Fermentation temp

[spokaniac]

I have my first batch brewing, a basic pale ale about 2 weeks in. I have it going in the basement about 2' from my water heater. The first week and a half or so it was maintaining the temp pretty well right around 66-64 F. The last 3-4 days its dropped and is sitting more around 62. I'm assuming that the drop is from the yeast not contributing as much heat now that it has slowed down, gravity was down to 13 a couple days ago. Is it OK at the lower temp or should I move it closer to the water heater or bundle it up?

Also was looking at Austins for some kits for my next batches. I noticed there is a "mini mash" option. Am I correct in assuming that these come with more grain/less extract and that you just do a longer, more controlled steeping step to get the sugars out of the grains?

 

[BigB]

You are fine at the cooler temp...likely its just done fermenting. And yes, your evaluation of mini mash is accurate...except one major difference is that in a mini mash you are getting some base grains as part of your fermentables.

 

[Demus]

As for the temp, I'd say you're right that the drop is the yeast slowing down. If 62 is still in their temperature range, they still could be nibbling away in their last stages but it sounds to me like it could be simply finished. You could try warming it up a bit for a few days but don't over do it.
As for the "mini mash", this is indeed a small scale mash that provides some of the fermentables as opposed to steeping grains which just provides grain and malt character that's hard to get from extract. Be carefull though; you could end up with a cellar full of all grain equipment!!

Prost!

 

[Grinder12000]

The most important time for the temp is during the active fermentation period.

Mini mash is just another stop up in control. It's like steeping but the temp control is much much more important. Use your oven to mash. Turn it on as low as it will go.

Then you will have lest say 3.5 pounds of grain and 1.5 gallons of water. heat the water to 160ish, pour in grain and the temp drops to 152ish. Cover. turn off oven and put pot into oven with door open. bingo - temp will be perfect

 

[JonK331]

The temp you need is dependent on the yeast strain but I think you're fine regardless. You might not get much below 13 with extract anyway.

Yes, there is more grain and less extract. However, you are actually extracting some of the fermentable sugars from the grain (unlike steeping). A mash is very different from steeping. You would use ~1.25 qts of water per lb of grain and hold the temperature at ~150 for an hour. Then you rinse the sugars out of the grain (lauter). Mashing is a lot of fun and is a great next step to get closer to all grain. The thing is, it's takes very close to the same amount of time and effort to do a full mash as it does to do a partial.

 

[spokaniac]

I like the oven idea. We have a pasta pot with a colander insert, if I set my grain back in the colander would that work for the lautering and sparging?

 

[frazier]

Also check out Brew-In-A_Bag (BIAB) - there's a good tutorial on it somewhere hereabouts, in one of the stickies. A colander might not be big enough to hold all the grain, but there are lots of ways of straining the grains out at the end. BIAB just makes it simple.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Also check out Brew-In-A_Bag (BIAB) - there's a good tutorial on it somewhere hereabouts, in one of the stickies. A colander might not be big enough to hold all the grain, but there are lots of ways of straining the grains out at the end. BIAB just makes it simple.

he's referring to the 'easy stovetop partial mash (BIAB)' sticky by deathbrewer, it's in the stickies here in the beginners forum. highly recommend it.

about temps, lower is better for most ales, IMO. i ferment almost all my ales between 60-62. i'm currently fermenting a beer with english yeast that i started off at 59, let it creep to 62 during the first 36 hours and will force it to 65 by the end of krausen if it needs to. the key is to let the yeast kick off in the LOW end of the recommended range for that yeast, those early stages are where the bulk of the 'off' flavors will be produced if it's too warm. i've personally found that some yeasts can ferment quite well a couple degrees BELOW the recommended range (experiment with this before just trying to ferment too cool), and sometimes produce a better (IMO) beer at the low temps.

 

[spokaniac]

That sticky is awesome. Definitely want to try that. The pasta pot we have is about 2 gallons and the colander sits inside, so it is about the same size as the pot. Would it work to mash it there, then lift out the colander with the bag in it pour that wort into the brew kettle through the colander and bag. Then set the colander back in the pasta pot and add the sparge water, teabag it a bit then add it to the brew kettle the same way.