Beer falling below temperature

Hi, I'm a new user/brewer taking their first steps into the rewarding world of Homebrew! Just a quick question, I'm fairly certain my fermentation process is going fine, and confident in my process, but my brew has fallen under temp for at least a couple hours, which I'm less concerned about than it rising above temp as to prevent off flavors etc. so basically what I'm asking, is will it make my yeast dormant? and kill my brew or is a few hours not to bad?

beerlove said:

Hi, I'm a new user/brewer taking their first steps into the rewarding world of Homebrew! Just a quick question, I'm fairly certain my fermentation process is going fine, and confident in my process, but my brew has fallen under temp for at least a couple hours, which I'm less concerned about than it rising above temp as to prevent off flavors etc. so basically what I'm asking, is will it make my yeast dormant? and kill my brew or is a few hours not to bad?

Click to expand...

What temperatures? How far into the fermentation and for how long?
What type or recipe are you brewing? What yeast are you using?

bosco

Sorry, I should've been more specific. tbh it's just DME extract, dry yeast and it's just a sample i got with my kit, the temps are supposed to be between 68 and 76 degrees. it fell to about 64. and it's a pale lager, like corona. about 7 days into fermentation. and the kraussen has fallen. still bubbling and I'm just giving it that extra week or 2.

Wow.. 68-76 is way high (esp. for a lager?). I use Nottingham yeast (known to produce some volcanic fermentations) and keep it just above 60 degrees for at least the first 4-5 days then let it come up to room temp (68) for another two weeks or so. It becomes a tame yeasty at those temps and give me a clean tasting beer that flocs out to a tight layer on the bottom of the fermenter.

bosco

Yeah, wow... 76? Do remember fermentation will increase the temp up to 10 degrees as well- you should be fine.

Did they include a real lager yeast with the kit? Or an ale yeast?

It it's lager yeast, you want to ferment closer to 50F.

But a lot of beginner kits include ale yeast because they know most beginners can't ferment at real lager temps.

Ale yeast actually perform wonderfully in the mid 60's. I think beginner kits list a wide temperature range to not scare people off. But fermenting in the mid-70's with ale yeast (with the exception of some Belgian strains) will give you a fruity-jet-fuel beer. Not to mention if you're going by the room temperature, the liquid temperature in the bucket is at least 5F warmer.

At this point it doesn't matter, but if you have a place that stays in the low/mid 60s, that's perfect for a mid-high 60's fermentation.

I believe it's ale yeast. It didn't say but I knew that lagers ferment at cooler temps so I kind of figured it was ale yeast. It is a beginner kit and I can't wait for some more advanced equipment haha. I've never had the issue with temp abuse before so I figured I'd ask. and yes my room stays at a nice 68 usually so i suppose i have nothing to worry about! thanks for the insight everyone.

and I'll prob make the switch to all grain very soon