Cold comfort

anti-fsck · Post by **anti-fsck** » Sunday Jun 11, 2006 4:54 pm

Just been down to the cellar to check the latest draught, and the airlock is still slowly bubbling away despite an ambient 11 degrees Celcius. How low is too low?
I'm keen to try a low-temperature ferment without resorting to the heat belt.

shane_vor · Post by **shane_vor** » Sunday Jun 11, 2006 9:37 pm

We've had a cold snap today and the air temp in the shed-of-beer is 8 C!!!

Normally fluctuates daily between 10 and 15...bloody beers are taking AGES!!!!!

Shaun · Post by **Shaun** » Monday Jun 12, 2006 10:20 am

Almost perfect for lagers. Get them down now ready for summer.

Wassa · Post by **Wassa** » Monday Jun 12, 2006 10:42 am

Shaun,

Depends on what you are brewing and what type of yeast you are using.

If you are brewing a Lager, with lager yeast it is perfect, if it's an ale it's a tad on the cool side.

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Thursday Jun 15, 2006 11:56 am

It's lager season!

If you are doing an ale, just make sure that your fermentation doesn't stick. I would give the fermenter a roll on it's bottom edge to keep the yeast in suspension.

Low temp ales tend to be crisper, and not as estery. It can be really good.

I tend to do draughts as lagers personally. I recon they taste better that way.

Tipsy · Post by **Tipsy** » Thursday Jun 15, 2006 5:58 pm

Chris wrote: I tend to do draughts as lagers personally. I recon they taste better that way.

I nearly always do the Coopers draught as a lager

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Friday Jun 16, 2006 11:09 am

I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Most of those 'lighter' Coopers products (Canadian, draught etc) are better as lagers in my opinion.

Post by **Oliver** » Saturday Jun 17, 2006 7:22 pm

The original question was how low is too low as far as fermentation temp with a lager yeast is concerned.

The answer depends on the yeast. For Saflager it's about 9C.

According to this document - http://www.fermentis.com/FO/EN/pdf/SaflagerS-23.pdf - 9-15Cis the best range for Saflager S23, while the ideal temperature is 12C.

Cheers,

Oliver