Fermenting temps

I have an oatmeal stout in the fermenter and the recipe calls for 2 weeks primary at 68F than 3 weeks secondary at 50F. I have my fermenter in the garage. Right now it is fermenting at 64F. Will htis have an adverse effect? It is supposed to get cold here tomorrow night.(21F). It has been in the fermenter since Sunday. I guess my main question is should I try to move it inside before it gets too cold?


Thanks for your help!!



Cheers and Fair Winds,
Kevin


Tidewater Brewing

Ideally you would have it at a steady temperature- the ups and downs you experience in a garage are probably not what you want, especially as fermentation winds down. Fermentation itself causes some heat, so even though the ambient temperature may be, say, 64 degrees, inside the fermenter it's usually a couple of degrees more. But as it winds down, the cooler ambient temperature will effect it more, maybe even stopping fermentation altogether if it gets too cool.

I would rather keep it at a steady temperature inside than subject it to such extremes of temperature.

Or you could rig up a swamp cooler, you would be surprised how little the temp will fluctuate with the added water mass and insulation from the cooler.

You can add ice to cool or an aquarium heater to heat it.

I'm not sure what yeast your using but with my Oatmeal Stout I used
Wyeast #1084 Irish Ale
Flocculation: Medium
Attenuation: 71-75%
Temperature Range: 62-72F, 16-22C
Alcohol Tolerance: 10% ABV

A simple way to keep your cargoy in the mid 60's (if you don't have a basement) is to bring the carboy into the house so you can have constant temperatures. Put your carboy into cooler (ice chest) filled about 1/2 way up on your carboy with water and drape an old bath towel over the carboy.
I set mine in a closet and the temperature is @ 68deg. This will bring the temp down to the low 60's with no problem.
If I want to take it to the 50's I add frozen milk jugs to the water.

I don't know what your recipe is or why it requires the lower secondary, That doesn't make it right or wrong just different than mine.


I keep my batch at mid 60's through the secondary and it was great.

Happy Brewing