Feementing Temp Range

[Tapout]

This is my first batch of home brew and I have a question concerning the temp range for primary fermentation.

The batch is Northern Brewer's Caribou Slobber, extract. The yeast I'm using is Wyeast 1332 (2 packs) and iBrewmaster recommends a fermenting temp range of 65-75 deg. Should I shoot for the lower end, upper end, or middle? I ask because my activity seems awfully inactive.

I'm 6 days into the recommended 1-2 weeks primary. The temp started at 70 and I had bubbles about every second or two through the airlock. This was the most activity I ever saw. Then a friend, whose been brewing for a coupe years now, said I should be trying to get it down to the lower end (65), so I reduced the temp to 65 deg. Now my activity is around a bubble every 3-4 sec.

Again, this is my first ever attempt at brewing, so I'm sure I didn't do things exactly the way I should have, but the lack of activity is bothering me.

Oh, and don't bother asking what my OG was, as I was able to screw that up LOL. I took it in the kettle (it read 50, in the orange area, on a triple scale hydrometer. Yeah, I'm trying to learn how to read that correctly too), then transferred to the primary and added water to get to 5 gallons. So I know the OG reading isn't correct.

Anyway, I understand I need to be patient. I'm just curious about the fermenting temp range, as a 10 deg swing would seem to allow for quite a big difference in activity level.

Thanks for any responses.

 

[Channel66]

How much water did you add to bring it to 5 gallons? When you took the reading was it boiling? 1.050 adjusted for boiling temperature would be 1.092, which would allow for a significant amount of top up water to get you down in normal range. If you know the amount of top up water you used and the temperature when you took the sample, we can calculate the starting gravity. But if you followed the directions on the kit I'm certain your gravity is their predicted original gravity. It's hard to miss the mark on an extract kit.

That being said, sounds to me like you are trying to use airlock activity as a sign of fermentation, you can't really use it that way. Various things can stifle airlock activity including an improper seal.

After 6 days of fermenting it will be slowing down on its own, it doesn't take the full 2-4 weeks of vigorous fermentation. After the first few days it will start to slow down, the rest is just the yeast cleaning up after itself.

Usually you should shoot for the lower end of the temp range for your yeast, fermentation creates heat, so the inside of your fermenter will be anywhere from 5 to 10 degrees warmer than ambient. So keeping it at 70 degrees ambient temperature you could actually be fermenting closer to 80. Get a stick on thermometer it will help give you an idea of what's going on inside your fermenter.

Your beer will be fine.

 

[Tapout]

Wort temp at time of OG was ~80 deg.

As my kettle leaves about 1 gallon below the spigot, I added ~1 gallon of almost ice water to bring the temp the rest of the way down to 70 deg and to top off the primary.

 

[Channel66]

Wort temp at time of OG was ~80 deg.

As my kettle leaves about 1 gallon below the spigot, I added ~1 gallon of almost ice water to bring the temp the rest of the way down to 70 deg and to top off the primary.

That makes your original gravity 1.042. Which is a little low for caribou slobber, but considering all the variables with your reading, I wouldn't worry about it, if you added all of the extract your gravity will be where it needs to be.

 

[Tapout]

Well, that's a bit lower than iBrewmaster says it should be (1.052), but, hey, it's my first time on this ride. If it's drinkable and not near beer, I'll be happy!

Thanks, Channel.

 

[Channel66]

Well, that's a bit lower than iBrewmaster says it should be (1.052), but, hey, it's my first time on this ride. If it's drinkable and not near beer, I'll be happy!

Thanks, Channel.

If it ferments down to 1.010 you will have 4.2%abv. (Assuming your reading was correct) so don't worry about it.

Though like I said, if you added all of the extract it's likely that your reading was incorrect and not the gravity. There is no way you lost gravity points if you added all of the extract and only topped up to 5 gallons, you will come out right on target.

 

[IslandLizard]

...As my kettle leaves about 1 gallon below the spigot...

Tip your kettle to get more wort. Or use a dip tube. Losing 1 gallon out of 5 of good wort is way too much!

You can always filter out the trub if that concerns you.

 

[Tombstone0]

If it ferments down to 1.010 you will have 4.2%abv. (Assuming your reading was correct) so don't worry about it.

Though like I said, if you added all of the extract it's likely that your reading was incorrect and not the gravity. There is no way you lost gravity points if you added all of the extract and only topped up to 5 gallons, you will come out right on target.

Not exactly, he said that his spigot would leave about a gallon of wort in his kettle. If he did a full volume boil and left a gallon behind, he would lose about 1/5 of his OG after topping up to 5 gallons. That makes 1.042 sound about right.
I would recommend just dumping the whole kettle into the fermenter instead of losing a gallon. Either that or get a dip tube to pull out more of the wort.

 

[Channel66]

Not exactly, he said that his spigot would leave about a gallon of wort in his kettle. If he did a full volume boil and left a gallon behind, he would lose about 1/5 of his OG after topping up to 5 gallons. That makes 1.042 sound about right.
I would recommend just dumping the whole kettle into the fermenter instead of losing a gallon. Either that or get a dip tube to pull out more of the wort.

Yeah I misunderstood about the spigot. That would make 1.042 accurate. 1.052 + 1 gal of water is 1.042.

 

[Tapout]

No, I added about a gallon to the boil when the level start to dip below the thermometer probe, which sits right at the 5 gallon mark. So, my end of boil amount was almost exactly 5 gallons. Minus the amount in the bottom of the kettle, I moved about 4 gallons to the primary.

My friend who bought the kettle for me wasn't too pleased with the height at which the holes were drilled. In the future, I'll start with 6.5 gallons. This batch started with about 5.5 gallons.

I'm also going to see if I can get a threaded elbow to screw into the spigot, as it's threaded on the inside. That way I can get a bit more from the kettle.

 

[Bill"sDamnBrewing]

No, I added about a gallon to the boil when the level start to dip below the thermometer probe, which sits right at the 5 gallon mark. So, my end of boil amount was almost exactly 5 gallons. Minus the amount in the bottom of the kettle, I moved about 4 gallons to the primary.

My friend who bought the kettle for me wasn't too pleased with the height at which the holes were drilled. In the future, I'll start with 6.5 gallons. This batch started with about 5.5 gallons.

I'm also going to see if I can get a threaded elbow to screw into the spigot, as it's threaded on the inside. That way I can get a bit more from the kettle.

You are only supposed to start the boil with 2.5 gallons of water. It sounds like you did not follow the directions from the start??