Temperature during 1st/2nd fermentation

Hello Fellow homebrewers,

I am stoked to be part of this culture. Here is my questions:

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• 1) what should my temp be for my wort during 2nd fermentation when i am making a wheat beer using Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan, ,Hallertau hops and wheat malt. Should it Change from the first fermentation?
  
• 2) after the boil, I had trouble to find a place cool enough for a temperature, which ment moving the carboy/wort around alittle bit. will this affect my brew in any way?
  
• 3) For the first 7 hours of fermenation the wort was not cooler than 79 degrees. How much will this affect the wheat beer? I live in Inland San Diego, it gets pretty hot here during aug/sept/oct
  
  
  thank you fellow home brewers
  
  cheers

1. Temperature range for that yeast is 64 - 75 F. During active primary fermentation it should be stored around 60 - 65 F as the temperature inside the wort will exceed the ambient air temperature by about 10 degrees. After active primary fermentation has slowed down, the temp should be brought to the 64 - 75 range.

2. Air is good for the wort after boiling provided it has cooled to pitching temps. Yeast need oxygen to multiply during the first initial stages of fermentation. After fermentation has begun, you should do everything in your power to not aerate the wort further.

3. This shouldnt matter too much but like I said in #1, that yeast needs to be stored cooler than 79 when fermentation is under way. Higher temperatures during fermentation can produce very strong fusel (sp?) alcohols which arent too pleasant in beer.

Good luck! And happy bewing!

Try to get your wort to fermentaion temp. I try not to pitch until I am below 70 degrees and prefer 67 for ales. You can use a water bath setup to keep it cooler or use a room in house that has ac.

And by the way, secondary fermentation is old thoughts. The only reason is to dry hop. So even if you dry hop, the temp is the same. Read the optimun temp from the manufacturer.

thanks for the info

You can dry hop in the primary and I feel it is better that way. I add the hops when fermentation is 80% complete.
This way there is still some co2 coming out to get rid of the oxygen when you are adding in the hops.
No need for a secondary unless you are doing fruit in my opinion.

Ok, so lets go back to temp.
I have the yeast in prime fermentation temp, which is 64-75. It is at 70 degrees right now.It seems as if I have a good control on temperature. BUT How much fluctuation in temp between those temps(64-75) is an issue? Im guessing i should keep it as even as possible with out it changing at all. but lets say it does change, but stays within the window of healthy temperature for yeast. For example, lets say Im in primarily fermentation stage and today the temp reads 68 but tomorrow it climbs to 73. its still within the window of opportunity. what should i know? Do some beers/yeast thrive when temperature changes?

Curiosity questions-

do some brewers do temperature change on purpose to change the brew?

mrwentura said:

Ok, so lets go back to temp.
I have the yeast in prime fermentation temp, which is 64-75. It is at 70 degrees right now.It seems as if I have a good control on temperature. BUT How much fluctuation in temp between those temps(64-75) is an issue? Im guessing i should keep it as even as possible with out it changing at all. but lets say it does change, but stays within the window of healthy temperature for yeast. For example, lets say Im in primarily fermentation stage and today the temp reads 68 but tomorrow it climbs to 73. its still within the window of opportunity. what should i know? Do some beers/yeast thrive when temperature changes?

Curiosity questions-

do some brewers do temperature change on purpose to change the brew?

Click to expand...

You generally don't want temperature fluctuations, as that can stress the yeast and cause some off-flavors. I often use a water bath in a bin or cooler around my fermenter at this time of year when day time temperatures are in the 70s and night temperatures in the 30s! You want to minimize fluctuations.

A good way to encourage the yeast to "clean up" after itself after fermentation is to bring the temperature up a bit near the end of fermentation. Start low, say, 66 degrees, and ferment for 5 days until the airlock activity slows down and then allow the fermentation temperature to rise up to 70 to 72 degrees. It makes a "cleaner" ale by encouraging the yeast to remain active after fermentation slows, and they will actually go back and digest their own waste products, like diacetyl, as well as fully attenuate. You do NOT want the temperature to go up and down, though!