Is this too cold?

[horsejody]

My husband and I just did our first home brew batch. The fermenter is in the basement. The temperature in the basement is about 57 degrees. Is this too cold? It's not sitting on the cold concrete. It's up on a table. What is the ideal temperature?

 

[humann_brewing]

My husband and I just did our first home brew batch. The fermenter is in the basement. The temperature in the basement is about 57 degrees. Is this too cold? It's not sitting on the cold concrete. It's up on a table. What is the ideal temperature?

What kind of beer did you make and what yeast are you using?

How long has the yeast been in and is there any airlock activity?

 

[Beerthoven]

It depends on the yeast. For most ale yeast 57 degrees is probably too cold, but not for lager yeast. I brew ales, and I ferment at 63 - 65 degrees.

 

[horsejody]

What kind of beer did you make and what yeast are you using?

How long has the yeast been in and is there any airlock activity?

It was a kit that is supposed to be like Fat Tire beer. The yeast was a smack pack one. It went into the fermenter yesterday. My husband looked at it this morning, but he didn't mention seeing any airlock activity yet. Would it be better if we brought it upstairs? The temperature upstairs is about 70 degrees, but there may be some spikes depending on the time of day.

 

[carnevoodoo]

It was a kit that is supposed to be like Fat Tire beer. The yeast was a smack pack one. It went into the fermenter yesterday. My husband looked at it this morning, but he didn't mention seeing any airlock activity yet. Would it be better if we brought it upstairs? The temperature upstairs is about 70 degrees, but there may be some spikes depending on the time of day.

57 might be a bit too cool, but if your ambient temps are at 70+ upstairs, that's too warm. Is there no place between the two? It really would only need to be about 62.

Also, airlock activity (or lack there of) is not a sign of fermentation. I would try to get it a little warmer, though. And avoid rapid temperature swings.

 

[viking999]

Hate to break it to you, but it sound like you need a temperature between the basement and upstairs temperature. You could keep it in the basement and wrap it up in blankets, or you could do what I do and bring it upstairs and keep it in a water bath (I use big plastic rope handled tubs).

 

[Beerthoven]

It was a kit that is supposed to be like Fat Tire beer. The yeast was a smack pack one. It went into the fermenter yesterday. My husband looked at it this morning, but he didn't mention seeing any airlock activity yet. Would it be better if we brought it upstairs? The temperature upstairs is about 70 degrees, but there may be some spikes depending on the time of day.

57 might be a bit too cool, but if your ambient temps are at 70+ upstairs, that's too warm. Is there no place between the two? It really would only need to be about 62.

Also, airlock activity (or lack there of) is not a sign of fermentation. I would try to get it a little warmer, though. And avoid rapid temperature swings.

Carnevoodoo is right, it doesn't need to be much warmer, but it would be good to get it warmed up some. Is there a warm spot in the basement, like near a furnace or water heater? Also, might want to wrap the fermenter in a towel or blanket to conserve the heat produced by fermentation. It sounds like you just poured in the smack pack (i.e., no starter), so it might take 1-3 days for fermentation to start in any event.

 

[david_42]

Bring it upstairs and cover it. Once the fermentation gets going, back to the basement.

 

[humann_brewing]

So 57 and 70, how about the stairs between the 2

 

[misteradam]

in the closet my carboy was around the same temp, 55-58, so i wrapped it in a blanket and put it in a corner where the ambient temp is 75-80.

now it's staying at a nice 66 degrees. i'm guessing the table i have it on is affecting the the temperature.

 

[horsejody]

Well, we found a better place for it. We have a boot room that is a bit cooler than the rest of the house, but warmer than the basement. It's about 65 degrees in there. We just need to remember not to trip on the bucket when we come in the front door. It does seem to be bubbling away now.

 

[BlindLemonLars]

That's a great temperature for ales, so long as it's nice and stable. I set my fermenting freezer at 63° for most ales.

 

[Beerthoven]

Well, we found a better place for it. We have a boot room that is a bit cooler than the rest of the house, but warmer than the basement. It's about 65 degrees in there. We just need to remember not to trip on the bucket when we come in the front door. It does seem to be bubbling away now.

I'm glad it is working out for you. 65F is good.