Ideal Fermentation Temps

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Cornfed

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Greetings. I've done some searching on this in the archives, so I'm partly just asking for some folks to reassure me, and partly asking if my temps are OK.

I brewed an extract American Pale Ale kit on Monday night. The wort was about 76 degrees when I pitched the yeast at around 11pm. By the time I got home on Tuesday from work, it was slowly bubbling. Now it's bubbling pretty good.

I have this carboy in a spare bathroom which is clean and not used since my apartment tends to get very hot in the spring/summer (well insulated and I get tons of sunlight), and since this is one of the cooler areas of my apartment and is protected from sunlight. For instance, I came home today and my apartment was about 82 degrees.

Long winded question - are 80+ degree temps going to mess with my Pale Ale? I think I've read it may speed things up, but I'm hoping it doesn't kill anything or add off flavors.

Leaving all windows open all day, I still can't guarantee lower temps. I can put on the central air, I suppose, but that is depressing in April, especially given my desire to be more cognizant of energy usage in today's world.

Thanks for any insight!
 
Cornfed said:
Greetings. I've done some searching on this in the archives, so I'm partly just asking for some folks to reassure me, and partly asking if my temps are OK.

I brewed an extract American Pale Ale kit on Monday night. The wort was about 76 degrees when I pitched the yeast at around 11pm. By the time I got home on Tuesday from work, it was slowly bubbling. Now it's bubbling pretty good.

I have this carboy in a spare bathroom which is clean and not used since my apartment tends to get very hot in the spring/summer (well insulated and I get tons of sunlight), and since this is one of the cooler areas of my apartment and is protected from sunlight. For instance, I came home today and my apartment was about 82 degrees.

Long winded question - are 80+ degree temps going to mess with my Pale Ale? I think I've read it may speed things up, but I'm hoping it doesn't kill anything or add off flavors.

Leaving all windows open all day, I still can't guarantee lower temps. I can put on the central air, I suppose, but that is depressing in April, especially given my desire to be more cognizant of energy usage in today's world.

Thanks for any insight!
Click to expand...

Yes, those temps are too high for most yeasts (even pushing it for Belgians), and you'll end up with off-flavors. It may well be that it still tastes ok to you - in that case there is no need to make changes.

Using a waterbath/wet t-shirt can cool things down a little bit, but you'd still be on the high end - ideally, you want to stay below 70 degrees.
I ferment inside an Igloo cooler with a self-built polystyrene lid, which easily keeps temperatures around 65 degrees using a bit of ice and/or frozen water bottles added daily.

It looks something like this (image courtesy of YooperBrew):

 
yep, 80F is too warm. you'll get lots of esters and phenols in the beer, possibly even fusel alcohols (hot alcohol flavor that won't really age out, and can give a nasty hangover).

a swamp cooler (tub filled with water, and a t-shirt/towel to wick water up around the fermenter) helps a ton. throw a small 10" fan on it and you'll really cool it down via evaporation.

you can also build an insulated box to trap central air, if your vents are on the floor or low on the wall (thsi is my preferred cooling method except during extreme July/August heatwaves)
 
+1 for teperatures being too high. All the methods above are good sugestions for keeping your brew cool for now. If you see yourself sticking with brewing, you may want to look into more permanant ways to keep your fermentations cool. Look up "Son of a Fermentation chiller" on the internet, or look up "fermentation chiller" in the DIY section of this forum.
 
Here are some links:

Son of a fermentation chiller:
http://home.elp.rr.com/brewbeer/chiller/chiller.PDF

Some DIY projects:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=2009
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=11440
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=54562
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=45567

Some of these may be a little outside the range of what you are willing to do, but it may give you some ideas. Some searching on your own might turn up a few more things.
 
Shoot. I somehow missed this detail by a bunch. For some reason I thought room temps were pretty much OK (70s) and that my apartment is just on the high side of that due to the pesky Earth's Sun. My ignoring of this detail is perhaps why I've had such inconsistent results in the past. But I digress....

I wonder if I should move the fermenter near an open window tonight? Or maybe I'll put it in the tub with the wet towel/tshirt. Or am I already too late?

Thanks for the advice and links. I am going to have to consider this as another possible complication. I have a wishlist built in my new austin homebrew account totaling like $150 which I was about to execute on. May have to reprioritize and address this issue before, say, getting a wort chiller or tap a draft....

