Fermenter temperature - 42 hours in
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kyleobie
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It is. I ran out of ice so I thought a frozen box of chicken broth would help (it didn't)
There's no chicken broth in the water though
There's no chicken broth in the water though
It is. I ran out of ice so I thought a frozen box of chicken broth would help (it didn't)
There's no chicken broth in the water though
Well, I'm an optimist, so I have to point out that this will be so much easier for you in the fall and winter!
Of course, I have to use an aquarium heater in a water bath then, to get my fermenter over 60 degrees. But we'll deal with that problem in January!
Now, I'm not saying that this beer is going to be a banana bomb- we're just telling you that you may pick up some fruity flavors and something not exactly "right". It's still going to be good! What yeast are you using? I don't know if I ever saw that in ths post!
It might be fun to try this beer again in the winter, and see the differences you can pick out just from temperature differences.
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kyleobie
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Thanks - this is also a huge trial and error problem for me. I didn't have the equipment to do this before brew day and now I've made it a big pain in the ass for myself! I'll figure out a way to do this sooner or later.
I'm using Nottingham yeast.
I'm using Nottingham yeast.
niko
Well-Known Member
First of all, thanks for all the feedback. Second of all, BLAH. It's not working.
Here's what I have: a cheap plastic bin from K-Mart filled with ice water. I've refilled it with ice water frequently (3 times a day). It is not working. The beer is around the ambient temperature of my apartment. It was 72-74 during heavy fermentation...now it's 75-76.
Am I doing this right?
It also looks like you need to do some laundry... sayteller
Active Member
Hm, these are all great ideas. I wish I would have known about them before I did my brewing. My first batch has been in the fermeter since the 16th. The temp is at a steady 72*-74*. Is this too high for an amber ale with Wyeast Northwest liquid yeast? Would it do any good this late into fermenting for me to put it a cool water bath?
Here's mine:
What size carboys is that in there?
Northwest does ok at 72 degrees- I've actually tried to get my fermentations up to that area when I've used it. You should be fine regardless. The most important time for temperature control is at the beginning, during active fermentation. That's when weird flavors can be produced from stressed yeast and/or high fermentation temperatures. It should be fine!
That one is a 5 gallon carboy. I cut the hole out of layers of foam so I can actually do lagers in it in the winter. You can make the hole a bit bigger for a 6.5 gallon carboy.
Here's another swamp cooler idea from one of our members....just imagine it filled 3/4's of the way up with water and ice bottles.
Another thing people do is brew "seasonally" there are certain beers that can be brewed in the warmer weather, where you want some of the characteristics that come from slightly stressed warm weather yeast....I'm brewing a Belgian saison this weekend where I want the beer to ferment in the 80's....
I have storage in my apartment complex that is pretty chilly (high 30's-low 40;s) in the winter, so I started brewing lagers in the winter, regular ales in the spring without temp control where the ambient temps in my loft are in the 60s, I'm going to brew more heat tolerant ales through this period (and some others with my swamp cooler.)
SO you might want to consider something like that.
Another thing people do is brew "seasonally" there are certain beers that can be brewed in the warmer weather, where you want some of the characteristics that come from slightly stressed warm weather yeast....I'm brewing a Belgian saison this weekend where I want the beer to ferment in the 80's....
I have storage in my apartment complex that is pretty chilly (high 30's-low 40;s) in the winter, so I started brewing lagers in the winter, regular ales in the spring without temp control where the ambient temps in my loft are in the 60s, I'm going to brew more heat tolerant ales through this period (and some others with my swamp cooler.)
SO you might want to consider something like that.
sayteller
Active Member
Great! That helps put my worries at ease a bit (not that I am stressed out or anything lol).
Watch as Craig pitches the yeast at 85F. No cooling bath. He's making a Cooper's kit using the yeast that came with the kit. Fast forward to the 4 min mark.
Cooper's is from Australia. I wonder the yeast strain has adapted to the hotter climate. I started brewing with a Cooper's kit. Looking at the directions it actually says to go ahead and pitch the yeast when the temperature is under 90F, so that the fermentation can get going before an infection starts. My first batch ever, I pitched even hotter then that. (I think it was around (93F-96F). I'm not recommending these practices. I just found that this is a very forgiving stain of yeast, mainly from my mistakes as a newbie.
<sarcasm>
And remember mate, 90F is for ales. For lagers you have to get your wort really cold, down to 75F - 80F.
</sarcasm>
Cooper's is from Australia. I wonder the yeast strain has adapted to the hotter climate. I started brewing with a Cooper's kit. Looking at the directions it actually says to go ahead and pitch the yeast when the temperature is under 90F, so that the fermentation can get going before an infection starts. My first batch ever, I pitched even hotter then that. (I think it was around (93F-96F). I'm not recommending these practices. I just found that this is a very forgiving stain of yeast, mainly from my mistakes as a newbie.
<sarcasm>
And remember mate, 90F is for ales. For lagers you have to get your wort really cold, down to 75F - 80F.
</sarcasm>
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kyleobie
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Yep, that picture's pretty embarassing. I am constantly running behind on laundry.
Is that a trash can in that picture? That's a nice idea.
I think my next brew is going to be a Grand Cru with Wit yeast from Papazian's book. Something where the esters from low 70s fermentation will be more desirable...if that makes sense.
Is that a trash can in that picture? That's a nice idea.
I think my next brew is going to be a Grand Cru with Wit yeast from Papazian's book. Something where the esters from low 70s fermentation will be more desirable...if that makes sense.
Yes that's a garbage can...a brand new one.
