Temperature of Secondary

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rcd

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My apartment stays kinda warm, so I've been using the wet towel + fan method to bring down the temp of my primary fermenter. Without it, the thermometer on the outside of the bucket says like 74-77, with the towel, it says 67-68. Adding +3/5 to the inside, i guess that means its fermenting at around 70-72... thats good i think.

My question is, after I rack to the secondary (or sometimes, leave in the primary for an extra week or two), how much does the temperature matter in terms of flavor? should i still be cooling it down with towel + fan, or can i let it go at room temp now?

i've not tasted any batches since i started the fan method, but everything i've done to date without it has been too banana/medicinal, so i definitely want to avoid that.
 
Secondary temperature, according to Dave Miller, is not as important as primary fermentation temperature. Hovever, warm (75+) temps can cause the yeast to autolyze faster and ruin the beer.
In my personal experience, I have left a stout at about 74 degrees for a month in secondary with no off flavors. Matter of fact it is delicious! Perhaps with a pale ale or lighter ale your chances of noticing flavors are higher. It all depends of the health of your yeast and what they have stored in those glycol reserves. Keep in mind that b/c there is little to no fermentation goin on in secondary, there will be no extra heat produced in the carboy.

I would say don't worry about 74-77. Not worth the electricity to run the fan for 2 weeks. Continue to use it on the primary and I'll bet your beer will be great!
 
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