Secondary Fermentation Temperature

[johnsmh2]

Fellas,

I just finished bottling my first ever batch of beer, a Blonde Ale with US-05 yeast. 7 days primary and 7 in secondary (just followed the directions). I also just got done brewing my second batch, a Honey Weizen from NorthernBrewer using Safale-WB06 yeast (Plan was to keep in primary for 10 days and move to secondary for 2-3 weeks - again just following the included instructions).

I have looked across the internet for this answer with minimal success.......

I have a keggerator, in order for me to keep my primary fermentation temp down I put the fermenting bucket in the kegger, set the kegger on its warmest setting and then crack the door to the kegger about 4 inches....this keeps the Fermomenter that is attached to the bucket reading about a steady 65-66 degrees.

Of course this is not optimal since my kegger is running with the door cracked. I have no problem doing this during the primary fermentation, but do not want to do it during the secondary fermentation and keep my kegger working overtime. Also, I'm sure I could invest in a swamp cooler and other things but I'm really just curious to everyone's thoughts.

When I transferred my first initial batch to the glass carboy for secondary fermentation I left it in the house and the fermomenter read a steady 76 degress.

Will this temperature change from primary to secondary affect the beer a lot or barely not at all? Should it produce much off flavors or not since the fermentation process should be pretty much be complete after the primary?

Thanks

 

[kanzimonson]

That's putting some serious strain on your fridge. As soon as you can, I recommend figuring out another method to maintain fermentation temps.

As for the temp change, most people don't have a problem letting a beer age at room temp following fermentation. In fact, it's really the first 2-4 days of fermentation that are most important for maintaining temp. After that a little rising temp is great to keep the yeast active to consume any off flavored by-products.

And finally, I'd recommend reading some stuff on this forum about not using secondary fermenters, especially stuff written by Revvy. You can save yourself a lot of hassle by not racking to another fermenter, and there are many more benefits.

 

[riromero]

Before I built my fermentation chamber, I'd float my fermenter outside in a trashcan filled with water. The thermal mass of the water never fluctuated more than 2-3 degrees from the average of the high/low temperature for the day. You can keep a floating thermometer in the water to make sure it's about the right temperature. If it's too cold, use a cheap old aquarium heater set at low. If it's too hot, add 2 liter soda bottles that you've filled with water and froze. Labor intensive in the summer, but it works.