brewing temps

[drobbins]

Hello All

I let my brew ferment in my unheated basement
from now till around Christmas the temp will be in the mid 60s
for making ale, how cool can it get before it starts being a problem?

Thanks
Dave

 

[Orfy]

That will be fine for generic ale yeast.

 

[Evan!]

Do you have a stick-on carboy/bucket thermometer? If not, get one. The room temp can't be used to check the temp of the wort, because fermentation heats up the liquid. Surely, the temperature of the room will affect the temp of the wort, but during fermentation they're not going to be the same.

That having been said, mid-sixties is perfect for most ales, but if fermentation gets really violent, your temp could rise into the low-to-mid 70's, which is a little high for ales. I like mine to stick between 65 and 70. Lower than 65 and most of them tend to slow down a little and you risk stalling. Higher than 70 and you risk fruity ester production and off-flavors.

 

[Bulls Beers]

Do you have a stick-on carboy/bucket thermometer? If not, get one. The room temp can't be used to check the temp of the wort, because fermentation heats up the liquid. Surely, the temperature of the room will affect the temp of the wort, but during fermentation they're not going to be the same.

That having been said, mid-sixties is perfect for most ales, but if fermentation gets really violent, your temp could rise into the low-to-mid 70's, which is a little high for ales. I like mine to stick between 65 and 70. Lower than 65 and most of them tend to slow down a little and you risk stalling. Higher than 70 and you risk fruity ester production and off-flavors.

Damn. And to think, I have a thermometer right near my 2 primary fermenters. My ambient temp is 68-70F. Should i put them back into a waterbath?

 

[Evan!]

Damn. And to think, I have a thermometer right near my 2 primary fermenters. My ambient temp is 68-70F. Should i put them back into a waterbath?

IIWY, and I had the ability to do a waterbath, I would. My quality, with most ale yeasts, begins to dramatically decrease once I hit about 72f. I was listening to a Jamil podcast on Saisons last week, and he said (quite unequivocally) that controlling fermentation temps is one of the best things you can do for your beer quality. In terms of importance, it's right up there with sanitation. After making some funky, estery beers in the mid 70's, I agree with him. Once I got things under control and under 70f, they improved drastically.

 

[drobbins]

kool

I was thinking this fall was going to be the time to get cranking
I'll get some of the stickon thermo thingys
any thoughts on mead?
I made my first batch on Aug 4, national mead day, it was pretty warm then
I waited till mid Sept for the second batch to let the weather cool down
I guess time will tell

Thanks
Dave

 

[david_42]

Ester production is much less of a problem with mead.

 

[feedthebear]

I usually switch to Kolsch yeast in the winter time. Its optimum is 55F - 65F.