Temp. during active fermentation

[MikeBTexas]

On average how much warmer will the wort be during active fermentation than the ambient room temp.

 

[shtoive87]

I've heard 5-10 degrees

 

[khawk95]

It depends. If you are brewing 5 gal then 5-7 degrees has been my experience. The yeast you use could factor in as well. Some of the Belgian yeasts I've used have pushed well above 10 degrees. Good thing it was a saison and true to the style.

All the more reason to have some type of temp control. Yeast is happiest when kept at a consistent temp.

 

[boydster]

That depends a lot on the specific conditions of each batch - yeast strain, ambient temp, number of cells pitched, etc. A safe bet is anywhere from 5-10 degrees F warmer than ambient during high krausen. It's easy to use something like a swamp cooler (a rope-handle tub filled - put your fermentor inside, fill with water, rotate in frozen 2L bottles of water to maintain temp or, if you need warmer, use an aquarium heater) to help control temps if you can't use a fermentation chamber. The warmer your ambient temp is, the faster the yeast will work, generating more heat, so you could conceivably even get more than 10* above ambient temperature given the right yeast strain and/or ambient temperature.

 

[MikeBTexas]

That makes sense. I need to install a thermometer in my fermentor.