Stout Fermentation Temperature

Hi all,

I currently have my bedroom set at 66F. I keep my primary in a closet with no door so it keeps the same temperature as the room.

I also have a small fan that has been blowing at full capacity since brew day which was 2 days ago. Do you think this is good enough for keeping it cool?

Depends on your yeast type, if your using Cali yeast, you're fine.

Using Safale US-05. Sorry should have mentioned that

Temperature in fermenter during first few days of fermentation are usually few degrees higher but I think that wont be a big problem if you keep 66F room temperature.

You'll be fine at that temperature with that yeast. Enjoy your stout at the perfect time of year!

I'd suggest one of those cheap temperature strips. You can see at a glance what the beer temperature is. They have them at homebrew stores, or at Wal-mart, sold as aquarium temperature strips. You need to show about 60-75 F for ales.

In a 66 degree room, you might be just fine but sometimes a very active fermentation will cause a big temperature increase, like 10 degrees or so!

Get a temperature reading of what's inside the carboy. Ambient temp is nigh on useless. Even a fermometer will give you a close idea of what the beer is fermenting at. For all you know, it could be 10F over ambient inside the carboy.

Damn, Yooper beat me to the post, as I was typing...

Fermentation does not seem too vigorous so I am assuming it is not quite 10 degrees above my room temp. I will go purchase a little stick on thermometer though just to be sure.

Even 5F higher (a common amount) puts you in the danger zone for most ale yeasts. US-05 has a listed temperature range of 59-75°... I would aim to have it no more than the middle of that range, inside the fermenter. But that's just me.

Generally speaking, ale yeasts are cleaner when fermented at lower temperatures (in their listed range). I've not used US-05 (or any dry beer yeast) so you'll need to get info from someone that has. I have used it's Wyeast equal before and liked it with fermenting in the lower half of it's range.