Fermenting temperature question

[IPAAAA]

So my first kit came with WLP001 yeast. My wort was around 80 when I put in the room temperature yeast. I let it sit in my bucket, which is inside a 20 gallon trashcan filled with water in my garage, and let the temp raise overnight. The next morning I put in a few frozen water bottles and have been changing them out three times a day. The temp of the water around the bucket has been around 60-63 this entire time. Started saturday and it is now wed night.

My question is that it says that WLP001 ferments best between 68-73 degrees. Am I fermenting at too cold of a temp with my current setup? I don't think the beer is the same temp as the water so maybe it is a little bit higher inside the fermenter and I will be ok. I don't want to fluctuate the temp too much but I also don't want to stall the fermenting process with it being too cool.

I may just be over thinking this but just want to make sure just for future WLP001 use.

 

[kable]

So it has been fermenting for about 4 days...

Have you already seen a lot of fermenter lock activity and then slow down? Or are you asking the question because you aren't seeing much yet and your worried you have stalled it out because of the low temps? If its the latter, couldn't you just raise the temp a bit to see if fermentation wakes up?

 

[IPAAAA]

The airlock was bubbling a lot and just recently started to slow down to a few bubbles every so often.

I just wanted to know if it is better to ferment at the 68-73 temp range like it says to or if it is ok for me to leave it at 60 and let it do it's thing.

 

[kable]

Hard to say. I have seen lots of different comments on this subject (search for temp control). For sure you want to control the temp, as you already know. Some threads have said the water temp on the outside doesn't represent the temp inside. So during fermentation the temp inside will try to rise, but your water bath is trying to keep it cool.

It sounds like you had a good fermentation and now your wort 'may' start to cool down to the outside temp. I have seen a lot of posts that say after your fermentation slows down quite a bit, you want to start slowly raising them temperature. I haven't seen any good details, like how high, how fast etc.

I know this is where people use 'dual temp controllers' on fridges etc. Something about turning a light bulb on inside the fridge to start warming up post fermentation.

Sorry, I am pretty new at this and haven't really helped ya.

 

[IPAAAA]

That is still good to know. Thanks.

Anyone else that has used this yeast or just know more about the subject want to chime in? I want to try and figure out a way to get a correct temperature of the inside temp of the fermenter.

 

[TipsyDragon]

wait 2-3 weeks from brew day and check the SG. if its to high raise the temps a little and gently shake the carboy. see if fermentation picks up again.

 

[a10t2]

Anyone else that has used this yeast or just know more about the subject want to chime in? I want to try and figure out a way to get a correct temperature of the inside temp of the fermenter.

In my experience the temperature of the water bath will be pretty close to the fermenting beer - and the more water you use, the closer it will be. If you wanted to be more precise, you could buy a stick-on LCD thermometer ($3 at your LHBS) and put it on the outside of the fermenter, below the beer level but above the outside water level (getting the strips wet can ruin them). That will give you the beer temperature to within 1°F or so.

As far as that strain, it will ferment just fine at 60°F and give a clean, neutral flavor at those temps.

 

[IPAAAA]

Thanks guys.