so ive got this irish red ale in secondary at the moment, after 1 week in primary. its been a week in secondary. two days ago i read something saying moving your secondary to lager temperature( 50’s ) will help clarify the brew. so i did this. the next day i got scared as the temp was about 55* on the fermometer, and the suggested temperature for the danstar nottingham ale yeast was 57 - 72 or something. so i moved it back into room temperature ( low to mid 60s ). im wondering if its okay to condition an ale at lower temperatures, ie the 50’s, or was that a bad move? also im still not sure what exactly happens to yeast. they can die, they can go dormant…my main concern is that when i go to bottle by christmas at the latest, that the yeast will be dead and i will get a sweet non-carbonated beer. any advice is welcome. thanks.
im sure it will be fine. but make sure before you drop the temp; the yeast have completed primary fermentation, and arrived at your expected final gravity. a lot of people recommend raising the temp a little after primary fermentation - to make sure the yeast finish out.
aging at cellar temps (55F) wont harm your beer or kill the yeast. sometimes after a few weeks of primary fermentation i bring my carboy downstairs too the cooler 50F untill i keg. if you have the fridge space you could cold crash, (search cold crashing for more info), to make a clearer beer before packaging.
your bottling with be fine, i don’t expect the yeast to go dormant. you can always add a little dry yeast to the bottling bucket if you’re too worried. you wont harm your carbonation by adding more yeast – if your beer is completely fermented then more yeast wont mean more carbonation, the sugar does that.
^ heres a post about adding yeast at bottling viewtopic.php?f=1&t=72165
thank you s. scoggin, great info. and thanks for the link also good info.
a gravity reading is the best way to tell if your beer has finished fermentation. you always want to make sure your beer is done fermenting before you take it off the yeast cake and move it to a secondary
good luck and happy brewing :cheers:
yeah for sure, i did for 2 days in a row, skipped a day and then on the fourth day it was still steady at 1.012. my active fermentation with the red kit went fast…like 48 hours give or take. thanks again.
