Ok, so have a couple questions about yeast fermentation temps. really just want to check my logic here. so here it is…
did a partial mash last night, (first one, I am a newbe, 2 extracts and this one under my belt so far) mash eff seemed to be within decent limits. did the Iodine test, no black. went from 152 down to about 149 within the hour. the the boil went well, nothing eventful there. chilled to 80 degrees and moved to primary. added 2 gal of spring water at about 70 degrees to top up to 5 gal shook the heck out of it for about a min or so to aerate. however when I pulled my sample to check OG I screwed up and pulled it from my undiluted wert. so I don’t really know my OG. oops. live and learn, stupid mistake but not a deal breaker. I know where my FG should be, I did notice one thing though, when I read the temp of the wert in my test beaker it said 90 degrees. the volume of the original wert was about 3 gal. I think my therm was too close to my chiller, which is why it read 80 instead of 90. I used a starter that I decanted and added some of my freshly pulled runnings too it, swirled it up and it sit at room temp until pitching. pitched it at high krusen. (also first time using a starter) lag time was really short. started getting pressure in the carboy within an hour or so. first bubble within 3 hours. ambient temp of the room was 70 - 72. strip therm. on the carboy read about 75 - 77. using wyeast American ale…(1056 i think). not American ale II. so i went ahead and let it sit overnight to stabalize and see where it went. this morning it was bubbling like crazy had about a 2 and a half inch krusen on it and was very active. temps stayed the same. decided it was just too warm and I needed to slow things down a bit. I have a cellar that stays about 60 - 62 decrees steady this time of year. so here is my thinking. I don’t want to ferment it too high and get a bunch of esters, this is the NB rye IPA, changed the hops but that’s all), I am pretty sure I have already got some esters, high inititial ferm temp and I think I pitched it at too high of a temp since my ready was off and I cannot say how much 2 gal of 70 degree water will bring down 3 gal of 90 degree wert. like I said the strip therm temp on the outside of the carboy was between 75 and 77 so hopefully I’m ok there. still higher than I would have preferred to pitch the yeast… again live and learn. so at this point I think I just need to control the temp better and try to not do more damage with the esters so I moved it to the cellar to get the ambient temp down and hopefully combat the heat the yeast is creating and get fermentation down to a slower rate and a lower temp to try and lower the amount of esters I am getting. am I thinking right about this?
Yeah, the temp was a bit high to pitch yeast. Controlling fermentation temps is a great next step for your brewing.
As long as your sanitation is good, you can pitch your yeast the next morning. I do that in the summer when it takes for ever to chill wort to pitching temps. I just chill below 80, rack to primary and put it in the coldest part of my house until I pitch the following morning.
Huh, I never thought of that. good Idea, I’ll probably try that next month. haven’t decided what I’m going to brew yet, but I’ve got this 2nd primary sitting here with nothing in it…might as well fill it up. Fortunately my house was built in 1949 and is sitting on an old underground cellar with a concrete floor. stays about 55 to 62 in the winter and about 65 to 68 in the dead of summer. so I’ve always got a good place to ferment most yeast strains.
So pitching it too high, then getting it under control as I have done now. (ambient temp 63, strip therm on carboy reading about 73 - 76 or so) what do you think I can expect from that little boo boo? As far as I can tell, it will just release more of the esters from the yeast for that time period. The gases coming off the airlock smell much cleaner now that I have the temp lower. I’m just now getting into learning some of the more specific points of this art…and loving every moment of it. There is little better than a good ale in your glass, some good tunes on the radio and a brew kettle boiling to the tick of a timer waiting for you to make your next move. Love it. Perfect way to spend a long weekend. wish I could do it again today. but the closest (decent) brew supply store is over 2 hours away in the city. No thanks. with these gas prices, I’ll spend $8 shipping with good Ol’ NB and wait for it to show up in the mail.
