Brewing temperature

[jarnold]

My homebrew kits say to leave the fermenter in a warm place, 18 to 20 celsius. So, having the luxury of a modified fridge, I have been brewing at around 19.6 degrees(provided the temp sensors are accurate, which I doubt). However, the kits(St Peters Cream Stout) also say 4 to 6 days, whereas I find 10 to 14 days is more like it. So I had a sudden pang of doubt this aftrnoon(after having brewed 15 or so kits over the last few years). Do the box instructions assume self heating of the fermentation? Am I effectively keeping the brew too cold?
Or am I overthinking the whole business?

 

[Cyberjip]

Overthinking it a little I think. The kit manufacturer like to state the shortest possible time (this is not the way to make the best beer) as it helps them sell more kits to newbs.

It might be worth just sticking a another thermometer in and seeing if the temp you are setting is the temp you are actually getting.

At the end of the day if you are happy with the beer doing it the way you are then I wouldn't change anything or worry to much about what the instructions say.

 

[Keruso]

My homebrew kits say to leave the fermenter in a warm place, 18 to 20 celsius. So, having the luxury of a modified fridge, I have been brewing at around 19.6 degrees(provided the temp sensors are accurate, which I doubt). However, the kits(St Peters Cream Stout) also say 4 to 6 days, whereas I find 10 to 14 days is more like it. So I had a sudden pang of doubt this aftrnoon(after having brewed 15 or so kits over the last few years). Do the box instructions assume self heating of the fermentation? Am I effectively keeping the brew too cold?
Or am I overthinking the whole business?

As Cyberjip says its a good idea to test how well your temp probes are performing, when I first started fermenting in a modified freezer I just let the probe dangle and there was quite a difference in the probe temp versus the beer. Now I sellotape the probe directly on the fermenter underneath a kitchen sponge for insulation. With ale yeast at 19.6 degrees you're not keeping the beer too cold and your going to get better results if you leave for longer, even better if you have a hydrometer. A constant temperature within the yeasts "sweet spot" for the bulk, if not all the fermentation will give the best results.

 

[terrym]

@jarnold
For me whether its 19.6* or 19.9* or 19.3*C really matters not one jot provided your thermometer is reasonably accurate. What is important is the temperature is in the right zone and is steady.
And why question your own experience? You know beer takes longer than 4-6 days to ferment out, and for the yeast to clean up and settle enough for you to package. So go with what you have learned to and stay with that.

 

[jarnold]

I have three temperature sensors, one in a piece of stainless tube immersed in the brew, one in the fridge, and one for the ambient in the room. I also have an infrared thermometer. They all give different readings. I'll get my multimeter with it's thermocouple out tomorrow, and see how that compares. But anyway, I'm happy to accept that I'm overthinking it.
What temperature would you aim for, just out of interest, if speed is not the main criterion?

 

[jarnold]

As for temperature stability, here's the graph for the past two days.

 

[Keruso]

I have three temperature sensors, one in a piece of stainless tube immersed in the brew, one in the fridge, and one for the ambient in the room. I also have an infrared thermometer. They all give different readings. I'll get my multimeter with it's thermocouple out tomorrow, and see how that compares. But anyway, I'm happy to accept that I'm overthinking it.
What temperature would you aim for, just out of interest, if speed is not the main criterion?

Most dry ale yeast, which I use, are happy at 18 degrees. So that’s what I go for.

 

[Cyberjip]

Temp looks nice and stable that's what a good fermentation wants.

Temp completely depends on the yeast, I tent to use a lot of US 05 or MJ44 and tend to ferment at 22. A little higher than most would but it works for me so I don't change it around much. Other yeast are of course fermented at the suggested temps.