Last question - do I need to keep the temps that low for conditioning? I'm planning on just leaving this in the primary for about 3 weeks before bottling (or tap a draft/pigging).

Thanks again,
Dave
 
So now I have the glass carboy in my unused bathtub (I think there's been 3 showers in there in the last 1 year and 4 months since I moved in, so it's clean. And I couldn't find any other containers in my apartment large enough for the carboy). I filled it at least partly with cold water and dumped in some ice cubes. I guess I'll try to freeze some larger stuff overnight and put it in tomorrow morning. I also wrapped a wet towel around it, and it appears the temp is already dropping (I have a fermometer on it which I worry I am getting too wet).

I also will leave the windows open in here tonight, and overnight it should drop to the lower 70s in here.

Think I ruined it with the 2 hot fermenting days already? Actually, I'm now more worried about sloshing around in a tub with my beautiful beer :) Stopper and airlock stayed on, but still :)
 
you should be fine, you may just end up with some off flavors (think fruity like banannas) But hey, its beer! RDWHAHB!:mug:
 
It appears I'm now down to 72 degrees, though it's going to be 80 outside today where I live which means my apt will get a little above 80. Will add more ice to the tub when I get home, I guess, and will also shop this weekend for some kind of cooler or tub I can use for the next batch (which I want to make before drinking this one in case this one is bad enough to demotivate :) )

Another advantage of this is if I can fit the tub in a closet in my spare bedroom, I can keep all homebrew equipment hidden away there, and the SWMBO to be will be much happier. She doesn't drink beer, so I do sort of understand her qualms about having to see 5 gallons of it fermenting out in the open :)
 
About primary temps...

My coopers fermentor always seems to be around 22C (71.6F). 3 weeks ago I had it on my second floor of the house in order to keep it between 22-27C (as directed by the Coopers manual). While that batch was going I realized everyone in the world ferments ale cooler than the 22C that Coopers recommends so my next batch moved to the lowest level of my house (coolest room too). Alas...its getting warmer out so even that room has had my second batch sitting at 22C...maybe 21C (69.8F).

Now I know a lot of people ferment in the mid 60s F but I am curious what the odds are that I will have 'off' flavors with my primary sitting at ~70F? I mean I assume the odds are increased that I'll have an off flavor. I am just curious I seriously have to consider lowering the temp.


NOTE: I will be brewing all ales so I definitely do not need to worry about reach lager temps.
 
Eves said:
About primary temps...

My coopers fermentor always seems to be around 22C (71.6F). 3 weeks ago I had it on my second floor of the house in order to keep it between 22-27C (as directed by the Coopers manual). While that batch was going I realized everyone in the world ferments ale cooler than the 22C that Coopers recommends so my next batch moved to the lowest level of my house (coolest room too). Alas...its getting warmer out so even that room has had my second batch sitting at 22C...maybe 21C (69.8F).

Now I know a lot of people ferment in the mid 60s F but I am curious what the odds are that I will have 'off' flavors with my primary sitting at ~70F? I mean I assume the odds are increased that I'll have an off flavor. I am just curious I seriously have to consider lowering the temp.


NOTE: I will be brewing all ales so I definitely do not need to worry about reach lager temps.
Click to expand...

For IPA, APA, and most ales I keep mine at or around 65. I like a nice clean ale..but some like more flavors from the yeast in Ales so they go higher..I have a nice basement so summer brewing is no worries for me.:D

J
 
Homebrewtalk.com has become my favorite web forum, and the Homebrew Wiki is my favorite wiki to browse.

Here's a relevant article:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Fermentation_cabinet

I'm going to poke around the web and see if there's something cheap I can buy for this.

Then, tonight I'll go to Target and see if there's a big tub I can get in the mean time.

Meanwhile, my carboy smelled all banana-like when the temps were near 80. Now it smells way different with the temps closer to 70. Hopefully this batch won't make me blind :)
 
Thanks, I'm still poking around. I'm actually scared to see what temps I'm at when I get home today. I was down around 72 this morning when I added ice to the tub, but it's fargin' hot and sunny out here today (it's beautiful for everything but the beer in my tub :) )

I'm going to make a best effort on this batch, then hopefully buy or make something in prep for my next batch. I am hoping to get that one started by the weekend after this upcoming one, so I'm giving myself until Monday to research and make some kind of purchasing or MacGyver decision.
 
This thread is reminding me that the temps here in NYC are close to 80 today. I should probably rack the beer in the primary to a 2ndary and put it in the cool basement.
 

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