Confirmation on Primary Fermentation Temp

[Allergic2hops]

Hey All,

First post, first question. I m brewing a partial mash that has Wyeast London 1028 yeast. Its a Hazelnut Brown Ale. Smells great through the airlock. Anyway temps here in Georgia dropped over the last week. Have the primary sitting in my basement next to the water heater. Temps were pretty steady at 62 which is what I pitched at. I then wrapped the fermenter in a couple of towels and the temp moved up to 64 and then 66. Now this morning it dropped to 62 and is still bubbling. My gut says leave it as the day will warm up. This is day 4 since I pitched.

Now my question. Should I move it upstairs where its warmer, stir it a little and let it sit a few more days to make sure its attenuated? The packet gave a range of 65-72. Only hit that for a day. I am thinking raising the temp to the upper 60's by bringing upstairs for a couple of days before raking to secondary. House is kept at 69.

Thoughts? Thanks.

Allergic2hops (aka Geezer Brewing)

 

[jflongo]

If it's still bubbling nicely, I would just leave it alone. I would let it sit for 2 weeks, don't ferment for 6 - 7 days and go to secondary.

 

[progmac]

i would take it upstairs, but it isn't strictly necessary. 1028 isn't very flocculant and it should finish up even in the lower 60s.

 

[Xpertskir]

i would take it upstairs, but it isn't strictly necessary. 1028 isn't very flocculant and it should finish up even in the lower 60s.

This.


Generally its not a great thing for the yeast to be cooled that much during ferm, but it should be fine, especially if you take it upstairs to finish.

As a general rule of thumb I try to have my wort in the upper half of the yeasts given range as fermentation slows, just to ensure they eat those last few points before pooping out.

 

[Setesh]

As said above, just give it time. Low and slow beats high and fast. Don't do secondary, there is no reason to mess with it or risk it unless you are adding fruit, etc. For this one just let it sit for 2-3 weeks and call it good. Also, the more you can prevent temperature fluctuation the better, especially going down. Yeast can floc out early if the temp drops near the end of fermentation making it harder for you to hit your FG.

 

[mikebenntt]

Good info. I have a question maybe someone can help with. We live near Baltimore and it's been really cold. We only keep the house temp in the low 60s, so I was wondering if the ethos we are using is okay. We brewed a 2.5 gallon batch and put the fermentation bucket ins water bath with an aquarium heater to try and keep the tempest around 70. Whatsoever you all think? This was our first batch. Thanks.

 

[progmac]

Good info. I have a question maybe someone can help with. We live near Baltimore and it's been really cold. We only keep the house temp in the low 60s, so I was wondering if the ethos we are using is okay. We brewed a 2.5 gallon batch and put the fermentation bucket ins water bath with an aquarium heater to try and keep the tempest around 70. Whatsoever you all think? This was our first batch. Thanks.

low 60s in almost all cases is preferable to 70.

 

[Allergic2hops]

As said above, just give it time. Low and slow beats high and fast. Don't do secondary, there is no reason to mess with it or risk it unless you are adding fruit, etc. For this one just let it sit for 2-3 weeks and call it good. Also, the more you can prevent temperature fluctuation the better, especially going down. Yeast can floc out early if the temp drops near the end of fermentation making it harder for you to hit your FG.

Thanks! I just got home and the temp was down to 60°. Room temp is 57°. Its upstairs now in the hall.

 

[Setesh]

Thanks! I just got home and the temp was down to 60°. Room temp is 57°. Its upstairs now in the hall.

That should be a great temp. Yeast make more heat the faster they ferment, and they ferment faster the warmer it gets.
I used to ferment in a water bath in my master bath with ambient air temperature of about 70. I always had to use a blow off tube because the yeast would go gangbusters. Now I use a fridge with a temp controller. I only need blowoff tubes now if I overfill a carboy since the fermentation temp is under control.

