Brew Jacket First Use -- IPA fermentation temp?
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PashMaddle
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what kind of yeast are you using?
Safale US-05
PashMaddle
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64.4°F to 78.8°F according to the fermentis website. So around 71° ish F(20°C)? Someone with more experience may be able to weigh in with specifics based on that experience (I have never used safeale us05) but I would start around there if I were you.
Most yeast companies will have all the critical information about their product on their website.
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Some yeast give different flavor and/or aroma notes depending on the temps you ferment your beer at. If your recipe you got didn't give you a clue, then just keep it somewhat steady within what ever the maker of that yeast says is the ideal range.
After all is bottled/kegged, conditioned and then drank, make some notes in your beer journal about what you perceived the taste as. With some experience, you'll figure out what tastes and aromas to attribute to the type of yeast and what should be hops, malts or other things.
US-05 has been pretty clean and not contributing much to flavor for me. But I always ferment it and most all my other beers (ales and stouts) at 68 - 70°F and let the beer temp briefly coast up to the higher end of the yeast's ideal range. It doesn't stay there long. Usually for less than a day when the krausen is active and then for the rest of the time it's about the ambient temp of where I keep the FV. Which is 68 - 70°F
After all is bottled/kegged, conditioned and then drank, make some notes in your beer journal about what you perceived the taste as. With some experience, you'll figure out what tastes and aromas to attribute to the type of yeast and what should be hops, malts or other things.
US-05 has been pretty clean and not contributing much to flavor for me. But I always ferment it and most all my other beers (ales and stouts) at 68 - 70°F and let the beer temp briefly coast up to the higher end of the yeast's ideal range. It doesn't stay there long. Usually for less than a day when the krausen is active and then for the rest of the time it's about the ambient temp of where I keep the FV. Which is 68 - 70°F
68-70F is about ideal for US-05 in an IPA. But she can go a few degrees higher or lower with also very good results.
Even with your Brew Jacket, try to keep your fermenter temps as steady as possible, within +/- 1-2 °F, if possible. A sudden drop in temps (such as overnight) can stall the yeast, making it much harder for her to resume, and finish the job.
So, try to find a place/area that can best provide that kind of evenness in temps.
During the main part of "active" fermentation, where sugars are being converted into alcohol and CO2, heat is being generated, so some cooling may be needed.
Before and after the "big event," you may need to add some (extra) heat to keep temps in range and steady. Especially when ambient temps are lower.
Raising the temps somewhat toward the end of fermentation will help the yeast stay active to finish and clean up.
Even with your Brew Jacket, try to keep your fermenter temps as steady as possible, within +/- 1-2 °F, if possible. A sudden drop in temps (such as overnight) can stall the yeast, making it much harder for her to resume, and finish the job.
So, try to find a place/area that can best provide that kind of evenness in temps.
During the main part of "active" fermentation, where sugars are being converted into alcohol and CO2, heat is being generated, so some cooling may be needed.
Before and after the "big event," you may need to add some (extra) heat to keep temps in range and steady. Especially when ambient temps are lower.
Raising the temps somewhat toward the end of fermentation will help the yeast stay active to finish and clean up.
I set the brewjacket temperature to 72.5 initially, and the early morning ambient temperature here is around 71.5 today, so maybe best if I back my temp down a degree to around that temperature? I only heard the fan of the brew jacket kick on once last night, about 12 hours after pitching the yeast, so it was probably heating up due to that initial yeast activity. Being able to control wort temperature to this degree is completely new to me.
Whisky River
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That’s a great step and the Brew Jacket will serve you well to get started with temperature control.
The hard part now is to set one temperature and resist the urge to “adjust” it all the time until fermentation is over, when you might want to raise it a little before packaging to help the yeast clean up.
The hard part now is to set one temperature and resist the urge to “adjust” it all the time until fermentation is over, when you might want to raise it a little before packaging to help the yeast clean up.
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The idea for any active temperature control of fermentation is to keep the temps stable so they don't swing wildly if your ambient temps do change more than a couple degrees from day to night or as weather systems move through.
