Too cold primary fermentation?

Hello. I'm brewing an IPA at my home. Right now it's in the primary in a closet. The temperature guage on the side of my primary has the temp gradually decreasing. Started at 68, soon 66, now 64, and even a little bit of 62 degrees F. My house is big and old and gets real cold, especially at night and in the mornings. I fear that it will continue to decline, until it hovers at about 60 or so.

Been about 36 hours and the primary fementation isn't really going strong (at all). Not necessarily worried at this point, but is it too cold of a fermenting temp for my ale?

I'm in the SF Bay Area...a land known for it's microbrew culture. I imagine others have gone through this as well. Any tips or will I be fine even if it ferments outside of the ideal ale range?

 

what kind of yeast are you using?

 

I'm using Safale US-05 dry yeast

 

That's perfect, leave it alone. Below 50 and the yeast go dormant but low 60's are beautiful fermentation temps. Strong fermentation or weak fermentation really mean absolutely nothing.....all that matters is that you HAVE fermentation....not whether it is dynamic or not.

 

Most of the rest of us are very jealous, that at this time of year, you can ferment at 62-68 degrees with no special contraption or cooling system. How environmentally great is that!!!

Ferment on and be thankful!!!

I still have to use a chiller, but maybe only for another month or two!!

 

It's better for it the temp to rise over time. Going down can make the yeast lazy. With US-05 I like to start at 59F and by the time the fermentation is done be at 65.

 

Understandable. How would one bring about such a change? As I mentioned in my post, the temperature in my house - and by the same token in the fermenter - has been steadily decreasing due to environmental factors (it's just getting chilly here).

 

All you need is a to heat the room with a good space heater.

 

Lucky guy, I wish my house was 60 F. I would not worry about heating that room. My best beers were brewed in winter, when my house temp is 55º F. They just need some more time to ferment.

 

Agreed. Last winter my brew corner was something like 5-10c for a bit, and it was fine. Just left it a bit longer, claimed it was cellaring.

 

Sweet! Thanks all.

 

I have to use a chest freezer. I can actually brew the same beer again and again. Without tight temp control you can't.

 

Biggest thing to have to deal with is not the temp at fermentation, which like we said is ideal. It's bottling, if you are doing that instead of kegging....Be aware that the average time/temp for most beers is three weeks at 70 degrees. So if you are below, don't stress out if it takes you longer.

 

I agree totally with Revvy here. You are sitting pretty right now. If the temps start falling more soon, then you can make adjustments... Good luck..

 

Sure enough...after about 36-48 hours, fermentation started roiling!

 

i'm having a similar issue, if i might just piggyback onto this topic. my primary has been sitting now for 72 hours though. nottingham dry brew yest. i've got pressure in the primary, but nothing coming through the airlock as of yet.
i'm concerned that:
-although i know my equipment was sanitary, i accidentally dipped the measuring cup with yeast into the wort (didnt think that much of it, just a small mistake)
-i reconstituted (is that the term) the yeast a bit early, so it sat instead of 15 minutes in warm water approx 40 minutes. Temp of yeast and wort were about 73 when pitched.
-i sloshed the wort inside the bucket after instead of before i pitched.

should anything be done at this point to improve my chances of survival, or just wait?

 

Just be patient for now. I wouldn't worry about items 2 or 3 at all and it's unlikely that you did any damage with the measuring cup - you'll know if the batch was infected and at this point there is little that you could do anyway.

If you have no activity in another day or two, then you might want to consider repitching. Also, swirling the bucket to resuspend the yeast can be helpful to speed yeast growth and fermentation.

 

Somewhere on this site, I've found someone saying that yeast activity (not necessarily vigourous) was still happening at 30*F. Happily, it's getting colder at my brewhaus, and I've started using lager yeast. This should be very fun.

 

you might not ever see much airlock activity. After 72 hours, a careful peek under the lid of the bucket might surprise you. Peek. If you see foam on the top, or a nasty foam ring around the edge, leave it 2 more weeks.

 

thanks for the replies. makes me feel more comfortable about it. time for a peek as per 'hang glider', then i'll sit back, relax, and have a homebrew.

 

Since we're talking ferm temps and yeast I thought I'd ask this question. I used White Labs WLP011 in my last batch of beer. According to the product site the range for that yeast is 65° to 70°. I did a pretty good job of maintaining the temperature around 66-68 so I'm thinking taste should be optimum. BUT, it sounds like going lower might have improved things even more. Do you normally ignore the product recommendation and just go for colder fermentation?

