ErkenneDichSelbst
Active Member
Quick background: I've searched WLP004 in the forum and also read topics that looked like winter fermentation issues over the last 24 hours, maybe read 35-45 threads total. I know the answers are going to very based on brewer's experience and that is what I'm looking for.
I brewed an extract stout yesterday. Brew day was good, drank the whole time, almost seems like second nature now. I live in Houston and have a fridge in the garage hooked up to a temp controller and frequently use it for fermentation as was the plan for yesterday. After setting the fridge from normal upper 30's down to 67 I realized that due to the ambient temp in the garage the fridge was only going to warm up to about 55.
I brought the plastic fermenter upstairs to an unoccupied room last night which was about 62-64 through the night. Checked when I got home today, ambient temp in the room was right at 67 and there was steady CO2 coming out of the blow off into a gallon growler filled halfway with Starsan from brew day, several bubbles per second. So my question is, given the yeast, the expected temperature of the room dropping down to 62 or so tonight, should I try to wrap a heating pad on a warm setting around the fermenter or by not doing anything do I run the risk of it getting too cold and the yeast dropping out? It's pretty much a non-issue for the other 9-10 months a year, and actually it's a high of 76 this week but I can keep my house at 70. Err on the side of low 60's or low 70's by opening the vents in the room to let it reach the temp of the rest of the house? Should I put a cardigan on it, to kinda keep it warm, but not make it uncomfortable? I'm looking for all options. Thanks in advance.
I brewed an extract stout yesterday. Brew day was good, drank the whole time, almost seems like second nature now. I live in Houston and have a fridge in the garage hooked up to a temp controller and frequently use it for fermentation as was the plan for yesterday. After setting the fridge from normal upper 30's down to 67 I realized that due to the ambient temp in the garage the fridge was only going to warm up to about 55.
I brought the plastic fermenter upstairs to an unoccupied room last night which was about 62-64 through the night. Checked when I got home today, ambient temp in the room was right at 67 and there was steady CO2 coming out of the blow off into a gallon growler filled halfway with Starsan from brew day, several bubbles per second. So my question is, given the yeast, the expected temperature of the room dropping down to 62 or so tonight, should I try to wrap a heating pad on a warm setting around the fermenter or by not doing anything do I run the risk of it getting too cold and the yeast dropping out? It's pretty much a non-issue for the other 9-10 months a year, and actually it's a high of 76 this week but I can keep my house at 70. Err on the side of low 60's or low 70's by opening the vents in the room to let it reach the temp of the rest of the house? Should I put a cardigan on it, to kinda keep it warm, but not make it uncomfortable? I'm looking for all options. Thanks in advance.
