homebrewdad
Well-Known Member
I'm currently fermenting Jamil's Belgian golden strong ale (aka his version of Duvel), which features WLP570 yeast.
The plan, according to the recipe, is to start fermenting at 64 degrees, then slowly ramp up to 82 for maximum attenuation.
I'm breaking in my new fermentation chiller (a slight mod of mother of a fermentation chiller), and haven't quite managed to dial in my temperature control yet. Here's what I've had so far:
Pitched at 66 degrees. Placed carboy into chiller. Set chiller to 59 degrees, figuring that if the air was 59, the beer would be ~64. Went to bed.
Woke up five hours later, checked beer. Beer temp was 68. I had a nice, fluffy krausen. Chiller was running.
I dropped the thermostat to 55 and went to work.
Got home from work. Wy wife commented that my daughter had complained about the smell of beer. Panicked, I checked; my makeshift blowoff tube had popped off. A little krausen spilled inside the chiller, but nothing major. Replaced the tube.
Beer temp was 59 degrees!
Opened the chamber for a while to let it warm up a bit. Swapped out my ice bottles, set the thermostat to 60 degrees, went to bed.
This morning, beer temp was still 59 degrees!
Raised the thermostat to 65 degrees. Did not swap out the ice botles (which were still largely frozen, anyway).
Obviously, I have to get a handle on my chiller, but my immediate concern is that I am fermenting way too cold for this strain (White Labs says optimum is 68-75 degrees). Fermentation does not appear to have stalled, as it is still bubbling away nicely, but I wonder if I'm incurring anyoff flavors from the cold - perhaps some clove esters or similar?
Does anyone have any experience with this? Thanks!
The plan, according to the recipe, is to start fermenting at 64 degrees, then slowly ramp up to 82 for maximum attenuation.
I'm breaking in my new fermentation chiller (a slight mod of mother of a fermentation chiller), and haven't quite managed to dial in my temperature control yet. Here's what I've had so far:
Pitched at 66 degrees. Placed carboy into chiller. Set chiller to 59 degrees, figuring that if the air was 59, the beer would be ~64. Went to bed.
Woke up five hours later, checked beer. Beer temp was 68. I had a nice, fluffy krausen. Chiller was running.
I dropped the thermostat to 55 and went to work.
Got home from work. Wy wife commented that my daughter had complained about the smell of beer. Panicked, I checked; my makeshift blowoff tube had popped off. A little krausen spilled inside the chiller, but nothing major. Replaced the tube.
Beer temp was 59 degrees!
Opened the chamber for a while to let it warm up a bit. Swapped out my ice bottles, set the thermostat to 60 degrees, went to bed.
This morning, beer temp was still 59 degrees!
Raised the thermostat to 65 degrees. Did not swap out the ice botles (which were still largely frozen, anyway).
Obviously, I have to get a handle on my chiller, but my immediate concern is that I am fermenting way too cold for this strain (White Labs says optimum is 68-75 degrees). Fermentation does not appear to have stalled, as it is still bubbling away nicely, but I wonder if I'm incurring anyoff flavors from the cold - perhaps some clove esters or similar?
Does anyone have any experience with this? Thanks!
