fermentation temperature; too cold?

[Brewmiser]

I was shooting for 65-75° F for my fermentation but the temp of my basement dropped to 60° F overnight. I'm still bubbling away & have since wrapped in blankets. is there any negative effects from letting my temp drop too low?

 

[Revvy]

Not to 60, that's pretty good for most ales. If it drops into the low 50 is where you have difficulties. When you get to the bottom of their temp range they go dormant and don't do much work, opting to sleep instead.

 

[Runyanka]

There is no ill effects from dropping your temp low, other than a sluggish or stalled fermentation. As far as fermenting in your basement, do you have the carboy/bucket sitting on the bare concrete or on an elevated surface. If you have it sitting directly on the concrete, the beers temp could be colder than 60 do to the ground temp being colder. If you plan on brewing in the basement all winter, I would suggest buying a brew belt: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/the-brew-belt.html

 

[Brewmiser]

thanks,

I do have it sitting on a wooden slab. & I will look at a buying a belt

 

[brew2enjoy]

I am having the same issue. I live in an older house that has crappy insulation, so the temperature fluctuates quite a bit. My brew was down to 59 yesterday. I am also looking into getting the brew belt.

 

[BigJerk]

no need to get a brew belt. I just put down a heating pad and cover it up with a folded towel and put the carboy on that. whenever in need to warm it up, I turn it on low overnight. I generally keep my carboy between 62-64 during the winter months.

 

[beerguy2009]

I have had my last couple of Ales ferment at 70 degrees air temp and there has been an odd taste in the beer. Is that due to the room temp too high? What is the best temp to ferment?

 

[dannyl]

I'm having the same problem but much worse. I brewed a 5 gallon batch of an IPA yesterday and then my heat died over night. I woke up and my house was at 48 degrees F. Will my yeast die?

 

[BikerMatt]

Maybe I'm just an eager beaver but am a bit worried about my brew temp. I took the fermenting vessel to the garage last night after getting everything in, and during the night the outside temp dropped to -14c which means the garage temp also goes down. I don't have a proper brewing thermometer yet but the sticker on the side of the vessel is showing 16 18 and 20 so I guess the approx temperature of the wort is around 18c (64f). There are SOME little spots of foam starting to form on the surface but not a whole lot. Then again it IS only 13h after adding the yeast. I did turn the garage wall heater on as well as put a reptile lamp aside the vessel to warm up the wort but they do draw quite a bit of electricity which is very expensive here so my guess is, will it be ok if I just turn off the extra heat and let the pot sit in around 16-18c (60-64f)?

 

[ChelisHubby]

Dan your yeast might sleep but not die. Just warm it back up to 65 or so. Matt try to keep the temp at 64 even if you have to bring it inside the house and put it in a closet. with Cold temps the yeast will ferment slower and you might want to consider waiting till the third week to bottle after you have checked the gravity. Matt 60 degrees the beer will still ferment , If we knew what your yeast is we can give you better advice, the different yeast will all have a huge 20 degree range for fermenting but a much narrower range for good flavor. Best of luck gentlemen!

 

[BikerMatt]

Sorry bud the only info I can give you about the yeast is that it came with a Coopers Family Secret amber ale extract tin. Coopers brew enhancer 1 for nutrient. The temp in the garage is hovering around 18c (64) and it is pretty steady because the water heater in the back room is what heats the space, the wall batteries are normally off. I'll keep an eye on the thing and probly will wait the three weeks to be sure. The vessel sits on a work bench around 4 feet off the floor so the draft coming from the door should have little effect.

Thanks for the advice! My first batch. (Second to be precise but that was years and years ago one half assed attempt)

 

[ChelisHubby]

You should be OK! It is the first 4 to 5 days of fermention that is critical for flavor. After the 6th day bring the beer in to a warm temp if possible 70 degrees or more wont hurt it at all then and will help it finish the last bit of sugar off. so you dont have to worry about bottle bombs. If you cant warm it up it is not a big deal as it will still finnish. You should have a decent beer!

