Controlling fermentation temperature.

[PaulRob]

Hi guys hope you are keeping safe and well. Looking for a little bit of advice. Now that the warmer weather is here, my brewing area is showing a steady temperature of 23 degrees. I have a large batch of MJ new world strong ale yeast for my next several brews, temperature range of yeast is 16-22. Will this be a problem, or do I need to somehow bring the temperature down a little, if so does anyone have any recommendations I only brew 5 litres. Many thanks.

 

[SmallSpacesBrewing]

Hi guys hope you are keeping safe and well. Looking for a little bit of advice. Now that the warmer weather is here, my brewing area is showing a steady temperature of 23 degrees. I have a large batch of MJ new world strong ale yeast for my next several brews, temperature range of yeast is 16-22. Will this be a problem, or do I need to somehow bring the temperature down a little, if so does anyone have any recommendations I only brew 5 litres. Many thanks.

Yeah. You should keep the temps at the lower end of what the yeast packet says. Remember that yeast also produces heat when fermenting. So even if you are at 22 degrees, inside the barrel it's actually sitting at 25-26. That's no good. Consider trying Kveik yeast. It's a beast, and loooves to be used at high temps. Lallemand has a comercial version of it. Also on the good side. It'll finish your beer in 3-4 days.

 

[AMyd666]

Hi. I'm wondering the same thing too with my Cali Common. Probe on outside of FV says 24C just now. This is day 7. Another week to go. Swung between 18 and 24 all week, with an average of 22. Can't find a cool spot. I hope that yours turns out OK in the end (mine too!).

 

[SmallSpacesBrewing]

Hi. I'm wondering the same thing too with my Cali Common. Probe on outside of FV says 24C just now. This is day 7. Another week to go. Swung between 18 and 24 all week, with an average of 22. Can't find a cool spot. I hope that yours turns out OK in the end (mine too!).

It'll probably turn out fine. Could be some esters there in the beer thats not supposed to be there but. It'll be beer

 

[PaulRob]

Cheers guys, will try a water bath initially, got loads of yeast to use up first but then might try kveik.

 

[AMyd666]

Yeah, I need to read on kveik. Di you have the opposite problem then; keeping it between 30 and 40 C?

 

[SmallSpacesBrewing]

Yeah, I need to read on kveik. Di you have the opposite problem then; keeping it between 30 and 40 C?

Not really. If you pitch at 40 and just let it ride. It will finish the beer before cooling down. And even if it does go to like 28 degrees it's not a bad thing. Just makes a cleaner beer. Lager like

 

[LED_ZEP]

I'm just in the process of making a heater/cooler for my wine fermentation. I'm using peltier chips, which for anyone who doesn't know get hot on one side and cold on the other when you pass a current through them.

It's basically going to be four peltier chips sandwiched between two (2.5mm thick) stainless steel plates. My design will have dimensions to hold 6 demijohns (600mm x 400mm) but this could be adapted to suit a fermentation bin. I'm using 4mm ply wood in between the two steel sheets with cut outs for the peltier chips to sit in, a 9mm thick sandwich in total. It will be mounted on a stand (easy to make from MDF) and controlled by a cheap (£2.50) 12v thermostatically controlled relay and powered by a (£5) 10amp 120w switching power supply. By reversing the polarity to the chips you can choose which side gets hot/cold hence using it as a heater or cooler. All you need then is to make a box to go around the fermentation vessel(s) and sits on top of the stand. Think of it like a posh heating mat.

I'll post something when it's built as it's a little hard to describe without any pictures and it's much simpler than it sounds.

 

[Banbeer]

my brewing area is showing a steady temperature of 23 degrees

Good news for you then, next week is cooling down a bit to around 16 - 17C, so might be alright.

 

[SmallSpacesBrewing]

I'm just in the process of making a heater/cooler for my wine fermentation. I'm using peltier chips, which for anyone who doesn't know get hot on one side and cold on the other when you pass a current through them.

