cbw1978
New Member
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2008
- Messages
- 4
- Reaction score
- 0
Process:
This is our first time fermenting in glass instead of the plastic bucket, and the first time we've ever had the variation in temps I have described above, and our first stout, so I want to know:
Thanks everyone.
- We made a partial-mash stout, learned that our hydrometer was busted, so couldn't get an OG reading. Recipe put it in the range of 1.090 to 1.105.
- Aerated wort, pitched Wyeast Irish Ale Smack Pack yeast at about 72 degrees. (It had been properly SMACKED before we started the brew sesh).
- Next morning I find out that my supposedly warm spot for fermenting has gone cold. Fermometer is reading 60 degrees. Move carboy directly on top of forced air heating vent and go to work.
- Come home that evening and the beer is ALIVE! 1-2 bubbles per second in the airlock, 2-3 inches of foam/krausen. Temp is too high for fermometer to read, so I grab an insta-read thermometer and hold it to the glass - it reads 81-83 degrees, depending on where I hold it.
- Move the carboy to directly next to the heating vent - within 24 hours the temp levels out at about 72 degrees (yeast packaging recommends 70-75 degrees). Bubbling slows, and at my 72-hour obversation point since pitching the yeast I find that the cake has dropped from the top of the carboy and settles at the bottom.
- Today, at the 84 hour mark, there is a bubble every 20-30 seconds in the airlock.
This is our first time fermenting in glass instead of the plastic bucket, and the first time we've ever had the variation in temps I have described above, and our first stout, so I want to know:
- How will the temp variation affect the final beer? Will it affect the yeast's ability to do its full job - or just the time I need to let primary fermentation finish up?
- Did the yeast cake drop at the "normal" time?
- Should there still be more visible activity?
- Anything I can do now to improve the outcome?
- Any other constructive criticism?
Thanks everyone.