is 66 cool enough, start there, or wait for fermentation to start ?

[justenoughforme]

i have an unfinished part of my basement, it's a steady 66 degrees. i've put my beer down there for now.

the question is, should i let the yeast get going in the ambient ( ~75 deg.) temp kitchen, and when it gets going move it down.

or pitch yeast, and put it down there to forget about ?

 

[christyle]

You could do either with negligible differences really. The temp you chill the beer to before pitching would have a greater affect really. The small temperature differences would take a good amount of time to change the relatively large amount of heat mass (that seems like the wrong term, but i'm going with it) in the beer. I would cool to pitching temp and place in the basement to pitch just to be done with the whole process myself.

66 is a temp most popular beer styles will do well in, you're lucky!

 

[mrgrimm101]

What yeast strain? 75F seems too warm for most American and English yeast strains. 66F sounds like a good temperature to me.

According to Fermentis, the ideal temp rage for US-05 is 59F-71.6F. The ideal temp range for S04 is 59F-68F.

Typically, I step up temp from cooler to warmer after the most active fermentation is complete. My basement stays around 62F-65F so I usually put my carboy down there for about a week, then I move it upstairs where it's closer to 70F and let it sit for another couple weeks to finish.

 

[m00ps]

Keep in mind the initial fermentation stages creates a lot of heat. The fermentor may be closer to 70 on the inside. Im guessing these temp readings are from a thermo strip on the outside? You may want to use a wet t shirt for the first 3-4 days to keep internal temps in teh mid 60s

 

[wilserbrewer]

i have an unfinished part of my basement, it's a steady 66 degrees. i've put my beer down there for now.

the question is, should i let the yeast get going in the ambient ( ~75 deg.) temp kitchen, and when it gets going move it down.

or pitch yeast, and put it down there to forget about ?

I would chill to low mid sixties and ferment in the basement. 75 is too hot IMO as the heat of fermentation will raise the beer another 5-10 degrees. The most critical point is prior to high kreusen, so starting the beer at higher temperatures is not a good idea.

 

[christyle]

Keep in mind the initial fermentation stages creates a lot of heat. The fermentor may be closer to 70 on the inside. Im guessing these temp readings are from a thermo strip on the outside? You may want to use a wet t shirt for the first 3-4 days to keep internal temps in teh mid 60s

His temp readings are of the air I assume, not how his beer reacts in those temperatures.

I'm also assuming he is talking about starting it in a warmer climate to get the yeast moving, and then putting them downstairs where they can be in their happy temp range.

 

[justenoughforme]

temp readings are in the air with a digital thermometer.

the yeast is a repitched Belgian strong yeast. it's a mutated house yeast i'm sure by now.

christyle is right, i thought fermentation might start a little better or quicker if i left it up in the warm for a while, before i took it downstairs where it sits in the cool and dark.

 

[mrgrimm101]

If it's like White Labs WLP545 the optimal temp range is 66F-72F, so 75F would be a bit high to start. Worst case, it'll give some off-flavors. If it were me, I would put it in the basement where it will be at the low end of the temperature range, and then move it upstairs where it's warmer after attenuation has been almost achieved.

 

[Hang Glider]

sitting in 66F air is not going to get the beer to 66F - internal temperature of the carboy is almost always 10F higher (or more) due to the yeast activity - I've measured this myself several times, as have others. After the yeast have done their job, sure, but the first 3-4 days sitting in 66 F will be 76+ inside that fermenter.

 

[justenoughforme]

sitting in 66F air is not going to get the beer to 66F - internal temperature of the carboy is almost always 10F higher (or more) due to the yeast activity - I've measured this myself several times, as have others. After the yeast have done their job, sure, but the first 3-4 days sitting in 66 F will be 76+ inside that fermenter.

so even a concrete basement floor isn't cool enough, some kind of active cooling (i was trying to avoid swamp coolers) is required ?

 

[christyle]

so even a concrete basement floor isn't cool enough, some kind of active cooling (i was trying to avoid swamp coolers) is required ?

Start with a fan blowing on the carboy at first, see if that works.

 

[Hang Glider]

so even a concrete basement floor isn't cool enough, some kind of active cooling (i was trying to avoid swamp coolers) is required ?

You can start simple - a tub from wally world - filled with water, set the carboy in it - water is a great thermal conductor. It will equalize the temps inside the carboy by extracting heat - drop in a frozen water bottle here and there, maintain the tub at 66F...or 64F...or whatever. Wally world even sells indoor/outdoor thermometers pretty cheap - the outdoor bulb and wire are waterproof - drop into the tub and voila !