Gotta lay off the ice....

[Willy Boner]

Well I got a big tub put some water in it a few days ago with the tee shirt wrapped around it with some frozen water bottles, it was 90 for a couple of days and the temp. stayed 62 to 66. I left town for the day and stuck in some about 5 water bottles. Came home and it was showing 60 degrees. This is working better than expected! I will let it sit and warm up a little before adding more ice. Can't wait to taste this pale ale. Software says I should have around 90 to 100 IBU's

 

[PseudoChef]

That's good news as I just got a tub to try this today. Also remember that actual fermentation inside the vessel can be about 5-10 degrees warmer than what it's showing because of the heat the yeast produce.

 

[Funkenjaeger]

Also remember that actual fermentation inside the vessel can be about 5-10 degrees warmer than what it's showing because of the heat the yeast produce.

In air, maybe 5 degrees (10 seems extreme), I don't think I've ever seen mine go more than 3-4 degrees above ambient. But in a water bath it's quite different, water conducts heat over 20 times better than air and has a much higher heat capacity, so the temperature differential between the cooling bath and the fermenting wort will be a lot smaller. I'd be surprised if you saw a difference more than 1-2 degrees.

 

[DeathBrewer]

60 degrees is not a problem for most ale yeasts. they may work a tad slower and you may not get the flavor profile you're looking for, but you can make a nice clean ale at those lower temperatures

 

[thedaler]

Thats an impressive drop....was the ambient temp 90? Also, I'm curious what the humidity is like where you live.

 

[Willy Boner]

I don't know what the R.H. was but it got up to 84 today and my temp strip said 66 with no ice since last night, added some a couple hours ago and now 64 I was changing out the ice about 3 times a day when it was hotter. I live in Western Oregon 40 miles south of Eugene. GO DUCKS!

 

[goldingot]

The yeast will definitely take longer to ferment. I have an APA sitting in a water bath at 60-65d and it's still bubbling about 3 times a minute after 14 days. I've never had a batch take this long until I used a water bath. It should be a lot cleaner when it's finished too.