How cold is too cold?

Northern Brewer General
1

Morning all,

Brewed a hoppy red ale yesterday and everything went well. Small krausen began to form 6 or 7 hours after pitching the yeast. I made a 1000 mL starter with a house made blend of two yeasts - white labs california 001 and white labs american ale blend. I realize that the american blend has the california strain already in it; thought the experiment would be fun.

Anyhow, I control my fermentation temps via a large dorm fridge with a temperature control affixed to the side of the fermenter. Upon inspection today, I noticed the temp, after taking a reading of the beer, was around 61 to 62 degrees. My temp. controller is set on 18 degrees celsius, or 64.4 degrees fahrenheit with a temp swing of 1.5 degrees celsius. Is the temperature of the beer too cold, or is this a pretty good setup as is? When fermenting this way, I’ve noticed that it takes a bit longer, and the fermenting process is less “explosive.” Seems to me that I need to figure out how the fridge temp works in regards to the actual beer in the bucket.

Thanks in advance,

David

2

You’re fine. I’ve fermented that yeast as low as 55F. I’m sure it would go lower.

3

I’ve fermented US-05 as low as 57 though I usually shoot for the low 60s, after 4-5 days I start to bring the temperature up to ~70 to finish. You’re right about a less active fermentation, but it makes for great beer.