees. If my room temperature in my lower room is between 70-72 degrees, isn't that a close enough temp just to leave the carboy in the room?

dmbnpj said:

I've been looking through a lot of recipes and most call for a fermentation temp of 68 degrees. If my room temperature in my lower room is between 70-72 degrees, isn't that a close enough temp just to leave the carboy in the room?

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no. Fermentation temps refer to the temp of the wort/beer, not the air temperature. Fermentation produces heat, so the wort/beer is usually a few degrees above the ambient temp. If you ferment in a 72 F room, your beer/wort will actually be at 74-76F. At those temps, most (all?) yeast are going to produce a lot more esters and higher fusel alcohols

So if I do invest in a fermentation chamber, I should keep the setting of the controller at 65 degrees?

Depends on your yeast optimal temps, They generally have a 5 degree range like 70-75. I'd shoot for the low end (70 in this case) and everything should be fine.
5 gall batches right?

Always refer to what your yeast says it ferments best at. I don't think style has as much to do with temp as the yeast...but then again, the yeast pretty much makes the style.

dmbnpj said:

So if I do invest in a fermentation chamber, I should keep the setting of the controller at 65 degrees?

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That would work. (though like mentioned above, the temp you keep it at will depend on the yeast you use)

If you wanted to go all out, the best thing would be to use a temp controller connected to a probe you can keep in the beer or at least adhered to the side of the fermenter - this way you can actually control the temp of the fermentation.

Yah, thats the plan. Ranco dual stage controller installed on a chest freezer with the probe inserted into the thermowell on my carboy. I just need some feedback before I drop $200 on this setup rather than leaving it in my free dark closet.

You can save money by making an evaporitave cooling setup. Just need a small water pump, some tubing, a large tub, a towel, and something to crimp the tubing on. Easy and works great! Keeps it 5-10 degrees cooler than the air.

brewdude25 said:

You can save money by making an evaporitave cooling setup. Just need a small water pump, some tubing, a large tub, a towel, and something to crimp the tubing on. Easy and works great! Keeps it 5-10 degrees cooler than the air.

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Questions about your setup here. Do you have any idea how many degrees a setup like this will lower the temp ? I ask because I am about to brew at a temp of 66 to 68 which will require me to do a swamp cooler. Our place is kept at 75 degrees because the wife is always cold. I planned on just filling the bucket the carboy sits in with water halfway up with a shirt and thats it.

I noticed you have the thermometer in the water that surrounds the carboy. Does this reading indicate what temp the beer is fermenting at or close ? I am nervous about keeping a constant temp. I have never used a swamp cooler so thanks for the help.

If your house is at 75 the internal temp of the beer will be around 68. It usually keeps the actual beer around 5-10 degrees cooler than the room temp, so you should be fine. I am refering to my set up. If you just use the shirt and the bucket, it will work, but not as well. You may need to keep a fan on it, if you do that.

Wingfan13 said:

I noticed you have the thermometer in the water that surrounds the carboy. Does this reading indicate what temp the beer is fermenting at or close ? I am nervous about keeping a constant temp. I have never used a swamp cooler so thanks for the help.

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The thermometer will give you an estimate of the actual temp of the beer. When the fermentation is highly active, the temp of the beer may be a little warmer than the temp of the surrounding water, but if you have one of those sticker thermometers on the side of your carboy you can tell for sure.

Dont worry too much about keeping it exactly at the recommended temp. I just always try to keep mine somewhere below 70. 65-70 is a good target to shoot for with the actual beer temp.