Bottled my first batch 20 days ago and am preparing to sample some of the first batch and to fix some oversights for next week's second batch. Brewed batch one before having discovered HBT, and I've already found loads of things that could be improved.
But there's one thing I haven't gotten quite clear on.
I see that fermentation produces heat. Which I didn't realize before. So presumably, I have to compensate for this. I don't have a temperature-controlled chamber, so this means monkeying around with the AC. Because my fermentation is carried out in the coat/cleaning closet and I have to be able to maneuver around there, I'm pretty averse to swamp cooling if I can avoid it. So a couple questions:
1. Does the fermometer (stick-on thermometer) give an accurate reading of the wort or just of the ambient temperature?
2. Everyone says to keep the temperature consistent. But if fermentation gives off heat, and fermentation activity falls off significantly after 3-4 days, presumably keeping the wort temperature consistent means varying ambient temperature. Is this right? If I'm fermenting at 68-72, should I drop my thermostat to 65 during the first 3-4 days and then jump it back to 70 for the rest of the time in primary?
But there's one thing I haven't gotten quite clear on.
I see that fermentation produces heat. Which I didn't realize before. So presumably, I have to compensate for this. I don't have a temperature-controlled chamber, so this means monkeying around with the AC. Because my fermentation is carried out in the coat/cleaning closet and I have to be able to maneuver around there, I'm pretty averse to swamp cooling if I can avoid it. So a couple questions:
1. Does the fermometer (stick-on thermometer) give an accurate reading of the wort or just of the ambient temperature?
2. Everyone says to keep the temperature consistent. But if fermentation gives off heat, and fermentation activity falls off significantly after 3-4 days, presumably keeping the wort temperature consistent means varying ambient temperature. Is this right? If I'm fermenting at 68-72, should I drop my thermostat to 65 during the first 3-4 days and then jump it back to 70 for the rest of the time in primary?