Fermentation temps?

How warm is to warm on the last half of the fermentation process? I had an ipa fermenting at 60 for 5 days and bumped the temp up to 64 for two days. Then on the 8th day I moved it to the closet where the ambient temp is at 70. I was checking it today and the temp of the batch was at 74. I checked inside and it had a pretty good amount of krausen. Possible problems?

I'd say nay. The taste can differ a bit with temperatures. For instance. I don't use a ferm chamber, fridge, bucket, or any other means of temperature control. I fill the bucket with wort, throw the yeast in, and set it in by the bar for a few weeks. In the summer months it'll go as high as 78°. In the winter as low as 63°. That said, I do like the taste of my beer more in the winter than the summer, but not enough to invest more time, money, or real estate to achieve it. It's not a bad flavor in the summer, just a bit more a that "homebrewey" taste.

So in the end I think you'll be fine.

You should be fine. Most of the fermentation action has already taken place while you had the low temps. There are quite a few brewers that use an increasing temp schedule during fermentation so that the yeast will stay active.

Really glad I found this thread! I was wondering about temps myself. I was holding all my fermenting beers steady at about 72 degrees in my closet, but then this warm front came into Dallas and the temp in my closet went up to 78 degrees. It sounds like because the last couple of weeks I was able to maintain the lower temps, when the vast majority of fermenting completed, that I have little to worry about regarding off-flavors? Is that right?

JohanTheMighty said:

Really glad I found this thread! I was wondering about temps myself. I was holding all my fermenting beers steady at about 72 degrees in my closet, but then this warm front came into Dallas and the temp in my closet went up to 78 degrees. It sounds like because the last couple of weeks I was able to maintain the lower temps, when the vast majority of fermenting completed, that I have little to worry about regarding off-flavors? Is that right?

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Your "lower" temp is to "high". Most ales should begin fermenting in mid to low 60's. I do have a friend here in Hawai`i who for years has been fermenting extract brews at "room temp", read "upper 70's to upper 80's". Needless to say his beers don't taste to good to me, but he seems to like them.

Sadly the A/C in my apartment is not the greatest (Window unit in the wall of the living room, no central a/c). The temperature even with it on can fluctuate wildly during the summer and get as high as 95 degrees and maybe more in the back area. But seems to stay fairly even in the winter.

I have a wine fridge with a smoked glass front panel at my Dad's place that I was thinking of going and getting to use for storing while fermenting. Do others think that is a good idea? I could put it in the hallway or even in the back closet and use it to try to keep the temperature stable.

Maybe attaching a thermometer to the inside glass so I could see what it is sitting at.

But I'm not even sure what range I should be in when fermenting.

C-Rider said:

Your "lower" temp is to "high". Most ales should begin fermenting in mid to low 60's. I do have a friend here in Hawai`i who for years has been fermenting extract brews at "room temp", read "upper 70's to upper 80's". Needless to say his beers don't taste to good to me, but he seems to like them.

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That's weird, because the yeast that I bought, which is an American Ale yeast, says that 72 right in the upper range of the ideal fermentation temps. Another for English beers puts it at about the same. I've never had any off flavors, so I suppose it could depend on what yeast you use. I guess I got lucky when these were recommended to me.

JohanTheMighty said:

That's weird, because the yeast that I bought, which is an American Ale yeast, says that 72 right in the upper range of the ideal fermentation temps. Another for English beers puts it at about the same. I've never had any off flavors, so I suppose it could depend on what yeast you use. I guess I got lucky when these were recommended to me.

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There's few yeasts I can think of that don't throw off esters at 72F. If you're only able to keep your beer in the low-mid 70s you might want to look at trying to brew some Belgians until things cool off a bit as we approach winter.

JohanTheMighty said:

That's weird, because the yeast that I bought, which is an American Ale yeast, says that 72 right in the upper range of the ideal fermentation temps. Another for English beers puts it at about the same. I've never had any off flavors, so I suppose it could depend on what yeast you use. I guess I got lucky when these were recommended to me.

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I did say "most". Yes there are a few that go higher but I thought those would be for Belgians.

Which US and English are you talking bout?

I guess if you can't get fermenting temp lower those are the ones to use.

If you maintain lower temps during the reproductive (lag) phase through initial fermentation,you're good. Letting the temp rise after initial fermentation is done will help the yeasties keep going to finish fermenting, then clean up any by-products of fermentation after that.

