Fermentation temperatures

[Matthew Clegg]

Hi,

I am brewing my first brew. This one is a grain steep and liquid DME kit that came with my starter kit, and amber ale with Willamette for bittering and I through in an ounce of amarillo at flameout for some extra interest. Crossing fingers.

Anyway to my question, i have my fermenting bucket with a homemade temp controller on a heatpad, the yeast was a generic muntons brewers yeast (18-21 C) so i set the temp controller to 19, took a little while to get there but day was it was bubbling plenty, today (day 2) i have a look at it is bubbling multiple times a second and the temp has risen to 20C (i have no cooler yet). Ambient temp is 17-18c


Is this something i need to worry about or is it just the natural exothermic reaction of the yeast in its active stage?

I was intending to up the temp towards 21 in the final week just to give the yeast a kick.

Is this all normal or should i be looking to cool to my target of 19?


Mat

 

[Graz]

It will be fine at 20°C, it's what I set all my ale brews to. Yes the fermentation will generate it's own heat and in the summer a brew fridge is useful for keeping the temps down but at this time of year it's no issue.

 

[Matthew Clegg]

Cheers.

I assume that as the fermentation slows down the temp will drop a bit. And i can artificially raise the temp to 21 towards the end of fermentation?

 

[keat64]

I tend not to worry about temeratures too much if i'm being honest.
Never really have and I doubt that I ever will.
I find that it's not that critical, unless it's extreme for long periods.

I brew at room temperature, usually in my spare bedroom, where the temerature can fluctuate from say 22 degrees when the heating is on, down to maybe 10 (in winter) when it's not and the room has cooled down.
It averages itself out, and I've never had any issues.

 

[Graz]

Cheers.

I assume that as the fermentation slows down the temp will drop a bit. And i can artificially raise the temp to 21 towards the end of fermentation?

You can if you want. I normally just leave mine at 20°C until they're finished.

 

[Slid]

I do basically what Keat64 says and also never have any issues, except that in "my" house, the wife and daughters have always ensured that the temps rarely drop below high teens and fermenting is usually above 20C.

Hence my preferred yeasts are currently US05 (the so-called "Chico" strain of American West Coast yeast) and MJ 31, which is called Belgian Tripel or something. The Coopers yeast is also good for brewing at "female preferred" house temps and the Coopers yeast never let me down either.

 

[Matthew Clegg]

Sounds highly sensible

 

[LED_ZEP]

I'm a wine maker but principle of not stressing the yeast is the same.
I always set my temp control to the bottom end of the yeast's temp range, if it's recommended for 20-25c I set it to heat at 20c and turn off at 21c. Once the yeast gets going the temp will tend to increase for a couple of days just with the heat generated by the yeast and then drop again and sit between 20-21c held buy the heater.
The important thing is the yeast is not having the stress of big temp swings.

 

[Matthew Clegg]

Cheers Guys this is all good info