It might be that somewhat large downward swings in temp of more than a couple degrees are bad and will stall the yeast from doing their job.
Why? What are you thinking the benefit will be for you to do that? How long has it been in the FV and how long since it krausened? I tend not to change anything if it's already in it's active really active stage.
And if you get fiddly with the temps and change things up all the rest of the time just to feel like you are in control of things, then you'll never be able to figure out what temperature does what to your beers tastes and aromas from one batch to the next.
There is a schedule of temperature changes one does for lager's. But those are incremental changes over a period of time. Ales and other beers probably just need to be kept at a stable temp until you get to the point that you want to bottle or keg and then you might go way colder if you feel cold crashing is desirable for you. Though I feel I get just as clear a beer by leaving it in the FV for a few day to a week or so longer.
And as mentioned in prior posts and elsewhere on the forum, some yeast lend quite different flavor and aroma notes depending on whether the beer in the FV was kept at their low range of ideal temps or their higher range of ideal temps. So again, just keeping it stable so you can learn what temperature lends what tastes to that beer will be useful for deciding what to do with future brews with that yeast.
Does your brewjacket actively cool and heat the beer or does it only do one function?
It might be that somewhat large downward swings in temp of more than a couple degrees are bad and will stall the yeast from doing their job.
Why? What are you thinking the benefit will be for you to do that? How long has it been in the FV and how long since it krausened? I tend not to change anything if it's already in it's active really active stage.
And if you get fiddly with the temps and change things up all the rest of the time just to feel like you are in control of things, then you'll never be able to figure out what temperature does what to your beers tastes and aromas from one batch to the next.
There is a schedule of temperature changes one does for lager's. But those are incremental changes over a period of time. Ales and other beers probably just need to be kept at a stable temp until you get to the point that you want to bottle or keg and then you might go way colder if you feel cold crashing is desirable for you. Though I feel I get just as clear a beer by leaving it in the FV for a few day to a week or so longer.
And as mentioned in prior posts and elsewhere on the forum, some yeast lend quite different flavor and aroma notes depending on whether the beer in the FV was kept at their low range of ideal temps or their higher range of ideal temps. So again, just keeping it stable so you can learn what temperature lends what tastes to that beer will be useful for deciding what to do with future brews with that yeast.
Does your brewjacket actively cool and heat the beer or does it only do one function?
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I'm surprised to hear that Brew Jacket is still on the market. I've got my original one which served as a 'gateway' experience to hook me into a full glycol setup. In that regard I guess it was worth the cost of entry, but the system never provided the performance I was looking for. $300 bucks is a pretty steep price for entry level when glycol systems are much more functional. So if you're really into this hobby I'd recommend skipping Brew Jacket or some of the other entry level devices. Save the $300 and use it as a down payment for a system that will give you what you really want and need to get reliable and precise temperature control.
In the end, is it all worth the effort? Depends on how deep into the hobby you are, as well as your means. You could probably get into a glycol system with enough capacity to chill a 7~10 gallon fermenter for $700-$900, maybe less if used, maybe more if you want to add bells and whistles like heating, programable control modules and Bluetooth connectivity. I've had my system for about four years (with two years additional using the Brew Jacket) and have never regretted it or looked back. I brew about 15-20 times per year so amortizing the cost and justifying the investment assuming a ten year time frame (175 brew batches), it adds about $4.50 to the cost of each brew, plus electricity.
At least that's the math I used to get SWMBO'd to buy off on the idea.
In the end, is it all worth the effort? Depends on how deep into the hobby you are, as well as your means. You could probably get into a glycol system with enough capacity to chill a 7~10 gallon fermenter for $700-$900, maybe less if used, maybe more if you want to add bells and whistles like heating, programable control modules and Bluetooth connectivity. I've had my system for about four years (with two years additional using the Brew Jacket) and have never regretted it or looked back. I brew about 15-20 times per year so amortizing the cost and justifying the investment assuming a ten year time frame (175 brew batches), it adds about $4.50 to the cost of each brew, plus electricity.
At least that's the math I used to get SWMBO'd to buy off on the idea.
