Fermwrap advice

[runkelia]

Hello
I brewed an IPA Saturday, pitched my Wyeast Am. Ale starter, all is good.
Sunday morning active fermentation, the temp. strip on my carboy read 68.
When I got home from work Monday, it had dropped to 64.
My concern was that the basement being in the 50's, I went to the Homebrew store and bought a Fermwrap, plugged it in 6:30pm.
This morning 6:30am I checked and it read 78, so I unplugged it.
It is now 12:30pm and SWMBO tells me the strip reads 70. I am going to let it drop to mid 60's then plug it back in.
My plan was to use the fermwrap 12 hours on, 12 off, but I wonder if these temp. fluctuations are too much, going from 64 to 78 and back again.
Any Advice?

 

[jasonmo]

I don't think you want those types of temp fluctuations. Ideally you'll keep the temperature steady - I usually try to keep my IPA's in the mid-60's, since I don't like the off flavors I get in higher temps. I also use fermwraps and have a fairly cold room (though not quite in the 50's). I will sometimes back off the fermwrap from the carboy a few inches so that it doesn't get too hot - I use tape and whatever is laying around to support the wrap so that it's upright but not directly on the carboy. I also sometimes plug the fermwrap into a Johnson temperature control unit and set it for 65 or so. This works really well - I keep the temp variance on the Johnson unit at 2 or 3 degrees, so it turns the fermwrap on/off when needed.

As all the experts say, temperature control is at or near the top of the list for improving your beer. Do whatever you can to keep the temps closer to mid 60's.

Good luck!