help with fermentation temps

[amaier48]

Okay so after many batches coming out sweet tasting and after much reading on here I determined my problem probably lay with the fermentation temp. I read about putting my primary in water with the ice.

So last night I made a blonde. I was excited because my carboy will fit in a cooler I had at the house. I was able to fill the water all the way up to almost the neck of the carboy. Added some ice too the water. Not a ton by any means.

But now I am questioning if I am having it too cold? I don’t really have a thermometer that will show cold enough to know how cold the water is. So I added a few cups of ice before going to work (I work 24 hr shifts) I plan on just putting my hand in the water in the morning to determine if I should add some more ice or not?

I hope I’m not confusing people. I know too cold will slow down fermentation, but are there other negative effects if I were to have it too cold? I am not in a real rush so if it’s just going to be slower but taste allot better being that its fermenting colder that cool.

Steer me in the right direction.

 

[Just1pepsi]

With what you are explaining, your temperature can vary by quite a bit depending on ambient room temperature, volume of water, volume of ice.. Best bet would be to get a thermometer capable of telling you in no uncertain terms what the exact temperature is.

Too cold and yeast can go dormant.

 

[djfriesen]

Ya, you'll want at least a thermometer in the water bath, if not a stick-on one on your carboy. Shoot for the low end of your yeast's temp range and let them do their thing!

 

[bad67z]

With what you are explaining, your temperature can vary by quite a bit depending on ambient room temperature, volume of water, volume of ice.. Best bet would be to get a thermometer capable of telling you in no uncertain terms what the exact temperature is.

Too cold and yeast can go dormant.

Agreed, $5-$25 on a thermometer is a small price to pay if your turning out a "sweet tasting" finished product. And you can use it when you brew the next time.

 

[Calder]

Okay so after many batches coming out sweet tasting and after much reading on here I determined my problem probably lay with the fermentation temp.

How did you figure that out?

 

[Jwood]

i don't know if a warm ferment is the cause of a "sweet" taste...

tell us more about the off taste you are getting so we can try to point you in a better direction. If your beers truly are too sweet, post the recipe along with your OG and FG and i think you'll get the help you need.

 

[tangofoxtrot308]

+1 on high temps NOT causing "sweet taste". Sweet should come from unfermented wort sugar. High temps should cause rapid fermentation and gas flavors. You have to have a thermometer buy a $1 stick on and go from there.

 

[Elshupacabra]

Yeah, a thermometer for fermentation of some fashion is an almost an "absolute must" IMO. I'm not sure what the ambient temp range is like for you right now, but I've found that an old, wet t-shirt fitted over the carboy with a fan blowing on it can bring the temp range down upwards of 10 degrees F and keep it within mid to high 60's; just where I want my ales at. Just remember to keep the shirt wet.

If it's still super warm there, the ice bath may still be necessary, but you want to make sure it's not getting too cold, also. Then your yeast do almost nothing.

 

[Brew_4iT]

Just to rule out anything else, do you mash at temps above 155? Use a lot of specialty grains? Hit your FG before conditioning?

 

[amaier48]

you know it is possible that my grains have not been at 155, after looking over the directions i have been using i do indeed think that the temps have been much higher than the 155. and i guess that could be causeing the sweet flavors? along with in the past i have just put primary on my counter and let it roll. this past beer i have just started i steeped grains at 155, and then put carboy in my cooler to keep the fermenting temp around 65. the only thing i have done wrong so far on this one i can think of is my carboy has been exposed to light, but only for about a day so far. as soon as i get off work tommorrow morning i will get it covered up. hope it hasent done too much too it yet.