First All Grain Batch - Fermenting Temp Concerns..

[BigEasy43]

So I did my very first All Grain batch yesterday, well my first time every making beer. It was exciting, stressful and hopefully rewarding. My question is that I am doing a German Hef and have it down in the storage room and it seems that the fermenting temp is around 62-64 is that right?? What happens if it temp goes up or down a bit is that a concern? Any help would be great.

 

[Moose_MI]

Sounds about right to me. I would not be concerned about a few degrees of temperature swing at all.....cheers

 

[indymedic]

Depending on what yeast you used it could develope off flavors if your fermentation gets to warm. You should look at the yeast package and see what the ideal temp range is and do your best to keep the temp towards the bottom of that range. Try and keep your temp as consistent as possible.

 

[mblanks2]

So I did my very first All Grain batch yesterday, well my first time every making beer. It was exciting, stressful and hopefully rewarding. My question is that I am doing a German Hef and have it down in the storage room and it seems that the fermenting temp is around 62-64 is that right?? What happens if it temp goes up or down a bit is that a concern? Any help would be great.

The yeast strain that you used has an optimum range for fermentation. 62 - 64 is not bad if it's the beer itself. If it's the ambient conditions the beer could potentially be 5 to 8 degrees warmer.
Minor fluctuations in temperature of + or - 1 degree isn't terrible either but you want to control whats happening.
Once you're past 4 to 5 days primary fermentation should be complete and you could allow the temperature to rise into the low 70's without issue.
Hope this helps.

 

[JosephN]

Well my experience is a bit different than above comments. I do agree with mblanks on the ambient temp and the potential of the beer itself being much warmer, at least in the first few days. Without trying to make it sound like I know it all about Hefeweizen I will add that the brewing classic style book by Jamil Z says to ferment the beer at 62F. I would say this would be correct if you want a "way" more mild banana flavor. You'll end up with more Clove flavor. This would end up with a more transitional German beer. If you want a more American version where we try to pull as much flavor out and smack you with it then you'll need to be around 70-74F (actual beer temp not ambient room temp). The higher the temp the more banana flavor. Now this is specifically with white labs or wyeast. If you used dry yeast I'm not sure. Also if you over pitched vs under pitching then it will be more muted. The hefe yeast usually works better at bringing out the banana Easters when it's stressed, but be careful not to stress it too much, 75F+ because you'll start to get a heated alcohol flavor, kind of like vodka was poured in the beer. So it really depends on what you want. 62-64F will allow you to get a traditional German hefe while bringing the temp up will give you more flavor and aroma.

 

[Moose_MI]

I still say for your first batch you are rocking it! You have your whole life to obsess over under pitching in order to encourage esters...but forget about it for now.

I find hefe's a little challenging so don't be discouraged if it's not exactly what you were expecting. Because their flavor varies so much based on yeast and how you handle them I think it's a beer that you tend to dial in to your liking after a few different attempts. They are also pretty light so not much hop or malt character to cover up any off flavors you've not yet eliminated from your process

Maybe give a pale ale or Amber a try next but it's totally up to you....brew on :rockin: