Noob Concern - should I cool down my primary fermentation?

[joek440]

Hi

Just brewed my first batch and everything went about as well as I could hope for my first time. Of course, I still am having the normal anxiety that spawned the wonderful "Did I ruin it?" thread.

Here is my question --

My apartment is always about 73-75 degrees and the primary fermentation is at that same temp. I know this is on the high end, but didn't really know if I could do anything about it.

I read something about people using ice packs or wet towels around the primary to bring their temps down a few degrees.

I am on day 3 and my bubbles have stopped after going vigorously for the first day (I know now not to be too concerned) but is it worth cooling everything down? I could put some cool water and ice packs around the bucket to bring everything down a few degrees if it was necessary.


Thanks for the help

 

[Grinder12000]

Bathtub.. Wrap wet towel around carboy and put a fan on it. Should cool it down 4 or 5 degrees.

 

[Shaneoco1981]

Keep in mind that fermentation produces heat as well. So while the air inside is 73-75, it is usually 8 degrees warmer inside the beer itself. So that puts your beer at 81-83. That is way to warm. It will produce off flavors. I recommend looking up a swamp cooler. It is definitely the easiest, cheapest way to get temp down.

 

[jderm]

in my experience, 75 doesn't kill a beer, but you can taste the flavors imparted by the yeast at those temperatures. in the past a swamp cooler has worked wonders for me, as grinder 12000 suggested.

 

[kh54s10]

When fermentation takes place it will raise the temperature 5-10 above ambient. The period when the active fermentation takes place is when it is most important to control temperatures. So the damage has already been done. I would still cool it if possible.

There may be off flavors but it could be that it is just different than intended.

I would leave this one in primary for 3-4 weeks then bottle. Then be prepared to wait for a while for the flavors to mellow.

Get another one going, control the fermentation temperatures and enjoy this hobby.

 

[idahobrew]

When fermentation takes place it will raise the temperature 5-10 above ambient. The period when the active fermentation takes place is when it is most important to control temperatures. So the damage has already been done. I would still cool it if possible.

There may be off flavors but it could be that it is just different than intended.

I would leave this one in primary for 3-4 weeks then bottle. Then be prepared to wait for a while for the flavors to mellow.

Get another one going, control the fermentation temperatures and enjoy this hobby.

Excellent advice, I'm going to brew my 4th batch this weekend and I've made mistakes on the first 3 mostly fermentation temps.

 

[kh54s10]

Excellent advice, I'm going to brew my 4th batch this weekend and I've made mistakes on the first 3 mostly fermentation temps.

Control those temps and you will really enjoy the results! :rockin:

 

[joek440]

Control those temps and you will really enjoy the results! :rockin:

Thanks for the advice, all. I just wrapped it in a cold, wet towel with a fan on there. It was all I could do right away.

Would it be better to set my fermentation bucket into an empty Rubbermaid bin with a few reusable ice packs? I can't use a bathtub long term since it is the only one we have! I guess the towel method will work but I need to just leave it in the other room and re moisten the towel.

 

[RM-MN]

You've probably already missed the critical time period on this beer as the initial fermentation is where the off flavors are developed. For your next brew though, the Rubbermaid bin and ice packs will help a lot.

 

[Farmer_John]

After not doing anything with my first batch to control temp and the anticipation of what may have screwed up in it, I put together a swamp cooler for my second batch.

This is in the darkest, coolest room of the house, stays around 68d. With two frozen 2L soda bottles, my rubbermaid tub stays between 58-62d. Given the 5-10d rule of thumb, that puts my brew at 65ish to 70ishd for the heaviest period of fermentation.

I'm much more confident in this batch than the first.

 

[Grinder12000]

You have it under control but one of the biggest things you will find that helps beer flavor is temp control. While you can make good beer without it your beer will improve dramatically when you start to really control the temps. Personally I feel this, bang for buck, is one of the biggest little tweaks a brewer can make.

 

[SamHain]

Get a thermometer on your fermenting vessel. It takes out the guesswork.

 

[Jayhem]

It amazes me that people set their home thermostats in the mid-70's! Heat is expensive! it's still cooling off into the 40's at night in the Mid-Atlantic...68F is a perfect home temp and uses about 50% less energy than keeping your home at 75F.

 

[joek440]

It amazes me that people set their home thermostats in the mid-70's! Heat is expensive! it's still cooling off into the 40's at night in the Mid-Atlantic...68F is a perfect home temp and uses about 50% less energy than keeping your home at 75F.

I live on the 8th floor of a Washington, DC building with bay windows that get a lot of hot sunlight. I have my A/C running already to get it down to 75!

The towel seems to have done well overnight - my thermometer on the fermentor reads 69-70. Still high and will probably be setting up the ice packs to get it down even more - but much better than where it was.

 

[unionrdr]

By my measurements,my initial ferment temps never go more than 2-3 degrees over base temp. What I call base temp is the internal temp of the beer in primary due to ambient temps before active,initial fermentation begins. Never more than 2-3 degrees,& I get very vigorous fermentations with blow off from the start. For the average ale yeast,69F isn't too bad. Just keep in mind that cooler temps also lengthen primary time by slowing down fermentation to help stoff off flavors,or yeast flavoe contributions.