I am fermenting an oatmeal stout at this time. I put it in my freezer last Saturday night. It has had a nice and very steady fermentation for 6 days between 55 and 62 degrees F. The bubbling has slowed dramatically but still steady. I removed the bucket from the freezer so that I could put my keg of rye ale in it for carbonation and serving. I checked the gravity of the stout and it is now 1.020. OG was 1.080. The expected FG is 1.016 - 1.020. If I make it down to 1.016 and the final few points are done at 70’ish degrees F, does this have any impact on flavor? I assume it will take quite a few hours for the beer to raise in temperature. So it’s fair to say that there should be very little fermentation left to do by the time it reaches the higher temp. I know I will make beer. That’s not the question. The question is, after 6 days of fermenting where the majority of the ferment has completed, does anyone think that there could be any noticeable difference in flavor by raising the temp for the last day or two of minimal fermentation?
No, you will not notice. The first 72 hrs of ACTIVE fermentation are the most important. Esters are formed as the yeast multiply. You have plenty of yeast in there now and they are done growing/multiplying. Good job regulating your temps early.
Woot! Woot! I was hoping that was the case. I have to say, I tasted the beer that I used for hydrometer testing. It was not great because there is still a TON of stuff in suspension. Very cloudy. Very mucky. But I guess that’s to be expected since it has not even come close to time for settling out.
Plus a darker beer like that will benefit from aging and allowing those flavors to marry and meld.
At some of the smaller craft pubs up here, they will rack from fermenter into what they call a brightening tank. Controlled temp and one guy will not release any of it for 6 weeks! He has won a few awards, and at the local brew fest he usually wins by public choice…. just an idea… Sneezles61 :cheers:
With a few exceptions, it’s generally a great idea to start your fermentation at the low end of the yeast’s fermentation range for the 1st 48 hours, and then let it raise to finish.
So, you done good! :cheers:
