US-04 and Low temps

[Nummey]

I will be brewing the NB Brickwarmer next week and this will be my first time using US-04. My process for previous brews using US-05 is to cool the wort down to 60, pitch yeast and keep at ambient of 62. Is this a safe process for US-04 as well or should I pitch a bit warmer?.....or warm up my ambient temp? (which is holding steady at 59 in my basement).
thanks

 

[BridgeBrew]

Boy, I'd try to find a warmer place for us04. Generally English strains need to be in the mid 60s. That's a safe temp. They also will produce some interesting esters if you let them up towards 70 or so. So you might have to try a few batches of the same recipe at different temps and see which you prefer.

 

[Nummey]

Knowing that fermentation produces heat...meaning if I'm at 59 ambient I'll most likey be fermenting a few degrees higher than that, I suppose a better question is....is 60 degrees too low for US-04 to get started?

thanks

 

[BigFloyd]

59-60*F ambient? That's fine for the first few days while it's making some heat. After that, you'll want to warm it up some.

Unless I want to create some fruity ester flavor, I'll pitch S-04 at 60-61*F, start the controller to 63-64*F (beer temp as measured on the bucket with a probe). After that, I like to ramp it up slowly to 68-69*F to finish out.

 

[boydster]

59-60*F ambient? That's fine for the first few days while it's making some heat. After that, you'll want to warm it up some.

Unless I want to create some fruity ester flavor, I'll pitch S-04 at 60-61*F, start the controller to 63-64*F (beer temp as measured on the bucket with a probe). After that, I like to ramp it up slowly to 68-69*F to finish out.

^ This is what I do with S-04. It flocs really well, and if you don't help keep it a little warm after the vigorous fermentation is complete, it can go into floc-mode and stall on you.