Too Cold to ferment

[comicsandbeer83]

So with all of this cold here, our heating is lagging quite a bit and its down to the low 60s in our house, so I am pretty sure my ale has stopped fermentation. The side of the bucket is pretty cool. I havent taken a reading, but i doubt theres any point. Anyways, they are coming to fix it tomorrow and I was wondering if anyone had any tips to get the temp raised quickly on my beer once the heat is fixed.

 

[thadass]

If you have a larger bucket or rubbermaid type contain that the fermenter can fit into, you could try warming it up with a water bath with warm water from the tap

 

[comicsandbeer83]

I was also considering placing the bucket onto a heating vent for a little while once the heat is fixed right. Would that be okay?

 

[thadass]

I was also considering placing the bucket onto a heating vent for a little while once the heat is fixed right. Would that be okay?

I would advise against direct-firing your yeast cake, even if it is only from a heating vent! I'd stick with placing it near the vent maybe if you want to get it warmed up more quickly.

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

Low 60s should be fine for an ale. Ideal even. Nottingham will rock down to the upper 50s with no problem.

The ferment might slow down a bit, but I'll bet the ferment is still on and will produce a really nice, clean beer. Just let it ride longer and be patient. This is ideal ale ferment temperature.

Check your gravity. I'll bet it is still moving.

 

[comicsandbeer83]

Yeah our thermostat is upper 50s now. Luckily they are coming to fix in the next few hours. I placed the bucket in view of a nice sunny window for the time being.

 

[CharlosCarlies]

What yeast? As mentioned, Nottingham and even Cali ale can chug through even in the mid-high 50's. Since the beer is likely several degrees higher than ambient, there's a good chance you're completely fine.

 

[comicsandbeer83]

White Labs English Ale liquid yeast

 

[CharlosCarlies]

There's still a good chance you're fine so don't panic, but unfortunately that's not one of the best strains for this situation. I've never personally tested how low it can ferment, BUT it tends to flocculate EXTREMELY well in my experience...so any significant drop in temp can put the yeast to sleep. This is great for producing very clear beers very quickly, but annoying when trying to get it to finish.

The good news is all is certainly not lost. How many days into fermentation are you? I'd probably take a gravity reading, and if it is stuck, wait for the temperature to come back into range and rouse the yeast a bit.

 

[comicsandbeer83]

I pitched it Friday night, so it's been going for 3 days or so before house got so cold.

 

[theck]

If they go dormant and later the temp goes back up they should spring back to their jobs right?

Sent from my SGH-T769 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[comicsandbeer83]

Checked my gravity today. It's at 1.010. Started around 1.042 so it's close to end of fermentation. Had a sample as well from my hydrometer jar. Tastes great.

 

[wingedcoyote]

I've had good luck with bottle conditioning on cold days by placing bottles in a closet with the door closed and a couple of lamps turned on inside. With incandescent bulbs, natch. Had the bottles at ~75 from an ambient 60, and could have been higher with the lamps closer and turned up to full brightness. I imagine the same thing would work just fine with a fermenter, just make sure you lay down some garbage bags or whatever to contain possible spills.

 

[thadius856]

Pfft.

I set my ferm chamber to swing between 59-62F in the summer when it's 100F out. Many of my recipes hit FG in 7 days. None ever take longer than 12 days.

Another guy at work brews, but he's very minimalist. No temperature control. Often ferments in the mid-to-upper-70's in the summer. He offered me a few of his beers, but I already know I'm going to hate them, so I keep delaying the inevitable.

In the winters, my ferm chamber sits in a room that drops into the mid 50's nightly. Proper collar insulation and a personal heater running in 'Fan Only' mode maintains temps no problem, even makes the compressor kick on occasionally.

If that room hits the 40's (hasn't yet this year), I switch the fan to 'Low Heat' mode, set to low, and hook it up to the controller to kick it on/off. Same range, 59-62F. Heater kicks on for maybe 1 minute per hour.

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

Checked my gravity today. It's at 1.010. Started around 1.042 so it's close to end of fermentation. Had a sample as well from my hydrometer jar. Tastes great.

That's going to be some nice clean beer. Low 60s is the place to be when brewing most ales.

Brewing too cold isn't the end of the world - if the yeast does get too cold and goes dormant you can always warm it back up and rouse the yeast, no harm no foul. However, you *can't* re-do a bad ferment that was done too hot.