Wyeast 1056 has a huge temperature range; where should you ferment ideally?

[mtnagel]

I will be making a couple batches with some rinsed Wyeast 1056 and the temperature range is 60-72F. I don't have temperature control, but what I do have is a basement at 57F and a dining room at 69F. Now I know that it will be warmer inside the fermenter while it's fermenting, so I'm assuming I could keep it in the basement (elevated off the floor to avoid sucking the heat out through the freezing cold floor) and have it ferment about 60F. Or I could keep it in the dining room, where the temp swings from 65F-69F.

Given those options, where would you put it? And would you keep it there the entire time or move it to one temp or the other after the active part of the fermentation.

Thanks!

 

[aiptasia]

Towards the lower end of the range to avoid off flavors from heat stressed yeast. After the primary fermentation has finished and your gravity readings are the same for three days in a row, move the beer to a warmer area for the diacetyl rest for a week. The biggest risk from off flavors from heat stressed yeast occurs during the primary fermentation. By allowing the beer to warm up during the diacetyl rest, it helps "wake up" or rouse any dormant yeast into a more active state where they can convert fusel alcohols into drinkable, delicious ones.

 

[Yooper]

It seems to me that 1056 has a "sweet spot" at 65-66 degrees. It gets a little estery above that, and sometimes stalls out lower than that. But if you can maintain 65 or so, that would be great.

One thing I do in the winter, or rather used to do when I stayed up north all winter, is to use a small aquarium heater (very small- I think 5 watts?) in a water bath in a cooler and stick the fermenter in that. It easily maintained 65 degrees in my basement. Then, in the summer, I'd use the same set up but with frozen water bottles in the water bath instead of the aquarium heater. I just float a floating thermometer in the water bath to check the temperature. That may be something you will want to try as the temperatures get warmer (or, colder in the basement ).

 

[mtnagel]

Thanks guys. I do like the water bath aquarium heater (although I'm doing 15 gallons, so not sure I have a big enough container), but if the water bath is at the "ideal" temp aren't we assuming it's a bit warmer inside the bucket?

 

[progmac]

if yooper's idea isn't practical for you, maybe start it in the basement and move it up to the dining room when airlock bubbling starts to slow.

i remember making a saison last summer that i started in the basement, moved to the the first floor after like 4 days, and then moved up to my warmest closet on the top floor after that.

 

[mtnagel]

I do like the water bath idea as it allows me to ferment in the basement during the winter where a catastrophic blow off wouldn't be that big of a deal compared to my dining room

 

[Jayhem]

65F.

Keep in mind that if the air temp is 65F the beer will spike to 70+ during active fermentation. 65F needs to be the maximum beer temp during active fermentation for a nice clean tasting beer.

 

[mtnagel]

So you think 57F ambient temp would get me close to 65F in the bucket?

 

[Jayhem]

So you think 57F ambient temp would get me close to 65F in the bucket?

In my experience if I keep the air temp at 60F for the first 2-4 days the beer temp stays between 64F and 66F. Be sure you pitch your yeast at 65F as well.

Once the krausen dies down and the active fermentation slows you can safely bring the beer temp up to 68 or 70 without hurting the final product at all.

 

[EyePeeA]

As a new brewer, I have had success with this yeast in starter form many times at 58-63 F air temperature. But after controlling my fermentation temperatures better, I too think that the sweet spot is more like 64-65 F actual wort temperature. After 7 days, raise to 68 F and keep there for a week for yeast clean up and conditioning. Afterward, add your dryhops (if you're brewing an IPA) and wait an additional week before bottling.

Trying to measure where the wort temperature is by using air temperature as your control is very hit or miss. But it usually ranges in the 4-8 degree range above air temperature for the first 7 days of active fermentation.

 

[Yooper]

Thanks guys. I do like the water bath aquarium heater (although I'm doing 15 gallons, so not sure I have a big enough container), but if the water bath is at the "ideal" temp aren't we assuming it's a bit warmer inside the bucket?

That's the great thing about the water bath- if you have enough water in it to come up to the level of the beer, the water and the beer are the same temperature (or at least so close as to be insignificant). That's why I like it so much.

I did a couple of tests when I first starting doing this. I checked the temperature of the water bath, and the temperature of the fermenting beer inside. It was less than 1 degree difference. I think it's because the beer is fermenting and so it's churning to mix, and the water bath means that the whole amount of liquid would have to change temperatures as well. It takes a long time for 10+ gallons of liquid to change temperature so it also worked well to avoid temperature fluctuations (like from night to day).

 

[mtnagel]

Thanks. You convinced me to buy a few aquarium heaters!

 

[geezerpk]

if yooper's idea isn't practical for you, maybe start it in the basement and move it up to the dining room when airlock bubbling starts to slow.

i remember making a saison last summer that i started in the basement, moved to the the first floor after like 4 days, and then moved up to my warmest closet on the top floor after that.

I'd need to install an elevator to keep up with that type of procedure.

 

[CityOChampBrew]

I would advise to always shoot for as low as you can get in the range the yeast has, unless you are brewing a Belgian beer

 

[Xpertskir]

Apparently I'm out of the norm, which surprises me.

I start it low...56-58(wort temp) and let the natural heat created from ferm bring it up to the low 60's where is stays for most of fermentation. As fermentation starts to slow I ramp it up to 65ish to keep it from stalling. Then I move it upstairs for a few days at 65-70 just to make sure any diacetyl produced is consumed. Then back to the basement for bulk aging/conditioning at 60-65.

I have a temp controlled ferm chamber, so some of this may be less feasible for you. Starting low could be a good solution and keep your intervention to a minimum. Be aware the low temps will however increase lag time and the overall active fermentation period.

 

[mtnagel]

After a bit of trial and error, here's the setup that seems to be working.

Yes, those are my "stir plates" on the side of my bins to get the water moving. Originally I had 3 bins with the aquarium heaters, but the problem is without the water movement, the water bath temp wasn't changing. The heater was heating the water right around it, but not the whole bath. So I tried my stir plate and amazingly it held on the side and got just enough movement to move the water around. But I only had 2 stir plates, so I had to move 2 of the buckets to a larger bin, but after only a couple hours, the temps of the water bath had stabilized to 65F. Yay!