Maintaining temp AFTER fermentation

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Wicked_Magik

Wicked_Magik

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This may be a no-brainer, but is there any reason to actively maintain a certain temp, AFTER fermentation has completed, but before you bottle/rack/keg etc?

In other words, do I need to worry about my beer creeping +/- 5 degrees after fermentation has finished (known via hydrometer)?
 
There is still yeast activity significantly after FG has been reached, so it is not quite fair to say that temperature doesn't matter at all. But, you don't need to be quite so precise about it. If it's creeping up or down 5ºF, my hunch is that you won't have any problems. I wouldn't let it go up or down 20ºF, though.
 
I agree. You want the lil yeasties to be active enough to clean up after themselves,then to carb/condition the beer.
 
Yep, once its reached the FG, I still try and keep it withing 5-10F of what it should be. So for example and ale, if it gets up to 70-72F after it is done fermenting(2-3 weeks) I just don't worry about it. I usually bottle right around then anyways, where the bottles will be at 70F.
 
I was wondering the same. I have my fermenters near the front of my furnace right now so they linger around 70. Once fermentation completes I was planning on moving them away a little bit out of the way, but wasn't sure if dropping them down to 65 or so was safe.
 
RugerRedhawk said:
I was wondering the same. I have my fermenters near the front of my furnace right now so they linger around 70. Once fermentation completes I was planning on moving them away a little bit out of the way, but wasn't sure if dropping them down to 65 or so was safe.
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That will be fine. In fact, for most styles, you'd be better off if you never let it get to 70F in the first place.
 
MalFet said:
There is still yeast activity significantly after FG has been reached, so it is not quite fair to say that temperature doesn't matter at all. But, you don't need to be quite so precise about it. If it's creeping up or down 5ºF, my hunch is that you won't have any problems. I wouldn't let it go up or down 20ºF, though.
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Arn't you letting the beer go down more than 20 degrees F when you cold crash it? Are you saying cold crashing is not good for it? Just wondering because I havent seen anyone say negative things about cold crashing a carboy after primary fermentation.
 
agodfrey11 said:
Arn't you letting the beer go down more than 20 degrees F when you cold crash it? Are you saying cold crashing is not good for it? Just wondering because I havent seen anyone say negative things about cold crashing a carboy after primary fermentation.
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Right...cold crashing is fine, but you do that at the end. You wouldn't want to drop the temps like that why the yeast are still active in any way.

When you cold crash, you basically stop all biological activity, slow all chemical activity, and initiate some physical activity.
 
MalFet said:
That will be fine. In fact, for most styles, you'd be better off if you never let it get to 70F in the first place.
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I don't know, was just following the AHS instructions and trying to keep it within the range of 'optimum fermentation temperature' listed on White Labs website. I figured if I stayed in that range I'd be good to go.

I think the yeast instructions said to keep the wort above 70 at all times until fermentation begins, is that bad advice? I suppose at this point I should leave it alone and not try and cool it down at all until fermentation completes.
 
RugerRedhawk said:
I don't know, was just following the AHS instructions and trying to keep it within the range of 'optimum fermentation temperature' listed on White Labs website. I figured if I stayed in that range I'd be good to go.

I think the yeast instructions said to keep the wort above 70 at all times until fermentation begins, is that bad advice? I suppose at this point I should leave it alone and not try and cool it down at all until fermentation completes.
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This is true but the fermentation it's self creates heat in the fermenter. If your ambient is 70 then it's probably more like 75 in the fermentor which is too high and will possibly create off flavors.
 
mrduna01 said:
This is true but the fermentation it's self creates heat in the fermenter. If your ambient is 70 then it's probably more like 75 in the fermentor which is too high and will possibly create off flavors.
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Ok, the temps I'm speaking of are from my fermometers. Not perfect obviously, but better than just ambient. I try to keep them away from the top of the recommended range. Would these beers have started fine with WL california ale 001 if I had left it at 66 degrees ambient?
 
RugerRedhawk said:
Ok, the temps I'm speaking of are from my fermometers. Not perfect obviously, but better than just ambient. I try to keep them away from the top of the recommended range. Would these beers have started fine with WL california ale 001 if I had left it at 66 degrees ambient?
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If your measuring the temp of the wort itself and it was under 70 than your probably fine. If the ambient temp was all you use for temp control than you need the air in the room closer to 60 to 65 to keep the wort in range but that's only a guess. Get a stick on strip thermometer and use that to see what temp your wort is at and adjust accordingly.
 
RugerRedhawk said:
I don't know, was just following the AHS instructions and trying to keep it within the range of 'optimum fermentation temperature' listed on White Labs website. I figured if I stayed in that range I'd be good to go.

I think the yeast instructions said to keep the wort above 70 at all times until fermentation begins, is that bad advice? I suppose at this point I should leave it alone and not try and cool it down at all until fermentation completes.
Click to expand...

It depends on the yeast. For most strains (though certainly not all), that sounds a few degrees too high for my tastes, but of course YMMV. I'm not sure why, but White Labs always seems to recommend relatively higher temps than the other manufacturers.

If your beer temperature stayed at 70ºF, you'll have good beer. You can start experimenting to see where you like it. That's a touch warm for my tastes, but it's not insanity or anything.
 
MalFet said:
It depends on the yeast. For most strains (though certainly not all), that sounds a few degrees too high for my tastes, but of course YMMV. I'm not sure why, but White Labs always seems to recommend relatively higher temps than the other manufacturers.

If your beer temperature stayed at 70ºF, you'll have good beer. You can start experimenting to see where you like it. That's a touch warm for my tastes, but it's not insanity or anything.
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Thanks, these are my first batches so I'm not terribly worried. Actually as spring and summer approach I won't really have the option of fermenting that warm anyway, so we'll see how the cooler temps prevail on my future batches.

For the record stick on thermometers is what I'm using to monitor the temps, so not just ambient temps.
 

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