Hi All,
I am new to home brewing and have a question. I plan on brewing my first batch this weekend 1/25/14. It will be caribou slobber that came with my NB Deluxe Brewing Kit. My question is i plan on fermenting in my spare stand up shower.(just in case I make a mess) I have been monitoring the temperature in there and it stays anywhere from 58*-60*. I also have put a glass of water with a thermometer in it and that has been reading 53*-59*. So my question is does this sound like an ideal place for me to ferment? Or is this to cold? Any advice or tips on this question or any other advice is greatly appreciated:)
It all depends on which yeast you are going to use… need to know that to answer your question…
You can find the yeast using the Additional Info tab here: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/cari … e-kit.html
It is Danstar’s Windsor yeast. Plug into Google, you will find http://www.danstaryeast.com/products/wi … beer-yeast.
This yeast wants a temp between 64 and 70 degrees. Keep in mind the yeast will create heat AFTER it begins fermenting. Ideally, I would want to start this yeast at 64 or 65 and keep the actual beer at that temp through fermentation. If your wort temp drops too low it may stall out. Too high and you’ll get off flavors.
Goggle fermentation temperature control for plenty of ways to control your temps.
[quote=“Hades”]You can find the yeast using the Additional Info tab here: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/cari … e-kit.html
It is Danstar’s Windsor yeast. Plug into Google, you will find http://www.danstaryeast.com/products/wi … beer-yeast.
This yeast wants a temp between 64 and 70 degrees. Keep in mind the yeast will create heat AFTER it begins fermenting. Ideally, I would want to start this yeast at 64 or 65 and keep the actual beer at that temp through fermentation. If your wort temp drops too low it may stall out. Too high and you’ll get off flavors.
Goggle fermentation temperature control for plenty of ways to control your temps.[/quote]
Thanks for the input!!! I figured that the temp would rise due to fermentation. I have to ask by how many degrees will it rise? Or is this just one of those things that one cannot simply predict.
Thanks Again!!
Is there a better yeast to use? Liquid vs. Dry Like I have said in the OP I am new to this and I would compare myself to a sponge just trying to soak up all the info I can. LOL
Is there a better yeast to use? Liquid vs. Dry Like I have said in the OP I am new to this and I would compare myself to a sponge just trying to soak up all the info I can. LOL
[quote=“NickB987”][quote=“Hades”]You can find the yeast using the Additional Info tab here: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/cari … e-kit.html
It is Danstar’s Windsor yeast. Plug into Google, you will find http://www.danstaryeast.com/products/wi … beer-yeast.
This yeast wants a temp between 64 and 70 degrees. Keep in mind the yeast will create heat AFTER it begins fermenting. Ideally, I would want to start this yeast at 64 or 65 and keep the actual beer at that temp through fermentation. If your wort temp drops too low it may stall out. Too high and you’ll get off flavors.
Goggle fermentation temperature control for plenty of ways to control your temps.[/quote]
Thanks for the input!!! I figured that the temp would rise due to fermentation. I have to ask by how many degrees will it rise? Or is this just one of those things that one cannot simply predict.
Thanks Again!![/quote]
I notice 5-7 degrees
I agree with Garret. 5-7 is probably typical in a five gallon batch. Here’s a good article. https://byo.com/bock/item/1869-controll … techniques
Controlling fermentation temps is something I overlooked when beginning brewing, and resulted in much disappointment for me. Control those temps! :cheers:
Temp rise depends on yeast strain and OG. If the shower is in a tub and holds water, you could fill with a foot or more of water and make a nice heat sink, but if not, and your ambient is around 60F, you’re good.
Dry yeast is fine. I find there is a wider variety with liquid but certainly nothing wrong with dry.
Thanks for the tip never even thought of that.
I would leave it sitting at ambient without the water for heat sinking. To me your shower sounds like an ideal place to ferment if the temperature is stable at the values you’ve measured it.
I’ve noticed about a 3 to 5 degree increase in temps for initial fermentation on my batches. I put my brew in a spare shower that’s about 60 degrees at night. After the first day or two, I move it to a closet with a hot water heater in it that stay a nice 63 to 65. 8 batches under my belt so far and that has worked nicely.
I also brewed Caribou Slobber and it heated itself up much more than 3 to 5 degrees–so much that I placed the carboy outside to pull the temps down.
I know the yeast can stall at lower temps and “off” tastes occur at high temps but I’m under the impression that the lower end of the temp scale (for whatever yeast you’re using) is better than the higher end. Does anyone disagree with that or is there a years that likes higher scale?
Or does it just not matter as long as you stay in the prefered range?
Would anyone recommend moving it to a place a few degrees warmer once the bulk of the activity has died down (4-7 days after pitching)? It would seem to me that upper 50’s might be a bit too cool for ale yeast to properly “finish” once the active fermentation is done.
+1
I do not find any need for this myself. I get full attenuation when fermenting ales at 58f.
I do this on all of my beers to some degree, but as you can see from above, different practices, different brewers, different brews :cheers:
