I’m brewing up a batch of the NB English Bitter (my second batch of beer) with the Wyeast 1945 Neobritannia and my current ferm temps (using the Fermometer as a reference) are between 70-74℉ with an ambient temp of around 68-70℉ . Should I be concerned with the upper tier of this temp range currently, with this yeast listed as 66-74℉ ? Are the Fermometers usually a decent indicator of temp in the carboy?
Thanks!
Yes I would be concerned that you’ll get a too-fruity product from those temps and a British ale yeast. If my ambient were 68-70F, I’d use a swamp cooler to attenuate the fermentation increase, and I might even throw in a frozen water bottle once a day for the first several days. After the peak of fermentation (likely day four to six) I’d pull it out of the swamp cooler and let it rise to ambient to help it finish as dry as the yeast will allow.
Thanks for the advice! I appreciate it. I took a temperature reading with a sanitized thermometer earlier into the wort that was about 24 hours in and it was hovering around 70/72, so hopefully I will be ok for this batch and keep the swamp cooler idea for the next brew!
I would really consider cooling this batch down as suggested. It might turn out estery and exhibit other flavor problems if it is going at 70F.
You’re borderline so I think you’ll be OK, I just don’t like to tapdance on that upper line with British ale yeasts. They’re honestly a little tricky inasmuch as they need a cool ferm at first but warming as things progress to keep them from dropping too soon. I’ve been wanting to try NB’s NeoBrit but there are so many interesting British yeasts to try. I spent a year with West Yorkshire when it was a seasonal, and this year its Fullers. That stuff drops like a rock.
I’ll have to keep an eye on it. I moved the carboy to the basement floor to get a bit more cooling. Got it down to 70-68.
Bring back an old one…
What about the cool side on this yeast?
I think right now my basement is in the low 60s. I have a recent batch with 1945 going, there wasn’t much action in the airlock but on day 2 or 3 (i need to take notes!) there was a nice krausen on the batch. That seems to have fallen now.
Currently on this primary I don’t have a fermometer, but on another bucket I have an APA conditioning and that reads right around 60 (+/-3).
Are the low 60s too cold for the yeast to work after the height of fermentation?
The beer may benefit from warmer temps as fermentation slows. If you can put it up on a bench/counter it should be a few degrees warmer than the floor.
