Pacman yeast first time

Ok....So I am making a Rogue Dead Guy Ale clone. This past saturday I brewed and pitched the yeast at 68 degress. Moved carboy down to basement where my air temp is steady 68 degrees. Today is Wednesday afternoon so it has been on the yeast for 4 days. Airlock is still bubbling every 3-5 seconds.
Here is where I am going with this. This is the first time i did the swamp cooler type ferment where I put the carboy in a tub and added water and a t shirt to help control the temp. On my first 3 batches I fermented upstairs at 72 degree air temp. One beer turned out great, using a wyeast smack not sure which one, one is still in primary using danstar windsor, and one is a newcastle clone that tastes good but smells awful. Bad enough to almost not drink. It was made with safeale 05. All three of these beers bubbled like crazy for like 24 hours and were done bubbling in airlock. Now i know that alone is not an indicator, but, you can see I have 3 to 1 very different outcomes by watching the airlock, and fermenting hot vs cold.
So, I am asking all of this to see, is a slow fermentation at a low temperature a lot better than a fast fermentation at a higher temperature?

did this exact recipe 3 weeks ago, although people will say the airlock is no indication of what is going on with the beer, mine was bubbling pretty strong for 4 days...still had bubbles in the airlock every minute or so by day 7. you are fine, that pacman yeast is the best.

don't worry, it will be fine as long as the yeast doesn't get hot...if it is colder it will just take longer and 68 is right on with the temp

parratt1 said:

...and one is a newcastle clone that tastes good but smells awful. Bad enough to almost not drink.

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Sounds pretty spot on for Newcastle!

parratt1 said:

So, I am asking all of this to see, is a slow fermentation at a low temperature a lot better than a fast fermentation at a higher temperature?

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In general, yes. I've fermented with US-05/Wyeast 1056 several times now. My first few batches I didn't control the temp and they fermented up around 72-74. Within 24 hours the fermentation was about complete. The beers had several off flavors that took a while to mellow out.

Now I control via bathtub/frozen wate rbottles and I can keep the temp at a steady 64 degrees for the entire fermentation. It takes 4-5 to complete at that temp. I have an IPA sitting in there still bubbling once every 10 seconds or so and I pitched on Saturday. I am already assuming the end result will taste cleaner based on previous experience.

Overall I try to leave the beer in the primary at least 2 weeks, regardless of how fast the initial fermentation takes.

parratt1 said:

So, I am asking all of this to see, is a slow fermentation at a low temperature a lot better than a fast fermentation at a higher temperature?

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Short answer = usually yes. At lower temperatures you will have less fusel alcohols, esters, off-flavors, etc. Some styles (e.g. Saison) call for a higher temp or pitching at a moderate temp and allowing to free rise naturally. BTW, Rogue ferments Dead Guy at 60F. Depending upon where you live and your temperature control capability that might be too low to achieve. I recently brewed a Dead Guy clone based on the recipe that Rogue gave to Can You brew it and it came out great. That pacman really clears. The beer is brilliantly clear.

Cheers,
Glenn