That video is classic. I'm sure all of us have a few less than ideal conditions, but we don't make instructional videos showing them.
The yeast probably didn't mind the 85 degree wort, it was probably a nice cool environment for them after coming out of his pants pocket which was probably close to body temperature.
He runs the cooling water in from a cut off piece of garden hose, which may be leaching some nasty chemicals from the materials used in making the hose. The water is not boiled to sanitize it.
He never seems to sanitize, or re-sanitize his hands, although he handles several things that go into the wort with them. His aeration involves about 3 minutes of stirring the wort, somewhat less than vigorously. Finally he grabs the scissors to open the yeast from the top of the TV stand.
Just goes to show that beer can be quite forgiving.
The yeast probably didn't mind the 85 degree wort, it was probably a nice cool environment for them after coming out of his pants pocket which was probably close to body temperature.
He runs the cooling water in from a cut off piece of garden hose, which may be leaching some nasty chemicals from the materials used in making the hose. The water is not boiled to sanitize it.
He never seems to sanitize, or re-sanitize his hands, although he handles several things that go into the wort with them. His aeration involves about 3 minutes of stirring the wort, somewhat less than vigorously. Finally he grabs the scissors to open the yeast from the top of the TV stand.
Just goes to show that beer can be quite forgiving.
... or just build one of these http://home.roadrunner.com/~brewbeer/chiller/chiller.PDF
Pictures of the "Son of Fermentation" chiller in action
Pictures of the "Son of Fermentation" chiller in action
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kyleobie
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So I bought a new garbage can today and a 15 pack case of water bottles. I'm going to alternate the water bottles in and out of the freezer to keep the temperature as low as possible. I have an extra large t-shirt from a charity walk - my fermenter's wearing the shirt as a wick. I hope this is the solution - and if it is, I don't know what I'd do without this forum. Thanks so much for all the help!
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kyleobie
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It's working! But, after about 7-8 hours in the mid 60s, it starts to warm up again. Spent the weekend with my girlfriend, and when I got home, it was back in the 70s (the water/ice bath, that is). I'm putting my beer through some big temperature swings as a result. Is this going to cause any problems? Primary fermentation's all done.
You are worrying WAAAAAYYYYYY to much about this stuff...you did the basictemp control...it's really only cruscial for the first couple days....
You're fine.....the yeast are pretty resiliant..
ANd how do you know primary fermentation is done? Did you take 2 hydro readings over 3 days to see if the grav has changed? Or are you judging by airlcok bubbles (that's NOT a good thing to do) Besides don't be too rushed to do anything to the beer...the yeasts have plenty to do after they eat all the sugars...they like to go around a eat all the by products of fermentation that can cause off flavors (such as from too high of a fermentation temp)
If you give them enough time to do so (many of us leave our beers alone for 3-4 weeks, skip secondary then bottle), you'll let them go the extra mile...as it is, if you chose to secondary...wait at least 10 to 14 days before doing so...again to let the yeast work....
If I do secondary, which I do only if I am adding fruit, oak or dry hopping (though many do that in primary now) or plan on a greater than 2 week bulk aging time, I do it on the 14th day....
But if you chose 3-4 weeks, you can usually skip secondary and will find your beer is actually clearer and crisper tasting.
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kyleobie
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Fair enough! My hydro reading is about 1.015 - a little higher than the expected FG. But I'm going by the krausen disappearing. It was pretty intense for a few days - thank god for the blow off tube - and that's over. I'm leaving it in the primary, don't have a secondary fermentation vessel yet.
Coincidentally, I didn't smell much banana/bubblegum when I took my hydro reading. When I took a hydro for a weizen at 72, it was banana overload. Dunno if that's encouraging or if I'm thinking too much.
One of the hardest parts of this hobby is learning not to worry or jump to conclusions
Coincidentally, I didn't smell much banana/bubblegum when I took my hydro reading. When I took a hydro for a weizen at 72, it was banana overload. Dunno if that's encouraging or if I'm thinking too much.
One of the hardest parts of this hobby is learning not to worry or jump to conclusions
Zenman
Well-Known Member
Arizona heat makes it tough here in the summer, ambient house temp is around 81. I started following the basic method of putting it in a bucket, except i use the spare bath tub, easy to turn the shower on and water down everything so the shirts wrapped on buckets are always evently damp especailly since my drain has a slow leak. (i put a little tin foil 'hat' on the airlock to ensure it doesn't overflow with added water.)
I keep 2 1 gallon frozen water jugs and a small frozen water bottle that I switch out daily at lunch time (so a total of 4 1 gallon jugs and 2 small water bottle, so i can just switch out from freezer quickly). I place the frozen jugs right up on the fermenters (currently have two brews fermenting so they are sandwich in between the ferementors. I also pour ice onto the top of the bucket and just let it naturally melt away.
This method reduced my average temp to 68 from 84. Perfect no, but I will someday get a fridge or something, but for now it is a relatively easy setup in the tub, since draining it is very easy and it is out of the way.
I keep 2 1 gallon frozen water jugs and a small frozen water bottle that I switch out daily at lunch time (so a total of 4 1 gallon jugs and 2 small water bottle, so i can just switch out from freezer quickly). I place the frozen jugs right up on the fermenters (currently have two brews fermenting so they are sandwich in between the ferementors. I also pour ice onto the top of the bucket and just let it naturally melt away.
This method reduced my average temp to 68 from 84. Perfect no, but I will someday get a fridge or something, but for now it is a relatively easy setup in the tub, since draining it is very easy and it is out of the way.
