Windsor Ale Yeast question

[eadavis80]

Made NB's chocolate stout. Used washed/harvested yeast from their Caribou Slobber kit (Windsor Ale Yeast - dry) and made a starter from it. However, my house is pretty cool now and the fermenter is only about 63. That yeast is supposed to be about 66-74. I have two blankets around the primary bucket and I have given the bucket a few gentle shakes to stir up the yeast. Any other free/easy fixes to get that yeast up a few degrees? If it remains right below its target temp, will it more likely just take a while longer to get to its target FG?

 

[alane1]

once fermentation kicks off it's likely to raise temps into that range

 

[eadavis80]

I brewed it on Sunday and pitched at 70. The airlock bubbled for a couple days as it was in the mid/upper 60's. Since then, it's dropped to its current temp of 64. Wish I had a way to raise it up a few degrees, but besides putting blankets on my bucket, I don't really have any ideas.

 

[Calder]

The problem you may get, is when fermentation slows, it stops creating it's own heat, and if too low, the yeast could drop before fermentation is complete.

 

[eadavis80]

I added a third blanket around/on top of my primary and that bumped it up a couple of degrees. It's now at 66. I wish it was around 68-69, but I think given my lack of a fermentation heater, this is about all I can hope for. We keep our house pretty cool while we're away at work to keep the heat bill down. Might invest in a fermentation heater this holiday season...