 

well, either re-suspending the yeast in wort, or simply another 24 hours has done it. I've got an active fermentation occurring now. i guess patience is the key.

 

Bringing up an older thread, I brewed a Dunkelweizen and pitched Danstar Munich German Wheat dry yeast. The OG was dead on, but 48 hours later no activity. I believe that the wort has been too cold (around 49 to 59 F). I know I need to check the SG again and that the airlock activity is not an indicator of fermentation. All that said, if the SG is still the same as the OG and I move the beer into a warmer room in the house, should the yeast kick in?

How long can yeast be inactive in cold wort before it remains inactive and will not do the job?

Thanks for the help!

 

Taking your assumption that the yeast have fallen out due to the temperature (which I doubt with your summary) If the yeast are lazy due to cold temps then warming the wort will always increase yeast activity, but you need to make sure it doesn't get too warm (above 70 for most ale yeast). I bet if you take a gravity reading you will find they are working, but much slower than if you fermented at a higher temp.

The yeast don't die when they fall out in really cold temps. Think about the fact that yeast is stored in refrigerators that are just above freezing. If you warm up the wort and resuspend the yeast they will get to work.

 

Great! Thanks for the quick reply. I will take the SG tonight and see if there is any difference. If not then I will move it to a warmer room.

 

I had a question along these lines...I had my primary in the back room next to an open window and it was keeping it perfect around 64. Over night we had a huge change in temp. and when I checked in the morning the thermometer strip on the side of my primary said 50 degrees...I didn't rush it back up because I didn't think a sudden change would be good but I gradually brought it back up to 64. So my question is, did I do permanent damage? Will the yeast wake back up? Should I think about re-pitching? I don't like to panic but that temp. was so low that it has me worried.

 

This has happened to me. It turned out fine, How long had it been in primary when this happened?

 

Talk about resurrecting an old thread!

64° down to 50°F is a pretty drastic change. Hard to know for sure, but it is possible your yeast reacted to the quick drop in temp by closing up shop and settling down to the bottom of the fermenter. I don't think any permanent damage was done though. How long had it been fermenting at 64°?

 

It had only been fermenting about 5 days. Are there any signs I should be looking for to let me know if re-pitching is a good idea?

 

After 5 days it might have been done for the most part. You should be taking a gravity reading to see where it's at..

 

Ya, I'll take a gravity reading and see if I'm close to my estimated FG...I will panic from there lol

 

If it still has a long way to go just get the temp up to the high end of your yeasts temp recommendations and after it's at that temp you can rouse the yeast.. I'm betting you won't have to rouse, though.

 

Heat kills the little buggars, and freezing isn't good either.

so, they're not dead, no re-pitching necessary. Just warm 'em up and leave them be.
They'll be just fine. 5 days? good. Now leave it be for 15 more before you think of doing anything else.

 

I took a gravity reading...I'll take another in a couple days to see where it's at. Everything looks good though.

All of this is just motivation for me to get my temp. controller that much faster.

 

Hit my FG perfectly....I guess it all worked out.

 

Ok - This thread is a little old, but it seems like a good place to ask my question. I started a red ale yesterday, it's a Brewer's Best kit. I've got the bucket in the basement. I've made 3 batches successfully in the basement previously, but it's quite cold down there right now - the little thermometer strip on the bucket says it's 45F (7C). The yeast is a Nottingham ale yeast from Lallemond. Are those little buggers asleep down there (should I move the bucket somewhere a little warmer?) or just poking along (can I leave it and be patient?)

 

45 is going to be too cold. Move it someplace warmer. Nottingham can work in the high fifties, low sixties is best.

 

You'll want it 15-20 degrees (F) warmer.

 

The recommended fermentation temperature range of this strain is 14° to 21°C (57° to 70°F) with good tolerance to low fermentation temperatures (12°C/54°F) that allow this strain to be used in lager-style beer. With a relatively high alcohol tolerance, Nottingham is a great choice for creation of higher-alcohol specialty beers!
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from: Danstar yeast site

Still, 45° is a bit cool.

keep in mind, once fermentation starts, the first few days of activity will cause the internal temperature of your wort to be 5-10°F higher than the ambient temps.

 

Thanks all! I've moved it upstairs where it's closer to 60 degrees, and I get bubbles in the airlock when I agitate the wort, so I guess I'll relax and have a homebrew. (Well, not right now, it's not even 9:30 in the morning...)