Thanks for the answers
Could this be possible that the fermentation would start later than 18 hours after. There is still no sing of activity. the temp was at 58F, I let it go up to 62F this morning. Strange that there is no activity at all, yet...
It's also Safale, not saflager, an ale strain. Hope you knew that going in?...
i usually try to keep it between 65-69f. Works pretty clean in that range.
why are you dropping it towards the end of fermentation? that is the opposite of what is reccomended
I just want to boost the temp few hours to start the process and keep it cool during the process to avoid some taste I dislike when fermenting at a too high temperature. I know it's not a lager yeast but you can use ale yeast between 12C and 27C...Fermentation by ale yeasts at these relatively warmer temperatures produces a beer high in esters which I'm not a big fan. I plan to hop it with 1oz of Simcoe for it's resinous aroma. The beer is an IPA in which I add 16oz of light candi sugar before fermentation.
Are you measuring actual wort temp, or carboy surface temp, or ambient temp?
Not a single person here asked and you did not specify. That makes all the difference.
Anyway, an actual wort temp of 15 C is perfectly fine, though you won't see any real activity for at least 48 hours.
Let it be.
55f is ambient temp at night and during the day it goes un to 62F
Recognize that a strip thermometer like unionrdr is suggesting is only moderately effective for measuring wort temperature. Unless it's insulated against the ambient temperature, it's going to be primarily reading the ambient temp; it will read a bit warmer than ambient if the wort is really rolling and significantly warmer than ambient, but if ambient is 45 and the wort is 65 it's probably going to read 50-55 rather than the actual 65 degree temperature of the wort.
At the same time, unless you've got a really rolling fermentation the temperature difference between wort and ambient shouldn't be extreme - maybe 2-3 degrees celsius when the fermentation is at its peak. Of course, warmer ambient temps will generally get the yeast working faster which will cause faster yeast activity and a greater temperature difference, so while your beer in a 16C room might be 18C at the height of fermentation, the same beer in a 22C room might reach 26C at its peak (and finish fermenting much faster with lots of off flavors). Then there's the impact of wort gravity. If your OG is 1.045 the peak of fermentation will be much milder than if the OG is 1.100, so keep your OG in mind as well.
On a related note, does anyone know how much the 05 increased the fermentation temp vs the ambient temp? I had mine fermenting in about 62 degreee ambient temperature and it took about 48 hours to show air lock activity but it's been going pretty decent for the last two days.
Well, actually , I used my laser (infrared) thermometer to check the actual wort temp against the strip before. I found the strips to be within .3 to .6 of actual internal temp. So they're fairly accurate.Recognize that a strip thermometer like unionrdr is suggesting is only moderately effective for measuring wort temperature. Unless it's insulated against the ambient temperature, it's going to be primarily reading the ambient temp; it will read a bit warmer than ambient if the wort is really rolling and significantly warmer than ambient, but if ambient is 45 and the wort is 65 it's probably going to read 50-55 rather than the actual 65 degree temperature of the wort.
At the same time, unless you've got a really rolling fermentation the temperature difference between wort and ambient shouldn't be extreme - maybe 2-3 degrees celsius when the fermentation is at its peak. Of course, warmer ambient temps will generally get the yeast working faster which will cause faster yeast activity and a greater temperature difference, so while your beer in a 16C room might be 18C at the height of fermentation, the same beer in a 22C room might reach 26C at its peak (and finish fermenting much faster with lots of off flavors). Then there's the impact of wort gravity. If your OG is 1.045 the peak of fermentation will be much milder than if the OG is 1.100, so keep your OG in mind as well.
Well, actually , I used my laser (infrared) thermometer to check the actual wort temp against the strip before. I found the strips to be within .3 to .6 of actual internal temp. So they're fairly accurate.
I guess the infrared laser is more direct that reading through the part stuck onto the bucket...maybe?...
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