fermenting temp question

[brewnewbie12]

Hello all I'm new to home brewing and just bought the Brewers best deluxe kit. Last night I brewed a Belgium golden ale everything went OK but I noticed that this morning the thermometer on the side of my primary fermenting bucket was showing 82 degrees. The ingredient instructions said it should stay around 65 to 74 degrees. So I took a wet towel wrapped the bottom of the bucket with a fan blowing on it till the temp dropped to about 74 degrees. Was this OK to do or not.

 

[misterkidd]

Yup, right thing to do. Remember during active fermentation, your beer will be several degrees above your rooms ambient temp. Try to stay in temp as much as you can to reduce the chance of off-flavours.

 

[brewnewbie12]

So do I need to keep the same temp when I move over to secondary fermenting?

 

[doug293cz]

So do I need to keep the same temp when I move over to secondary fermenting?

There is no need to move to secondary. Many (maybe even most) folks here don't do secondary unless adding fruit or something, or making a big beer that will be aged for a long time.

After the active fermentation is done, it's ok to let the temperature rise some above the ideal fermentation temperature.

Brew on

 

[brewnewbie12]

OK thanks for the replies, but doesn't using a secondary clear up the beer, or is there another way? I'm pondering on adding orange zest to my beer batch but a little unclear on how to go about it. I've read some of the threads on here about it and still a bit unsure. Do I add after or before I syphon into secondary, do I let it sit for the full 2 weeks? Am I asking to much lol

 

[jkeys]

Most orange zest is added late boil to my knowledge. Fruits are added to a secondary as stated above. I do secondary most beers I do but thinking about getting away from it to allow more primary space.

I could be wrong about adding orange zest and maybe it could be done in secondary but I'm sure someone else may leave their advice as well.

 

[titansvol]

I only secondary when dry hopping and wanting to wash the yeast. If you give it time, it will clear very nicely in the primary. I keep most brews in the primary for 3 weeks and they pull out crystal clear.

 

[dobes]

I would say don't worry about the secondary. It will clear in the primary, less chance of infection and oxidation. As far as adding the zest to the primary like said most add it in the boil.
I've never added it to the primary like you are saying I don't think it would hurt but not sure how much it would do. You could soak the zest in some vodka and add it.
To impart a good orange flavor you could also make a tea out of the Orange and the zest and add it.

 

[brewnewbie12]

OK interesting. Thanks guys