Brew Temperature - Help

[Peter1959]

First brew for a while -
I have a Morgans Ironbark Dark, 1.5kg tin of Caramalt, 400g Dex
Pitched the kit ale yeast at 24c and had movement in the airlock in about 7 hours, 24 hours later the brew is at 18c (a bit cool in the "Gong" atm) and bubbling about every 2 minutes.
I am a little concerned about the temperature it's brewing at, is this ok or should I warm it slightly.

[chadjaja]

18 degrees is just about perfect for most ale yeasts. 24 is fine to pitch but you don't want most yeast to reach over 22 degrees anyway.

Shoot for 18-20 with most kit yeasts and you wont go wrong

[emnpaul]

Not sure what your set up is Peter.

During cold weather and before I had a brew fridge, I used to put an old sleeping bag over my fermenter at night to keep it warm. Yeast need their sleep. They do important work.

Cheers
Paul

[squirt in the turns]

18 degrees is perfect, Peter. Not sure if yeast need sleep They do like stable temperatures, though. If you can hold it at 18 degrees 24 hours a day, they'll thank you. As Paul says, a sleeping bag or some other insulation will help to keep the temp from dropping at night (and also from rising during the day).

I am actually now, for the first time since I started brewing, intentionally keeping something warm! Trying to get a 7 month old pack of Wyeast 1187 to fire up in a 2 L starter (yeah, should have started with 1 L ) Always thought that in SE QLD I'd only ever have to worry about refrigeration!

[barrelboy]

Hi all, I like to dress mine to keep them warm and in case of visitors . Actually it works quite well.

[Oliver]

Chaps,

Brews, being in the order of 20-23 litres, are a huge volume of liquid to cool down and warm up. So in my experience, wrapping a few blankets or towels around the fermenter is enough to keep a reasonably constant temperature between day and night because they insulate the fermenter from direct exposure to the fluctuating ambient temperature.

While an absolutely constant temperature won't be maintained, it's better than nuthin'.

Cheers,

Oliver

[Peter1959]

Thanks guys, it's down to about 16 now but bubbling about every 20 to 30 sec.... might have to give it a cuddle to warm it up...

[emnpaul]

Just to add to what I posted earlier, yeast will actually generate some heat of their own during the peak of fermentation, so while your brew might keep a fairly constant 18* during initial fermentation, you might want to insulate or even try to warm it a bit towards the end, just to make sure you get a complete fermentation. If you let the temp get too low and the yeast go to sleep on the job then it may appear fermentation has finished, when in reality it has pulled up short. This is bad and can mean bottle bombs down the track.

Cheers
Paul