I'm trying to get a handle on how temperature affects beer at different stages in the process. Either way, I'm thankful the li'l yeast seem to be pretty flexible in working with me.
For those much wiser than I, a few questions:
Primary (fermenting): Let's say you have a yeast that has an optimum fermentation temp of 68 - 73 degrees. Will the final beer flavor change if I ferment at 68 vs. 73? Or, does this just mean that the fermentation may take longer at the lower temperature? I understand that for some beers styles like a Hefe, you may want to ferment higher to get some of the fruity esters.
Secondary (clearing): Let's say you're not cold crashing. You are just going to secondary for a couple weeks at a temperature close to your fermenting temperature. So, if we fermented at 70, will there be a flavor difference if I let it sit at 60 degrees vs. 70 degrees vs. 80 degrees? Does temp matter at this stage since fermenting is pretty much complete at this point and we're just letting stuff settle out?
Bottling (conditioning): Since we still need the yeast to carbonate our beer, assuming an ideal range of 68-73 for fermenting:
Cheers in advance for wading through this post!
For those much wiser than I, a few questions:
Primary (fermenting): Let's say you have a yeast that has an optimum fermentation temp of 68 - 73 degrees. Will the final beer flavor change if I ferment at 68 vs. 73? Or, does this just mean that the fermentation may take longer at the lower temperature? I understand that for some beers styles like a Hefe, you may want to ferment higher to get some of the fruity esters.
Secondary (clearing): Let's say you're not cold crashing. You are just going to secondary for a couple weeks at a temperature close to your fermenting temperature. So, if we fermented at 70, will there be a flavor difference if I let it sit at 60 degrees vs. 70 degrees vs. 80 degrees? Does temp matter at this stage since fermenting is pretty much complete at this point and we're just letting stuff settle out?
Bottling (conditioning): Since we still need the yeast to carbonate our beer, assuming an ideal range of 68-73 for fermenting:
a) How long would we want the bottle to sit in this range before cellaring (i.e., its fully carbonated)?
b) What would be the outcome, flavor-wise, if we bottled at 60 degrees vs. 70 degrees vs. 80 degrees. Or, maybe the bottles just wouldn't carbonate properly at the outlying temps?
b) What would be the outcome, flavor-wise, if we bottled at 60 degrees vs. 70 degrees vs. 80 degrees. Or, maybe the bottles just wouldn't carbonate properly at the outlying temps?
Cheers in advance for wading through this post!