Hot answers tagged fermentation-temperature
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I would get hold of another sachet of yeast as a backup. If you have a local homebrew store, almost any type of yeast will work for this kit, but I'd recommend Safale US-05 if you can get that, since that will give you a cleaner profile. If they have liquid yeasts, then Wyeast 1056 or White Labs WLP001 will produce equivalent results. Once you've got hold of ...
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I would suggest that for each recipe you put together, to do some googling to find out what temp ranges for a given yeast are going to work best for the flavor you are trying to get. Starting off in the middle of the yeast manufacturer's range is good, I know of several strains where the recommended range doesn't match what real home-brewers are reporting. ...
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I had something similar with an Oatmeal Stout I used S-04 with. I fermented it a bit warm (room and pitch temp), but the yeast went totally nuts during the first three days. Overall, it didn't seem to have much bad effect. There was a minor note of fruity/floral-ness that was introduced, which wasn't present in subsequent iterations of the beer, but it was ...
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It depends somewhat on what flavors you are looking for and how long you want to wait, post-fermentation, to drink it.
Warmer fermentation is going to produce more fruity esters from the yeast, but they also produce more complex (hot) alcohols. Primary fermentation will finish relatively quickly, but the mead is going to have to sit in secondary for ...
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NEVER use bubbling as a measure of anything important. You MUST take actual gravity readings to know where your fermentation is.
As a general rule, you should do a diacytl rest when you are about 70-80% done with fermentation. So for a "normal" strength lager (1.050-1.060 OG) I'll start the diacytl rest when the beer hits about the 1.020-1.022 range ...
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Well first of all, you can't really turn around a 1.090 Lager in two months time (7/19 - 9/29). Its going to need 3 months of lagering minimum AFTER fermentation is totally done. So if you really want beer that's "more than good" for your wedding, then you need to brew a backup Ale right now that has a short maturation period. (I suggest a wheat beer, like a ...
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Don't worry have a homebrew.
It is very unlikely that a temperature change from 80-72 would shock the yeast. People like to ferment at lower temperatures because it produces less byproducts that add off flavors to beer. Additionally, 6 hours for the temperature change is definitely not a quick temperature change in the time scale of yeast.
Agreed only a ...
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During the start of the fermentation the Yeast reproduces quickly using the oxygen present in the beer and produces diacetyl which imparts a buttery flavor.
Which is why it is usually recommended to start the fermentation at a lower temperature to slow down the diacetyl production (and the reproduction rate, I suppose).
The beer fermentation is then ...
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I routinely ferment US-05 at 68F and it is still very clean despite others reporting in at 60F.
At 70F you'll be fine. US-05 is a great yeast and very versatile across that whole range.
In fact, unless you've already really mastered the yeast starter and the proper amount of O2 in your beer, attempting to ferment at 60F will be difficult and likely lead to ...
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I'm not sure how much you can read from a fallen krausen - some yeast strains don't fall at all, while others fall early. When this occurs and how far fermentation has progressed will vary from strain to strain, and maybe even brew to brew due to different wort composition, proteins, oils etc. When the krausen falls, it doesn't always mean that fermentation ...
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Give your lager a nice long fermentation (say 4 weeks) with plenty of healthy yeast and it's unlikely you'll need a diacetyl rest. I typically take a gravity reading after 4 weeks and taste the sample. If there is diacetyl, I do the rest at that point. If I don't taste it, it doesn't need the rest. BTW, I don't think the yeast will necessarily be ...
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If you are pitching healthy yeast into an appropriately made wort there is never a concern of off flavors from yeast. ALWAYS wait till the yeast is done. Done being checking first for the expected terminal gravity, THEN by taste. IF you have reached FG and it still tastes like it needs more time to clean up diacetyl and the like, leave it a little longer. ...
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The answer depends upon the qualities that you want from the yeast. In general, lower temperatures produce less characteristics from the yeast strain, while higher temperatures produce more. For example, ale yeasts tend to produce more fruitiness when fermented warmer, but cleaner tasting when fermented cooler.
The flavor characteristics vary from yeast ...
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Fermenting just a few degrees above a yeast strains optimum temp will not generate detrimental effects, but you could lose out on the bread and butter a particular yeast strain provides. 2112 from Wyeast can stop providing lager characteristics once the fermentation temp has surpassed 65F. With a 70F ambient temp, and keeping in mind that when fermenting ...
