Proper controller temps for ales

When you guys use a temp controller to set your temp in your fermentation chest freezer, do you:

Use the same temp for all ales?

Or do you look up the temp range for the ale yeast, and set your controller for the low number in the range? Or maybe split the difference?

Either way, how long do you leave the temp at one setting? After 2-3 days, do you raise the temp to help with attenuation? And how do you make the determination on what temp to raise it to?

Lots of questions, thanks for the help!

i only use mine to lager. If i had more room and i wasnt storing kegs i would ferment for a few days and raise temp tword the end to attenuate more depending on the beer. The temperature ranges given by WL and Wyeast are general. You can still ferment outside the range however these are "optimal" temps. People still tend to turn out good beer without knowing this info. Depending on the yeast i will do different temps(water bath or diff areas in the house), for example saison yeast is heated in a water bath as it ferments vs my WLP001 california ale is just at room temp but if i wanted more phenols and esters produced in my beer i will ferment on the warmer side, colder = less. Sorry for the long winded explination but its 3 am... What type of beer are you brewing?

Eskimo Spy said:

Use the same temp for all ales?

Click to expand...

I don't have a chest freezer, but I wouldn't. Each beer I make, I kind of set a mental fermentation profile for it. 62F all day for Scottish. Ramp up a big Belgian to 75 after a week. Chico yeast needs a cold crash to drop. How fruity do I want this English ale?

Ferment temp is way too critical to essentially discard it as a variable!

Disclaimer: I have only used my temp controller on lagers; ales get the frozen soda bottle treatment.

I'm not brewing anything right now, before I start making the next brew, I was trying to get an idea of how to set the Ranco for optimal fermentation temps.

Since I live in Texas, where it was 80* yesterday, I pretty much have to use something for temp controls, even for ales.

I use mostly CA Ale yeast lately, and I prefer to ferment it at the low end of the spectrum (67 or 68). I tape the Ranco probe to the side of the bucket, cover it with a piece of plastic (to help shield it from the air in the freezer and make sure it's reading the temp of the beer, not the air). I set the Ranco with a 1 degree differential.

If it's a "normal" (1.055 or below) strength beer, I just let it go. If it's larger than that, and I want it to finish closer to the max attenuation, I'll start to ramp the temperature up a degree or two a day once I notice the initial fermentation start to slow. I've raised it up to 70 or 71 without any problems, since the fermentation is past the part where most of the fusel alcohol and off esters would be produced. Usually, that will help coax a few more points out of it, and I end up with a clean, dry beer.