Should I lower my beers temperature during fermentation?

[idiosyncronaut]

Hey guys I've got a quick question for you. I pitched my yeast at 5 AM on Monday and it's been steady at 72° inside the fermenter ever since. It's 67° in the air here. I'm brewing an IPA and I have 1056 wyeast which suggests a temperature range of 60° to 72°. So I'm right on the threshold, it seems.

So my question is: Should I attempt to lower the temperature of the fermenter now? I might be able to get it down to maybe 68 or 66°. Ideally I would like to get it down to 66° which is when some citrus flavors are allegedly produced from the yeast and that's really what I would love to have in my beer.

Are there or ill affects from changing temperature of the fermenter in general? How about only changing the temperature by about 6° and I'm keeping it there?

 

[avidhomebrewer]

No, there are no ill-effects of adjusting the temperature as long as you stay in the optimum range. The only thing is that the beer may take longer to ferment at a lower temperature.

 

[Ogri]

Generally, yeast prefer a stable/constant environment to perform their task. There might have been the possibility for some off flavours to form at the higher end of that particular yeast's temp range, especially in the most critical initial period of vigorous fermentation, but at least you weren't way over the upper end. I'd have thought you could get away with gradually lowering the temp to your target temperature over a day or so using a swamp cooler. Then after a week, or so, let it get back up to around 68 to 72 for clean up.

This past winter saw some great brews for me as fermenting down at the very lowest end of the optimum temp range during initial phase was really easy to achieve, then I used an electric blanket around the fermenter to raise temp to 70 for the latter phase.

 

[VAShooter]

Im using 1056 for the first time right now on Norther Brewers Chinook IPA. I ferment in a swamp cooler and my temps fluctuate from 62 to 66.

By they way that yeast is a hog. Been burping every second for 2 days now and still going strong.

 

[simchuck]

I am a little over 24 hours into fermentation and trying to ferment at 68°F but hit a warm spell and the water bath is pushing to over 71°F. I want to bring the temp back down with ice in the water bath, but I am concerned that I might put the yeast to sleep if I go too fast.

How quickly can I safely drop the temperature without worrying about putting halting the fermentation?

I have a split batch, half on Nottingham and half on US-05.

 

[KepowOb]

Dropping out raising temps should be slow when you can control it. Others with more experience will probly come in with better info, but I think you want to do it 1-2F every 24 hours.

 

[Puddlethumper]

I am a little over 24 hours into fermentation and trying to ferment at 68°F but hit a warm spell and the water bath is pushing to over 71°F. I want to bring the temp back down with ice in the water bath, but I am concerned that I might put the yeast to sleep if I go too fast.

How quickly can I safely drop the temperature without worrying about putting halting the fermentation?

I have a split batch, half on Nottingham and half on US-05.

70 is warm for US-05 and way warm for Nottingham. I have a batch of cider going right now at 59F with Nottingham. That particular strain really prefers cool temperatures, always below 65F.

Depending on how long it has been that warm it may have already thrown off some esters and made your beer a little less than what you were hoping for. I would get the temp down into the low 60's for the Notty. The US-05 might be OK but I would still try to get it into the 65-68F range and keep it there.

Always keep in mind the fact that fermentation is an exothermic process. That means fermentation generates heat. The actual temperature of the fermenting beer may be as much as 10F warmer than the ambient temperature surrounding the fermenter.

Good luck and cheers!