Ok. So the house is set to 62, the basement runs 50 to 60 and outside it is around 0. IF I brew this weekend is this temp too cold for the primary fermentor (say 2 weeks upstairs than more time in the basement?) in the house for either english nut brown ale (Danstar Nottingham Ale yeast I think) or american brown ale (Wyeast 1332 NW Ale smackpack)?
I know it is a few degrees too cold for the fermentation range and was wondering if I let her go a couple weeks at 60ish would be ok to ferment for a few weeks rather than shorter (normal) time.
Thermostat at 62? I presume you’re not married…
What are you brewing? It’s really a matter of what range keeps the yeast happy. For most non-belgian ales, a 62F ambient will be happy. The fermentor will get another 5 or so above that.
I had a fit last year when she set up a cooling fan in the dead of winter because the house was too warm. Now, I have the thermostat set to 62. Everyone wears sweats.
I have caribou slobber and some english nut brown ale kit. I thought if I brew them now I would have something nice come early spring.
60-62 ambient is perfect for many/most ale strains. I set my fermentation fridge to 60F for the first 3-5 days of fermentation then bring it up to the upper 60’s for the duration.
I had a fit last year when she set up a cooling fan in the dead of winter because the house was too warm. Now, I have the thermostat set to 62. Everyone wears sweats.
I have caribou slobber and some english nut brown ale kit. I thought if I brew them now I would have something nice come early spring.[/quote]
I stand corrected. 68 was the best compromise I could get. I have electric heat; and a constant barrage of, “Why does it have to be so cold?” My wife has gloves for in the house.
Agree. Remember, fermentation is exothermic, so the temp inside the fermenter will be several degrees above ambient. I ferment all of my ales in the mid-to-low 50’s ambient with no problems. My garage during the winter is usually 50-55. During the summer I use a swamp cooler, and aim for 52 degrees in the water.
Excellent! Thanks for the reply’s. I was worried that it would be too cold and not get going. Maybe an electric heater near the primaries for the first few days. After the primary and racked, the secondary will go to the dark basement corner and it’s colder down there.
After I get these two brown ale’s racked, I will start on the next kit - Pliny the Elder. Pliny needs to start soon so it will be ready come summer.
Santa brought me a 30L Speidel Firmenter and a Dark Star so this should be interesting.
Fyi, if you start Pliny now, it might not be at it’s peak come summer. I find that IPA’s are best about a month after bottling; they’ve aged enough to have good malt character, but not so long they start losing hop character. I brewed Pliny a few years ago, and after about 4 months it tasted more like a pale ale than an IPA.
