Fermentation chamber and temps

[BrewMehr]

I got to work on my new fermentation chamber today. Two days ago I noticed my Black American Ale hitting 80° so I decided I couldn't leave things to ambient anymore.

My chamber will hold 6 5-gallon carboys. Recently I have been brewing about once each week but my average is closer to twice a month. So far I'm only brewing ales and using Wyeast 1272, 1450, 1728 along with YL The Yeast Bay Vermont Ale and I'll soon do a saison using Wyeast 3724.

I'll generally have 3 to 5 fermenters in the chamber each at various stages of fermentation. Even though some of the carboys will have been in the chamber for 2 weeks plus, I plan to control the temp based on what is needed for the last fermenter filled. I.e. I will drop the chamber temp to 62° when adding a new fermenter and will likely raise the temp during fermentation until I hit diacetyl rest.

I don't think the other fermenters in the chamber will care about these temp changes since they will be at least a week into fermentation already. Can anyone confirm or deny my thinking? Does anyone else use a chamber this way with multiple carboys at various stages of fermentation?

When I get into lauggering will the ales still be able to come along for the temp ride? I'm guessing I'll have to make sure any ales in the chamber during laggering will have already hit FG.

Thanks in advance.

 

[CA_Mouse]

Ale yeast usually like from 65* to 75*, with Belgian and Saison yeasts liking up to 80*. Lager yeast needs to be in the mid 50* range. Dropping the temperature on ale yeast will stall fermentation, so I wouldn't recommend it. Also, ale yeast doesn't really need a diacetyl rest, as they will clean up after themselves at the same fermentation temperature (it just takes a few extra days). I currently do two at a time, usually a week apart and ferment them at the same temperature, leaving them a few extra days if needed.

 

[TennBrewer]

I will sometimes have multiple batches in the chamber at the same time at various stages of fermentation but I try to use yeasts that all perform within the same temperature range. After sanitation, temperature control is most important here. I've read and heard from several sources that yeasts do not like radical temperature swings so I try to keep it as steady as possible. The best way I've found to keep the temps steady is to use an external temperature controller and put the probe in a thermowell in one of the fermenters, or in a container of plain water if there's room. Putting lagers in with ales is not a good idea in my opinion. The cool temps required for lagers may cause the ale yeasts to go into a dormant condition when they should be finishing the fermentation or conditioning. I have two chambers, one I use for fermentation and if necessary I can use the other one for conditioning, cold crashing, and lagering.

 

[BrewMehr]

So I can just leave it at 65° while I have ales in there (knowing the actively fermenting one's will likely reach 69-70° in the center). And if I do any lagers I'll make sure the ales are done first.

I only have the ferm chamber and my keezer (which is at 47° and always full) so if anything isn't going to be in one of those, it'll be left to ambient. Even if there are finished ales in the ferm chamber when I do the saison, I'm guessing they'll like that more than the summer ambient heat.

 

[Natdavis777]

Id say as long as you are entering new carboys in 1 week intervals, you should be fine. Most of my fermentations take 4-7 days, and I, too, raise the temp at the end to ensure full attenuation as well as Drest the beer. So as long as I can leave the beer at 70F at the end of fermentation for at least 24-36 hours, I wouldnt be too worried about allowing it to drop back down to 62F after.