New fridge TOO cold?

[Pugilist]

I was going to brew my boston lager clone today and let it ferment in my sanyo 4912 with the brewers edge II temp controller. However, I set the temp on the controller to 53F yesterday, and the fridge sits at a cool 43F.

Wouldnt this be too cold to start fermentation? I am pitching with Czech Budejovice from white labs that states optimum ferment temp from 50-55F. Any ideas?

 

[david_42]

Way too cold. What is the temperature of the room? One possible problem is that without anything in the fridge, the temperature will undershoot more. I'd put a fermenter full of water in it and adjust the controller until the range is right.

 

[wildwest450]

My controller is way more accurate than that. Did you put the probe in a glass of water? This will provide a stable reading. If your like me you have to open the fridge 40 times a day, and if th probe is just in the open air it can cause temps to be way lower.

 

[Pugilist]

Thanks guys. I have the probe in a small glass of water and it is pretty much empty save for a 12pk of sierra nevada and a small 4pk of samuel smith oatmeal. will try putting a fermenter of warm water in there to hopefully offset.

The fridge is also located in a closet of my living room that is VERY cold compared to the rest of the home. Guess the brew is on hold until I can maintain 50F

 

[Bobby_M]

Did you switch the jumper to "cooling" instead of heating? It sounds like the fridge is running on its own thermostat still and if you have the controller set to heat at 50F, it's going to be providing full time power to the fridge.

 

[Pugilist]

The little LCD indicator on the controller has the snowflake, which according to the directions means it is in cooling mode. I would think it would come out of the factory set to cool?

I have the fridge internal thermostat to its lowest setting and placed glass carboy with 5gals on water into it. Hopefully this will give that cool air somewhere else to go?

 

[wildwest450]

The little LCD indicator on the controller has the snowflake, which according to the directions means it is in cooling mode. I would think it would come out of the factory set to cool?

I have the fridge internal thermostat to its lowest setting and placed glass carboy with 5gals on water into it. Hopefully this will give that cool air somewhere else to go?

Cooling is the default setting on those, you have to tear it apart and move a jumper to get heat. I believe a full carboy of fermenting beer will certainly raise the temp in there by a few degrees.

 

[Bobby_M]

Put a bucket of hot water in there and see what happens.

 

[Pugilist]

Well a few hours after placing the carboy of warm water in there, the temp indicator is now at 55F and the compressor just turned off. I have it set at 53F with the diff at 2, so I imagine it brought it down. I also taped the probe to the side of the carboy with a damp paper towel over it, as I heard this provides a more accurate reading of the liquid in the carboy.

I just better make sure that I get the wort down to 50ish before I pitch the yeast and fridge it correct?