Temperature to ferment after primary?

I know that during the primary fermentation that the temperature should be around 70* or so depending on the beer. After the primary fermenting is done and I rack to a secondary carboy does it matter as much what the temperature in the room is at? I built a myself this smoker last fall and I have a control monitor that will keep the temperature within +/-1* of the set temperature. I am going to be using it to keep the primary batch fermenting at 70* but when I rack to the secondary can I move the secondary to the garage where I'll eventually do the bottling or should I leave it in the smoker unit at 70*?

thanks,
jared

I'd skip the secondary and do a longer primary then straight to the bottle.

I'd also start your fermentation cooler and slowly raise the temp to 70F or whatever per the yeast.

Even 70*F may be high depending on the yeast strain and ester/phenol contribution the beer "needs" to be "accurate". And do keep in mind that wort/beer temps can be as much as 10*F higher than ambient during high krausen or active fermentation.

Once fermentation is complete temps mean little. However, warmer temps favor maturation more than colder but colder temps favor clarification.

It's a vicious cycle of which you will learn the nuances of in short order. You are on teh right path tho in seeking ways to manage temps.

thanks,

What would be an ideal temperature to keep the cabinet at? The last batch I did sat in our bedroom while it fermented and I was trying to keep it around 68* but the wife kept turing it down to 65* cause she got too hot.

One of the reasons I was considering racking to a secondary was to reduce the sediment that I am finding in the bottom of the bottles from my first batch. How long should I leave the beer in the primary before bottling to reduce all the sediment? Is there a way to elimanate that stuff?

Ideally, you'd devise a way to monitor actual wort temps and maintain them according to the yeast range by desired profile (colder = fewer byproducts, warmer = more). Temp management and knowing what a yeast does across a range are invaluable to dialing in a beer.

Long primaries and cold clearing will help with sediment but, secondarioes do have their place. If you are bottling you will always have sediment.

Some of the sediment will be yeast, which is needed to carbonate the beer if you are bottle conditioning. You can only avoid this by kegging and force carbing, really.

Some of the sediment might also be random proteins falling out of solution. There are several ways to help reduce the amount of this you have. The first is to cold crash the primary by placing it in a fridge or similar for a day or two before racking to the bottling bucket. Give it at least 3 weeks in the primary. Second, use a secondary, and also cold crash. I have found my beers to be just about as clear after cold crashing the primary as with using a secondary, so I rarely use the secondary anymore. If clarity is really important to you, you can also use gelatin in the secondary.

Alternatively, learn to love the sediment. If you chill the bottle well, it will mainly stay in there and not in your glass anyway.

jaredpost said:

thanks,

What would be an ideal temperature to keep the cabinet at? The last batch I did sat in our bedroom while it fermented and I was trying to keep it around 68* but the wife kept turing it down to 65* cause she got too hot.

One of the reasons I was considering racking to a secondary was to reduce the sediment that I am finding in the bottom of the bottles from my first batch. How long should I leave the beer in the primary before bottling to reduce all the sediment? Is there a way to elimanate that stuff?

Click to expand...

How is the temp controlled? Does it have a probe? Can you tape the probe to the side of the fermeneter?

And/or get one of those stick on fermomerters and put that on the fermenter and watch it all the time. This really is a must do to know what the fermentation temp really is.

Unless your very sloppy with racking, the sediment in the bottles is mainly from the yeast that makes the carbonation. Think about going to kegs they are awesome for many reasons beyond sediment in the bottles.

maida7 said:

How is the temp controlled? Does it have a probe? Can you tape the probe to the side of the fermeneter?

And/or get one of those stick on fermomerters and put that on the fermenter and watch it all the time. This really is a must do to know what the fermentation temp really is.

Unless your very sloppy with racking, the sediment in the bottles is mainly from the yeast that makes the carbonation. Think about going to kegs they are awesome for many reasons beyond sediment in the bottles.

Click to expand...

It has a probe that I could tape to the side of the fermenter. How accurate are the stick on thermometers? I have one on the primary bucket now but it is very hard to read. Do they need replaced often?

Would it be beneficial to put a wireless temperature probe in the wart while it ferments? After is was sanitized of course. Or am I getting to detail oriented with this.

simply tape the probe to side and it will control the temp fairly accurately. Do not put the probe inside the liquid.

those sick on fermometers are accurate enough for what were doing and seam to last a long time.