temperature importance after the first week

[taylor310]

I got a cheap chest freezer off of craigslist for fermentation. It was a 12 cubic foot, but is really old, and I'm thinking I may only get 2 or 3 fermenter buckets in there.

I know how important temperatures are during fermentation, bit are they key for the whole time? Would it be possible to have the primary in there for the first week or two of fermentation, and them bring it into the house where I keep it high 60s to low 70s? I'm bummed because I was hoping to have 4 or so fermenters going at a time in there.

 

[ChelisHubby]

Your trying to brew a lot of beer which is good! Most of the Lower gravity ales are going to be ok with you moving them to 70 degrees after the first week.

 

[RM-MN]

Controlling the temperature to keep the beer cool while the fast part of the ferment is happening is critical for making a clean ferment but once the ferment slows down you can let the beer sit at room temperature for the remaining time. I leave mine cool for a week most times but I probably could get by with 4 days as by then the beer is mostly fermented out and all that is left is the cleanup of intermediate products which don't require the cool temperatures to avoid the off flavors. Instead, letting the beer warm encourages the yeast to complete breaking down these intermediate products.

 

[BrewinBromanite]

I usually leave mine in the cool ferment chamber for 2-3 weeks, then bring up close to 70 for a final week (mostly because I don't brew enough to need to clear space for more). After the vigorous part is complete, you won't be risking any major off-flavors. Those first few days to a week, from my experience, are where flavors can get nasty from getting unexpectedly too hot.


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[philosofool]

The main rules for fermentation temperature are:
(1) Don't let it get too warm early in fermentation.
(2) Avoid lowering temperature once fermentation begins.

Breaking rule one results in estery beer, hot alcohols and other unwanted fermentation by-products. Breaking rule two may result in diacetyl, underattenduation and slightly less clean beer (but cleaner fermentation really starts with rule one, not rule two). I would not be worried if the beer is staying at 65+ about small swings in your house once fermentation is done.

 

[BigFloyd]

Controlling the temperature to keep the beer cool while the fast part of the ferment is happening is critical for making a clean ferment but once the ferment slows down you can let the beer sit at room temperature for the remaining time. I leave mine cool for a week most times but I probably could get by with 4 days as by then the beer is mostly fermented out and all that is left is the cleanup of intermediate products which don't require the cool temperatures to avoid the off flavors. Instead, letting the beer warm encourages the yeast to complete breaking down these intermediate products.

This ^^^^^.