Fermentation temp question

Hi new to the brewing scene. Wife and I brewed our first batch this morning of Caribou Slobber. Think everything went well fro what I could tell. Pitched yeast at about 68 degrees and right now have it at 64 degrees using a Cool Brewing cooler. plan on racking to a secondary when fermentation is done in the first fermenter. My question is how long do I have to worry about fermentation temps and keeping it in the 64 to 70 degree range. Is this just until fermentation is complete in the first carboy or do I still have to watch it in the secondary. Thanks in advance for your help.

Also forgot to get a OG reading before I added the yeast so I guess I will have to forget about that. First but not final mistake

Patrick

The first 3 days or so are when you need to worry most about temperature.
A rack to secondary is not necessary with this beer, leave it in primary for three weeks and then bottle.

Says…??? :wink:

For the record I’m a proponent of “secondary.”

There is a lot of argument on the use of a secondary, and it largely comes down to personal preference even though all kit instructions tell you to secondary.

I’ve taken to leaving my brews in the primary for 2-3 weeks, then racking to a secondary for 3-6 weeks. It largely depends on they type of beer and when I’m brewing next as to how long a beer stays in the fermenters since I tend to re-use yeast cakes whenever possible. I have bottled right out of the primary, but in my opinion, it makes for a lot of sediment and often a cloudy beer compared to those that I have used a secondary on. I feel comfortable with racking the beer to another fermenter, and I’m happy with the results, so I do it. Do I have to? No, not really.

As far as time goes, I know with brewing Belgians and such that it’s recommended to increase the temperature towards the end of active fermentation. Usually I do that when airlock activity slows (provided my airlock has been working). After the active fermentation has ended, there’s no real need to worry a lot about temperature control (of course, you don’t want it sitting in a 90* room either). The reason is, with most of the work done by the yeast, they are not producing a lot of heat.

Thanks to all for the responses. That clears as lot up for me. I do think I will transfer to secondary although I understand it’s a personal preference. But that being said I want to try the transfer to secondary if nothing else to get the experience. Like I said I’m new to this and this is the very first home brew I have ever done and I really appreciate the advice.