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pitched yeast in my first batch yesterday, question about temps..

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donjonson

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So it is about 27 hours since I first pitched my yeast. I am using safale us-05 and my primary is a 6.5 gallon glass carboy. I have it sitting is a 60 - 62 degree water bath. The fermentation seems to be very slow. I did not see any indication until this afternoon after the tmep rose to 62. I am seeing gas coming out of the airlock and there is a VERY thin (~1mm) layer of light colored foam on the surface of the beer. Should I up the temp of the water bath to speed up the fermentation or is keeping it at 60-62 range ok?

would the temperature variation hurt the beer more than letting it ferment at a low constant temperature?

also I did a partial boil and did not stir the wort into the top off water very well. Will this be a problem? will it be harmful to the fermentation process if I pick up the carboy and shake it around gently to mix it up? It is mixed but not all that well.
 
I did an APA on Sunday that is sitting in my basement at 62f and it is just starting
to show signs of bubbling. Low temps make for a slow start, but US-05 haven't let
me down yet.
 
Just leave it be and don't fuss with it. If after 72 hours it's still not going, then there can be some cause for concern.

As far as the mixing goes, the first time you see beer fermenting through the side of a glass carboy, you'll understand why the mixture will be automatically homogeneously mixed for you.
 
Leave it alone. The yeast will work more slowly at lower temperatures but you'll get a cleaner ester profile. If fermentation gets stuck or you have diacetyl on your hands, then think about upping the temperatures. I have a porter fermenting at 62F right now with US-05 and I had 24 hours + of lagtime.
 
Ditto to everything said. Cool is good, and 62 is Ok for that yeast.

Did you aerate the wort? You said you did not stir the wort into top-off water very well. The yeast need oxygen to multiply. If you don't have much oxygen, then you will have less yeast to do the work for you ........ making for a slower ferment.
 
well filled the carboy with 2 gallons of water and shook it pretty vigorously for a while. then when I added the wort and the last gallon I made sure it was pretty "splashey" as it went in. is that a good enough aeration?
 
back to the temperatures question...

I plan to have the beer in the primary for about 2.5 weeks. after fermentation has finished do I still need to maintain the temperature or is it ok to let it sit on the trub up close to 75F+ ?
 
I would try to maintain the temperatures in the high 60's for most ale yeast, but I think the general consensus is that once primary fermentation is done, the ester and phenol character of the beer is "locked in" so to speak, so upping the temperature is not really harmful (and might be beneficial to wake up some of the yeast for "clean-up duties"). So unless you let the temperature get out of control, you should be fine.

As a general rule, I get the beer out of the swamp cooler at the 7-10 days mark (where it is usually at a constant 62-64F) to change the water, take a reading, and if it is done, it goes in my brew closet where the temperatures are around 68F for the conditionning phase. The fact that I also probably need the space in the swamp cooler for another batch and that I brew modest to low gravity beers also plays in a role in that decision.
 
well filled the carboy with 2 gallons of water and shook it pretty vigorously for a while. then when I added the wort and the last gallon I made sure it was pretty "splashey" as it went in. is that a good enough aeration?

Why did you add water ? Aerating the wort once fermentation has started is detrimental and can cause oxidation (high gravity beers are different): yeast need oxygen in the initial reproductive phase. Oxygen introduced afterwards will not be used and can cause oxidation in the final product. I really do not grasp why you added more water after getting the advice to leave the damn thing alone.
 
Why did you add water ? Aerating the wort once fermentation has started is detrimental and can cause oxidation (high gravity beers are different): yeast need oxygen in the initial reproductive phase. Oxygen introduced afterwards will not be used and can cause oxidation in the final product. I really do not grasp why you added more water after getting the advice to leave the damn thing alone.

So, It sounds like he's talking about what he did before he pitched the yeast.
 
Probably not aerating enough, but you're doing a lot better than most newer brewers.

As others have said, cooler temperatures will result in slower fermentations. It sounds like fermentation has started. You will likely see the layer of krausen thicken, but you may not. It doesn't really matter how thick it gets. You will be fine to let the beer warm up after a couple of weeks, although after that time fermentation should be done and you should be ok to bottle if you would like.
 
Probably not aerating enough, but you're doing a lot better than most newer brewers.

As others have said, cooler temperatures will result in slower fermentations. It sounds like fermentation has started. You will likely see the layer of krausen thicken, but you may not. It doesn't really matter how thick it gets. You will be fine to let the beer warm up after a couple of weeks, although after that time fermentation should be done and you should be ok to bottle if you would like.

Yes fermentation is definitely underway. The Krausen has been about 1/2 inch thick and constant but the airlock is chugging away for 23 days now. Now all I have to do is worry about keeping the temperature somewhat constant with this temperamental Florida weather.
 
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