 

[BikerMatt]

Hmm if I move it on the table beside the water heater and throw a mylar "space blanket" over them to form a kind of a tent I should be able to lift the ambient temp of the vessel for "free". A little high FG won't bother me as I like my ales a little bit sweet as long as it gets a decent ABV (4,3-4,7 ish)

Cheers again!

-18c outside and dropping...

 

[BikerMatt]

Moved the thing to the backroom workshop, that's the boiler on the left. Temp gauge sensor directly below the bottom showing steady 19.9c (67,8f). Still no sign of increased activity but the instruction did say it can take up to 72h...

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

Coopers yeast is a workhorse. I wouldn't worry about it at 18c at all...

 

[Sadu]

If your ambient temp is a bit cooler than fermentation temp that is a great situation to be in, compared with ambient being a bit warm. Add a heat belt and STC1000 for under 30 bucks and you can take away all the guesswork. And none of this moving the bucket all over the house to get the right ambient temps.

 

[BikerMatt]

I'll look into the electrickery on the next run, right now the temp has settled to 19,2c in the workshop so it should be right on the spot. Wife doesn't allow the container within the living space anyway so it is what it is.

Just went to check, no change in the surface but suddenly a sizeable layer of light colored "fluff" has appeared on the bottom, I'm assuming that's the yeast multiplying? Way too much to be cold brake. The coopers fermentation can doesn't have a bubbler airlock so can't use that to verify it has started.

 

[BikerMatt]

One week past from start, I don't remember if I mentioned it before but there's a fire door on the small backroom where the container sits in, as well as a wall heater so I can control the temperature of the little coop to my hearts content. Still no mentionable foaming on the surface but there is moisture condensing on the upper part and the lid, and I've been monitoring the smell coming from the container. It has changed from super sweet and mead-like to more bitter and beer-ish so the stuff is most definitely fermenting.

Think I should probly start my own thread for these... if not to entertain other more seasoned brewers then for my own notebook

 

[Kharnynb]

I love my slightly colder cellar space, just built a temp controlled bath and it never gets too hot or too cold.
bonus over a blanket is that the water in the "bath" provides an extra heat/cold storage for more stable averages.

 

[ChelisHubby]

What are you using to raise the tempature?

 

[Kharnynb]

the small aquarium heater you see just on the right edge of the tub

 

[FatDragon]

Moved the thing to the backroom workshop, that's the boiler on the left. Temp gauge sensor directly below the bottom showing steady 19.9c (67,8f). Still no sign of increased activity but the instruction did say it can take up to 72h...

Hey, Pistonhead! That stuff's alright, and thanks to IKEA you can get it around the world!

I love my slightly colder cellar space, just built a temp controlled bath and it never gets too hot or too cold.
bonus over a blanket is that the water in the "bath" provides an extra heat/cold storage for more stable averages.

This is an excellent option for cool fermentation spaces. A cheap plastic tub of water and an aquarium heater. Temp controller optional. It's economical and wildly effective.

 

[BikerMatt]

^ Funny you noticed, they've been sitting up there for like two to three years

Ikea sells beer there?! Not here man. But yea the grey canned Low Ridin' Lager was the perfect beer for me, beautifully hopped! I LOVED that stuff and was gutted when they suddenly stopped importing it here. That' all I drank for a year or so. Those ones up there I actually bought later when I heard this one guy on a Volvo forum (I'm a bit of an enthusiast) was going to sweden for a parts pick trip and I managed to convince him to bring me three cases. Actually drove nearly 400km round trip to the Alastaro motorway to go fetch them from him, when I got there i was WTF wrong beer f*cktard I ordered low ridin' and U brought me flat tire, said sorry bud that's all he found it's so popular there it was sold out from everywhere. Said whatever, paid and drove back home. Next day cracked one after they were cooled, WTF the stuff's almost plain hops! Most bitter beer I've ever tasted and now I got a fridge full of it!!! One could truly say I was left with a bad taste in my mouth...

...but I digress, just thought it was a fun little story...

 

[JonM]

Might want to start a new thread, fellas. This one's 6+ years old.