Fermentation temp below ambient temp

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sictransit701

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Has anyone ever experienced fermentation temps below ambient room temps?
My ambient room temps were between 66 and 68, and my fermentation kicked off and stayed in the 64-66 range. I have had many beers ferment a few degrees higher than ambient but never below.
 
I noted the exact temps on both ends that you have...no real explanation on it for me. The brew that I experienced this on was the Caribou Slobber.
 
My first thought is : What are you checking the temp with? Can you trust it's accuracy?

This is a very good point....I am not sure of OP's situation. But I had multiple carboys lined up...(I went by the fermometers). All of them had the exact same temps..
 
Or is it sitting on a cold floor. The air in the room might be 68, but not the floor.
 
I have a digital thermometer on the floor next to my carboy. It records the high and low ambient room temperatures of the day. I use a fermometer on the carboy. It is a new fermometer. I am puzzled.
 
Or is it sitting on a cold floor. The air in the room might be 68, but not the floor.

Mine is actually located on a second floor...so that would rule out the cold floor issue as well. It is really strange...I have not been able to figure it out either. So to the OP....you are not alone! :drunk:
 
The only thing that I believe could be our issue is our wall thermostat units are not recording the proper room temperture. Thus the ambient room temp is not matching what our furnace/air conditiong thermostat is showing.
 
I'm not sure if i am reading the fermometer correctly. If three numbers are lit up, I usually take the middle number. If only two are lit up, I take the highest reading.

I'm not sure if this helps, but here is more info. It is the brewer's best whisky barrel stout. Yeast is safale s04. My O.G. was 1.060. I pitched at 70 degrees. There was a quick start. Within 8 hours i had a little krausen. Hour or so later, I had to switch to a blow off tube. 2 days later almost all the big fermentation as slowed. I have my airlock back on. The krausen has settled. It smells fine. Like a sweet chocolate muffin. I dont smell banana that would indicate too high of temperature, but it sure did ferment fast.
 
I too use a wall thermostat and fermometer to gauge temps and I really don't think they are super accurate. I just upgraded to a digitally controlled fermentation chamber to deal with the first matter. When I can justify another brewing expense, I may be getting one of those sweet IR gun thermometers. I do have a thermapen but it's not really long enough to reach into a carboy...
 
I really do think we put way to much trust in our wall thermostats...just my opinion. When I have three...and sometimes four thermometers giving me different readings than my wall thermostat...it speaks volumes...
 
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