Temperature??

[canuck]

hello everyone

I just started my second ever beer kit (Wherry Bitter). And it wasn't until now that I got a bit confused as to proper temperature readings.

The instructions say that the beer should ferment betwen 18-20 C. I have the bucket in a dark room with a constant temperature between 18 and 21C. Right now the ambient room temp is 18C. But on my fermenting bucket I have one of those stick on aquarium thermometers which should give me a reading of the temperature inside the bucket. The beer inside is usually 2 or 3 degress warmer according to the aquarium thermometer.

So my qustion is when temperatures are given for kits and yeasts do they mean ambient room temperature or the temperature of the beer while its fermenting? I know that once a beer kicks into fermentaiotn it creates heat etc. Should i be cooling down the room or not worry about this and just pay attention to the room temp?

thanks

[OldSpeckledBadger]

The temperature range is for the brew itself. If you can keep the room in the 18-21C range it should be fine.

[canuck]

ok thanks for the quick response. Its what I thought.

So probably an ideal room temperature for the Wherry should be 17C which would keep the fermentor at around 19C.

I have a cellar which right now has 15C day and night so probably in a couple of weeks as the temperature rises this will be an ideal place for the fermentor. But its 5 flights of stairs with no lift in sight Its a 100 year old building and the cellar is not the cleanest of places. Would have to carry it back up for bottling.

Anyone have idea about what will happen to the beer if it splashs around a little when I carry it back up 5 fllights of stairs?
Will the sediment from the bottom get a mixed up w the beer again?

[joel_m]

i'd say try not to splash it too much as you don't want to oxidize the beer but as it has a CO2 blanket over it it should be ok. I don't bottle in the same room I brew in (although not to a 5 flights of stairs extreme)! I just move mine to where i'm going to bottle it a day before to give any mixing up time to settle out again.
Not sure if this is recommended though as I'm only on my 3rd brew.
You might want to wait for the advice of someone with more experience!

[lollypopp]

Don't think all that heaving up and down would do it any good, and what happens if you drop it, you'd have a lot of mess to clean up, and more importantly, you'd loose your beer? My best guess would be to, do all of it upstairs, bottling included, then store it in the cellar for conditioning, and it would be a lot easier to move, you could then bring up what you wanted to use for the fridge each time?

[Lillywhite]

So probably an ideal room temperature for the Wherry should be 17C which would keep the fermentor at around 19C.

A Wherry ferments out best around 23-25C and you need to ensure that it doesn't stick around 1.020.

I would also recommend that a teaspoon of yeast nutrient is added.

[anomalous_result]

A Wherry ferments out best around 23-25C

Do you mean for flavour or just to get the stuff fermented? Can you post why you think this is the ideal temperature rather than just stating it as fact?

[Lillywhite]

Do you mean for flavour or just to get the stuff fermented? Can you post why you think this is the ideal temperature rather than just stating it as fact?

To get it fermented out. Not stating it as fact, just giving you the benefit of mine and many others experiences when they have had a stuck fermentation of Woodforde's kits and the problem seems to be solved when you keep the temperature of the wort on the high side.

I take it that you've read about the problems with stuck fermentation on these kits?

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=14480

[rollin danny]

I think some of you try to hard with the temperature.I check temp before pitching yeast then just bung it in the back room near the radiator.The temp probably goes up and down during day and night but my beers always ferment out fine.I usualy leave them for ten days or so . Its not hard to make beer from kits, just keep it simple

[canuck]

I think some of you try to hard with the temperature.I check temp before pitching yeast then just bung it in the back room near the radiator.The temp probably goes up and down during day and night but my beers always ferment out fine.I usualy leave them for ten days or so . Its not hard to make beer from kits, just keep it simple

My airlock is bubbling away as I write. steady 21C. All seems fine. I think reading all sorts of things on the Internet makes the new brewer way more paranoid than need be. the reason people make posts is because something has gone wrong or seems like its going wrong. The majority of brew go just as planned and not many make posts about that. but u are right just keep it simple is good moto but sometimes hard to do

I guess it gets easier w experience, also opening my first bottle will also help

[Lillywhite]

I think reading all sorts of things on the Internet makes the new brewer way more paranoid than need be. the reason people make posts is because something has gone wrong or seems like its going wrong. The majority of brew go just as planned and not many make posts about that.

You did ask the question and, of course,I gave you my opinion regarding the best temperature for primary fermentation of a Wherry and whilst I agree that you only tend to hear about the problems on message boards the information now available to newbies is far better than it was when I first dipped my toe in to home brewing in the 70's and I'd wished that such message boards were then available.

Since resuming home brewing last year the two major problems that I've read about on message boards are stuck fermentation and kegs not sealing with all sorts of varying advice.

Best of luck with your brew and you are right in that with experience it should get easier.

[anomalous_result]

Do you mean for flavour or just to get the stuff fermented? Can you post why you think this is the ideal temperature rather than just stating it as fact?

To get it fermented out. Not stating it as fact, just giving you the benefit of mine and many others experiences when they have had a stuck fermentation of Woodforde's kits and the problem seems to be solved when you keep the temperature of the wort on the high side.

I take it that you've read about the problems with stuck fermentation on these kits?

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=14480

I am aware of sticking kits yes.

I was asking your reasoning as most seem to want to cool their ambient temp of fermentation (of all grain brews at least) to 17.

[canuck]

Most dried ale yeast will give great results between 17 and 24 deg c (beer temperature), if your room is at 18-21 deg c I wouldn't worry about it, that's perfect, beer is only significantly warmer than ambient at the peak of fermentation. I get great results from SO4 when the ambient temperature is 20-21 deg c, I don't bother using a fermentation cooler at that temperature.

Those stick on thermometers aren't particularly accurate though, they tend to map the trend prefectly well but you might want to check the actual temperature with something more accurate.

From my observaition of my first ever brew kit it seems there is 2 to 3 deg C difference betwen ambient and the beer itself. Towards the end of fermentation the beer seems to be the same as ambient.
This Wherry my second brew seems to be the same.

I have noticed that my first Cooper IPA was a quiet fermentation compared to this Wherry which is sure making a lot of noise with the airlock. I know that an active ferment is a good sign so not worried. But are there differences in specific beer kits in how they ferment or is it always dependant on non kit related factors like quality of yeast? temperature etc?

Also one more question how often should I be taking hydrometer readings? especially if the woodefordes wherry is know to stick maybe i should do it once a day?

[OldSpeckledBadger]

Also one more question how often should I be taking hydrometer readings? especially if the woodefordes wherry is know to stick maybe i should do it once a day?

I've taken to leaving the hydrometer in the FV. I put in there when things have obviously quietened down (day 6 maybe) and just take a quick look each day. Others will have their own favourite ways.

[techtone]

I have fermented 5 Woodfordes so far (2 Wherry) at a room temperature of 18 C. All have got down to the optimum fg. Never needed to add anything to them.