It's basically going to be four peltier chips sandwiched between two (2.5mm thick) stainless steel plates. My design will have dimensions to hold 6 demijohns (600mm x 400mm) but this could be adapted to suit a fermentation bin. I'm using 4mm ply wood in between the two steel sheets with cut outs for the peltier chips to sit in, a 9mm thick sandwich in total. It will be mounted on a stand (easy to make from MDF) and controlled by a cheap (£2.50) 12v thermostatically controlled relay and powered by a (£5) 10amp 120w switching power supply. By reversing the polarity to the chips you can choose which side gets hot/cold hence using it as a heater or cooler. All you need then is to make a box to go around the fermentation vessel(s) and sits on top of the stand. Think of it like a posh heating mat.

I'll post something when it's built as it's a little hard to describe without any pictures and it's much simpler than it sounds.

Sounds cool! Keep us posted

 

[gb0wers]

I'm just in the process of making a heater/cooler for my wine fermentation. I'm using peltier chips, which for anyone who doesn't know get hot on one side and cold on the other when you pass a current through them.
<SNIP>

Interesting; which chips are you using please? I'm interested in how much heat they can shift, however expect that'l depend on the delta t, so I'll look up the specifications.

 

[PaulRob]

Just had a thought, might not work, but has anyone tried those cooling blue pads for this.

 

[LED_ZEP]

Interesting; which chips are you using please? I'm interested in how much heat they can shift, however expect that'l depend on the delta t, so I'll look up the specifications.

They're peltier chips (TEC1-12706 Cooler Peltier Effect Thermoelectric Module 12V 60W ) you can get them of ebay cheap, also search youtube for more info. They're not very energy efficient if you're trying to get large temperature differences but for something like this where you're only trying to adjust the temperature by a few degrees from ambient they should be ideal. You can get about a 60c difference between the surfaces but can also stack them to increase this. I'm using the steel sheets to act as heat sinks.

 

[gb0wers]

<Snip>
I'm using the steel sheets to act as heat sinks.

Thanks. I'm wondering why you chose stainless steel over aluminium for the heat sinks??

 

[LED_ZEP]

Thanks. I'm wondering why you chose stainless steel over aluminium for the heat sinks??

I have a friend who's who works in metal fabrication and that is what he had access too.

 

[AMyd666]

Hi guys hope you are keeping safe and well. Looking for a little bit of advice. Now that the warmer weather is here, my brewing area is showing a steady temperature of 23 degrees. I have a large batch of MJ new world strong ale yeast for my next several brews, temperature range of yeast is 16-22. Will this be a problem, or do I need to somehow bring the temperature down a little, if so does anyone have any recommendations I only brew 5 litres. Many thanks.

Hello again. I just ordered two packs of kveik voss from crossmyloof to get past this problem. Will report back!

 

[SmallSpacesBrewing]

Hello again. I just ordered two packs of kveik voss from crossmyloof to get past this problem. Will report back!

Cool! I think you'll like it. Kveik is a weird yeast. Just underpitch at 40degrees. Then let it ride. Beer should be finished fermenting in 2-3 days. Then cold crash. Some are reporting unclear beers with Voss. Please share results

 

[GerritT]

Wet towels. Drape 'm in a few wet towels, refresh every 8 hour or so. Should take the temp down a bit. Less fuss than a water bath, same principle. Or kveik.

 

[Drunkula]

ome are reporting unclear beers with Voss. Please share results

Both times I've done a cold crash at 1c they're still cloudy, even one I gelatined out of 3 almost identical beers. But it's cleared out in the bottles, absolutely crystal.

 

[SmallSpacesBrewing]

Both times I've done a cold crash at 1c they're still cloudy, even one I gelatined out of 3 almost identical beers. But it's cleared out in the bottles, absolutely crystal.

Yeah same here when I used to bottle. It eventually always cleared up. Took some time though. Its the legged stuff I normally have issues with. Voss that is, my latest horningdal one cleared up nicely in about 2 weeks in the fermentasaurus.