 

[Allergic2hops]

i would take it upstairs, but it isn't strictly necessary. 1028 isn't very flocculant and it should finish up even in the lower 60s.

Advice taken. thanks! It warmed up to 66 and bubbled all night long. It wasn't bubbling @ 60 so I think it was starting to flocculate. Seems to have calmed down now. Glad I got the last of it.

I am editing this because I am really surprised how much this continued to bubble so late into the fermentation. I moved my primary bucket up on day 5 of fermentation. This really makes me wonder if I have been cutting short my ferment by not letting it go a few more days. I have been racking to secondary after 7 days, figuring that it was done. Yesterday was day 9 of fermentation. I can really smell the difference coming through the airlock. Much stronger alcohol smell than before. Attenuation should be done by this weekend and I will rack and add my extract Saturday.

A2H

 

[Allergic2hops]

That should be a great temp. Yeast make more heat the faster they ferment, and they ferment faster the warmer it gets.
I used to ferment in a water bath in my master bath with ambient air temperature of about 70. I always had to use a blow off tube because the yeast would go gangbusters. Now I use a fridge with a temp controller. I only need blowoff tubes now if I overfill a carboy since the fermentation temp is under control.

That is my next upgrade. I have an old beer fridge I am going to convert into a fermentation chamber. Gotta find a replacement first. I hear the Johnson Controls Controller is the one to get. What are you using?

Also I have to rack to secondary to put the Hazelnut extract in. Otherwise my next brew I am going to try keeping it in the primary for 3 weeks. Thanks!

 

[Setesh]

That is my next upgrade. I have an old beer fridge I am going to convert into a fermentation chamber. Gotta find a replacement first. I hear the Johnson Controls Controller is the one to get. What are you using?

I have the Johnson controller on my Keezer and two STC-1000s on my mini fridge fermentation fridges. I actually prefer the STC-1000s in every way except that they only do celcius. The Johnson is many times larger, is more of a pain to program IMO, and has a problem with it's short cycle logic where it will kick the compressor on for a 1 second before cutting power. It does this several times before it stops the action until the set amount of time has elapsed. The only thing in the Johnson's favor is that you can buy pre wired ones if you aren't handy with Mr Sparky.

 

[Setesh]

Also I have to rack to secondary to put the Hazelnut extract in. Otherwise my next brew I am going to try keeping it in the primary for 3 weeks. Thanks!

You can also do it in the bottling bucket, just an alternate idea.

 

[Scruff_92]

Hi. i brewed a nice ale yesterday and pitched safale s-04 english ale yeast. living in ireland my usual worry about fermentation temperatures is that i cant get them high enough...but when i checked on the activity (which was vigourous to say the least) after 12 hours i realised the ambient temperature was 80. i've since moved it down to about 70 but i was wondering how to offset the bad flavours that may have developped. Would racking to secondary at a lower temperature for a month help the yeast clean itself up? i'd appreciate any tips or advice. thanks!

PS. also i have the option of either kegging or bottling after, depending on which might work best to break off the off flavors...

 

[boydster]

Hi. i brewed a nice ale yesterday and pitched safale s-04 english ale yeast. living in ireland my usual worry about fermentation temperatures is that i cant get them high enough...but when i checked on the activity (which was vigourous to say the least) after 12 hours i realised the ambient temperature was 80. i've since moved it down to about 70 but i was wondering how to offset the bad flavours that may have developped. Would racking to secondary at a lower temperature for a month help the yeast clean itself up? i'd appreciate any tips or advice. thanks!

Racking it will be counterproductive. If you can, get the temp to 64 or so for the next few days, then slowly let it come up to around 68 to finish. Let it sit on the yeast in primary for a month before you consider packaging if you are worried about off flavors, that will help although it may not be a 100% fix. With this yeast, I like to pitch at 62, ferment at 64 and when it slows down let it rise another couple degrees to keep the yeast active.

 

[Setesh]

double post