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Generally cooler is better. For most ale yeasts 60-65 F ambient is pretty good (remember that internal fermentation temps can be as much as 5-8 degrees higher than ambient air temp). Stability of temperature is very important--so pick a temp and don't vary it if you can help it (which means leave the vessel in the chamber without messing with it).
An ...
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To a large degree it depends upon the yeast. On one extreme is something like EC-1118 which can handle warmer temps without much of a problem (producing a very dry mead), on the other is something like D-47 (creating a more semi-sweet traditional mead) which (from what I've heard) will start kicking out a lot of fusel alcohols at those temps. Those fusels ...
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Yeast is a tricky little thing, and a good yeast resource including a collection of several yeast company would be nice. On one hand it would be a bit redundant because different companies use the same or very similar strain of yeast but have their own name for it, but on the other hand it would be nice to look up specifically the yeast you use. And as a ...
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I would do it later rather than earlier. By raising the temperature early, you risk introducing esters, fusels and sulphur compounds into the beer, which can't be cleaned up easily. Traditionally the diacetyl rest is done after primary, not during it. (see reference below.) So you should be fine just leaving the beer.
When you get home from your trip, take ...
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I would tape the probe to whichever fermentation started most recently. Temperature control is most important in the first couple days of fermentation, when the yeast are growing. After that, it's not super important, as long as you're in the right ballpark.
You could also get a couple of thermometers and try to figure out whether one side of your chamber ...
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I have had fine luck by simply wedging the probe between the two carboys. Then I tape some insulation (rags) against it across the two carboys and over the probe body.
Its not perfect but it does seem to work pretty well. Unfortunately there is no really good way to do it once you go to two in there at once.
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My concern with 1 gallon in a 5 gallon carboy is isn't chances of oxidization, since the CO2 produced will displace the air, but the microbial load from all that additional air.
After using a good sanitizer like Starsan or Iodophor the fermentor is close to microbe free and the largest source of contaminants is then the air itself in the fermentor.
With ...
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Put it in the basement the entire time. As we move towards winter, your basement should get cooler and that will help with the lagering. The optimal temp would be 50-55^dF, but you can run it a little cooler. The yeast will lag a bit and it just may need a blanket wrapped around it to get started, but it should ferment out fine in the end. As the ...
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I have personally found that a lot of yeasts are surprisingly sensitive to ambient temperature. I have particularly seen what you describe in what I might think of as the shoulder season, particularly fall. It is almost certainly temperature-related and a few degree temperature difference can cause some yeasts to slow down dramatically. This isn't always ...
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Assuming that you are only seeing a four degree ambient temperature change, I would imagine that your little yeasties are falling just short of their "sweet spot" overnight, but would not worry that there is anything to be alarmed about. Fermentation is still carrying on, but just not at the same levels overnight.
Even with an ambient air temperature ...
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I'd say this was probably a coincidence, if anything. Don't worry about the blanket, its not needed unless this beer is a Saison.
And a reminder, the fermentation is likely taking place at several degrees higher than your ambient temp. So if you have ambient temps of 70F, the beer is likely 75F or higher if this is the first week. You'll want to bring that ...
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70F is high for US-05, and not ideal at all. However, if you beer has been fermenting for a few days, its (a) too late to do anything, and (b) risky to drop the temp anyway, since you might shock the yeast into going dormant too early.
Regarding (a), the flavors created by the yeast mostly occur within the first 3 days of fermentation, that is when temp ...
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Temperature swings will cause the yeast to drop out and not dry out your beer.
At the end of fermentation, most of the nutrients and food have been consumed and the yeast will want to drop out and go dormant. With repeated temperature swings, most if not all of the yeast will go dormant with each drop in temperature, and it takes a lot more warming or ...
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In Jamil's podcast on brewing saison, he notes that the reason for stepping up is to achieve a high level of attenuation (dry beer), while minimizing fusel alcohols.
The natural fluctuation that you mention is the result of heat being generated BY the yeast as it metabolizes the sugars/carbs in your wort. This can raise the temperature of your fermenter ...
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If the calculations on this thread are correct, fermenting a 5% ABV beer will generate about 20 volumes of CO2. So a 1 gallon batch would produce 20 gallons of CO2—plenty to purge the headspace of a 5 gallon carboy.
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For the first question: It sounds like you're planning on doing a primary fermentation in the carboys. In that case, extra headspace is perfectly fine. Fermentation will produce CO2 to fill up that space and protect your beer from any oxygen coming in, and it will also leave some room for the krausen to take up. One gallon in a 5 gallon carboy might be a ...
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