Fermentation temperature too low?

[Lawrence22]

I brewed my first all grain yesterday. When it was in the fermentor I put the fermentor in a larger bin filled with water and aquarium heater as I have done with my previous brews. This morning I took a reading of the water temperature in the bucket and it had dropped to 14.6 C. I do my fermenting in the garage and I'm guessing the low temperatures have been too much for the small heater. I have replaced the heater with a 300W one which I am sure will be up to the job, but I was wondering will I have done any damage to this batch or will it recover? The yeast I am using is Fermentis S-04.

 

[Clint]

It'll be ok I recon.

 

[chewie]

Fashion some insulation around the bucket if you can, old blanket, clothing, hot water tank jacket etc etc. If the water in the bucket is left open to the cold air in a garage or shed it will quickly cool at a rate that a small heater will struggle to maintain on a thermostat.

 

[Lawrence22]

Thanks, I have put a blanket round the bucket and changed the heater to a much higher wattage, I am sure this heater will do the job as it is a lot more powerful than the previous one. Was mainly concerned that the temperature drop so early in the fermentation would damage the brew or yeast. I'm probably being daft.

 

[terrym]

I use a 50w heater in my water bath in my unheated garage and it works fine. Although I also cover my bath with lots of old towels laid over it. What was the wattage of the original heater and did you check the thermostat setting had not got nudged?

 

[Ciaran12s]

It should be fine mate. It'll probably ferment out at that temperature but slower than usual.
It's high temperatures you've got to be careful of, at the beginning of fermentation especially. I've had a couple of beers come out fruity/acetone due to not checking temperatures and fermenting above the yeast's range.
I've not used aquarium heaters before but I'd be doubtful about it maintaining say 20c in my shed at this time of year. As Terry says though, if it's well covered and insulated from the ambient it'll work fine. Do you keep it off of the concrete floor Terry? That'll sap the heat out as well.

 

[-Bezza-]

I had similar at the weekend. Ambient temperature was about 8 degrees and my 50w heater struggled to get over 14. Few sleeping bags later and it's sitting cosy at 19.1.

 

[Lawrence22]

I use a 50w heater in my water bath in my unheated garage and it works fine. Although I also cover my bath with lots of old towels laid over it. What was the wattage of the original heater and did you check the thermostat setting had not got nudged?

It was a 50W and was set to the lowest point which is 20C on that heater, fortunately I have been a fish keeper for years and have several others, so just went with a 300W that I can set to 18C.

 

[Dutto]

I doubt if a lower temperature will have damaged the brew so I'll as a daft question instead.

"Have you checked your thermometer's accuracy recently?" :confused1:

The electronic ones can "drift" up or down if they get damp. :thumb:

 

[terrym]

I now have an ott approach to controlling temperature in my water bath. I have turned the thermostat to max and control the water bath temperature using an ITC308 linked to the fish tank heater. I also have an insulating layer between the garage floor and the underside of the water bath.

 

[Lawrence22]

I doubt if a lower temperature will have damaged the brew so I'll as a daft question instead.

"Have you checked your thermometer's accuracy recently?" :confused1:

The electronic ones can "drift" up or down if they get damp. :thumb:

I have a few thermometers and they appear to be pretty accurate. I have a fish tank thermometer in the water in the water bath, a traditional thermometer and I also use a Weber meat probe which is very accurate when compared to the other 2.

 

[Lawrence22]

I now have an ott approach to controlling temperature in my water bath. I have turned the thermostat to max and control the water bath temperature using an ITC308 linked to the fish tank heater. I also have an insulating layer between the garage floor and the underside of the water bath.

I may have to copy you.