JohanTheMighty said:

That's weird, because the yeast that I bought, which is an American Ale yeast, says that 72 right in the upper range of the ideal fermentation temps. Another for English beers puts it at about the same. I've never had any off flavors, so I suppose it could depend on what yeast you use. I guess I got lucky when these were recommended to me.

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The 72 degrees might be part of the ideal fermentation temperature if you can keep the beer temperature from exceeding that but as the temperature goes up from the low 60's to the low 70's, the yeast activity goes up, producing more heat so that keeping the beer from getting into the mid to upper 70's becomes more difficult and those higher beer temperatures will give off flavors and probably fusel alcohol too.

Both very good insights. Being as I brew in an apartment and haven't really had any off-flavors, 70-72 is my limit. Someday I may invest in a lagering fridge, but not willing to make that investment at this time.

Hey @Mouse - if that wine fridge is big enough for a whatever you ferment in, then definitely go for it. Keeping your fermentation temps in check will really help the quality of your finished beer. As for your question about what range you should be fermenting in, check the yeast manufacturers website for that information. This document is from the Fermentis website on US-05. It tells you what the "ideal" temperature range is.

I got a chest freezer from Home depot, a small 5 CuFT for about $150 and a temp controller like the STC-1000 on Amazon for $15 and it has worked great this summer on keeping the temp in range, and when not making beer I turn it down to 36 or so and keep bottled beer nice and cold. :rockin: One batch of beer versus buying the same beer in the store almost pays for the chest freezer.

darby_ross said:

I was checking it today and the temp of the batch was at 74. I checked inside and it had a pretty good amount of krausen. Possible problems?

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I reckon if you have a krausen your beer's not in the latter stages of fermentation. 74 degrees is too warm IMO.

probable problems but live and learn.

JohanTheMighty said:

That's weird, because the yeast that I bought, which is an American Ale yeast, says that 72 right in the upper range of the ideal fermentation temps.

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Beer temp != ambient temperature

Fermenting beer generates its own heat, and the beer temperature can be considerably higher than the temperature of the surrounding air.

Ales: low 60s to low 60s (62-72). Go to the higher side if you like more esters. Go lower for cleaner beer. Belgians would be the exception here because the style requires the esters.

Lagers: high 40s to mid 50s (48-55). Again, lower will generally give you a cleaner beer.

I just was reading something the other day about how one is very like to have a preference for something they made themselves, regardless of how good it actually is. So someone who doesn't use temp control is just fooling themselves that they make great beer. Some people don't mind setting the bar low. If you aren't that type of person you have the knowledge to do better; whether you do is up to you.

JohanTheMighty said:

Both very good insights. Being as I brew in an apartment and haven't really had any off-flavors, 70-72 is my limit. Someday I may invest in a lagering fridge, but not willing to make that investment at this time.

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Swamp coolers are cheap as hell, you just need a container that will hold your fermenter and you can fill up with some water. It doesn't get much easier or cheaper than that and it really does work. I bought some of those freeze and go ice packs from the dollar store and those with the water will keep your beer in the low to mid 60's for as long as you need. I live on the top floor of a building and I have no A/C and I was brewing ales all summer even in 90 degree weather. Give it a shot it's really not hard

I've done the same with mine at the end of primary and haven't had any problems.

unionrdr said:

If you maintain lower temps during the reproductive (lag) phase through initial fermentation,you're good. Letting the temp rise after initial fermentation is done will help the yeasties keep going to finish fermenting, then clean up any by-products of fermentation after that.

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^^ I'm a believer in this.

On a recent brew I did a temp-controlled fermentation for 10 or so days at 67F, verified that gravity had stabilized, then just shut off the fridge completely, allowing the temperature to basically rise up to ambient in the room.

The gravity sample tasted kind of wonky (as they tend to do), but after about 5 days at room-ish temperature I had another taste while bottling the batch, and it tasted almost good enough to pour a full glass and drink (I did not do this, by the way ).

Gavin C said:

I reckon if you have a krausen your beer's not in the latter stages of fermentation. 74 degrees is too warm IMO.

probable problems but live and learn.

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That's what I'm thinking too. I'll see what it taste like in a couple more weeks

Gavin C said:

I reckon if you have a krausen your beer's not in the latter stages of fermentation. 74 degrees is too warm IMO.

probable problems but live and learn.

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That's what I was thinking.