Low temp ale

[Trail]

Hey, all - this isn't so much a question as it is an outline of my situation and you could weigh in and that'd be cool. I'm brewing a bIPA in my closet - ah, I mean, fermentation room. :rockin: Thermometer tacked to the [outside-facing] wall reads 58, which is the reading I get from the carboy's thermo strip.

Yeah! Ale yeast (Wyeast 1098 British Ale) at 58 degrees. The carboy itself is in a large canning bucket (5 gal) surrounded by water for cooling reasons. I've pumped half of it out because I want to raise the temps a bit.

I didn't intend for the temp to be that low, but I was nervous as my last two brews were too hot (78+ for the first, 74 for the second) and I wanted to stop that reoccurring.

The interesting thing is that it seems to be brewing away like crazy. Airlock is chugging along at one bubble per second. I've apparently got fermentation going at a full six degrees under the manufacturer's recommended temp.

Is that weird? It seems weird.

 

[CraigT]

I've been doing all my ales the last few cold months at around 58. I have been extremely happy with the way they've turned out.

 

[fletchsj]

Don't worry about it. let it do it's thing, then take a gravity reading in a couple weeks. if it's a bit high, let the temp get hot again in there and see if it drops the grav a bit. Relax, have a home brew

 

[Trail]

I can't have a homebrew, man! I only have 7 of my red ale and 17 of my milk porter left, and if I don't save at least a sixer of the porter for my wife she'll murder me!

She's putting together an extra kid for me right now, so she can't drink. Had a sip of the porter and declared that there would be a six of it waiting for her in July when #2 shows up or there'd be hell to pay.

 

[fletchsj]

sounds to me you have the dreaded but common ailment I call ihaven'tbrewedenoughitis. Also, according to my math you have 18 beers that are not reserved for the soon to be mommy. I suggest you pick up enough supplies for 4-5 batches and start brewing! oh and start polishing off those 18 soldiers oh, and if the porter is that good, I suggest recreating it as you will want more than 11!

 

[Trail]

Yeah, I'm working on inoculating myself with more in the pipeline. Unfortunately the red ales are drinkable but not great, and the problem with just drinking and replacing the porter is, uh.

*looks around*

Okay, this stays between you and me. The problem here is SWMBO-logic multiplied by pregnant. I can brew as much more of that as I want, but if she doesn't get some from the original batch it's because I don't care about her, i'd rather enjoy my beer myself or give it to friends than save it for her, i like my friends more than I like her, et cetera.

I never said it made sense!

But I'm really looking forward to making more of the stuff anyway. I'm gonna do late addition with the LMS and alter my hop timing a little bit, maybe add a touch of chocolate malt, maybe dial down the lactose from 1/2 pound to 1/3 pound. I think it'd really take the brew to the next level.