Brewing in cold temperatures ?

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Question:

Only cold weather brewing problem I’ve experienced is my frozen chiller hoses THis effectively limits me to partial-boil extract batches indoors, but I tend to brew up a storm in the late summer/early fall, so my larder is full… I have noted sluggish ferments at lowered temperatures, but have found that all that is necessary is to ‘rouse’ the yeastie beasties by shaking up the fermenter now and again. I define ’sluggish’, BTW, as failure to blow off. — Pat Babcock | "Beer is my obsession, and I’m late for President, Brew-Master | therapy…" -PGB and Chief Taste-Tester | "Let a good beer be the exclamation point Drinkur Purdee pico Brewery | at the end of your day as every sentence

Response:

says… Only cold weather brewing problem I’ve experienced is my frozen chiller hoses THis effectively limits me to partial-boil extract batches indoors, but I tend to brew up a storm in the late summer/early fall, so my larder is full… I have noted sluggish ferments at lowered temperatures, but have found that all that is necessary is to ‘rouse’ the yeastie beasties by shaking up the fermenter now and again.

I bought one of those big plastic tubs at the local hardware store. I fill it half full of water and throw an aquariam heater in it. It holds the carboy at an exact temperature. Winter brewing is the best for temperature control. I can warm the fermenter up easily in the winter but I can’t cool it down in the summer. The type of heater I used is a fully submersible type that allows you to dial in the tempo. I use the 100 watt size but it is overkill. Bill

Response:

Has anyone had any problems brewing ales in cold temperatures (60 F or below)? I have noticed that fermentation is taking quite a bit longer, but does not stop completely. I’m wondering how long I should allow the beer to ferment in such cold temperatures. Is 3 weeks too long? Please email me if you can help.

I brew in an unheated space so a little trick I use during cold weather to keep the fermenting wort at the right temperature is this. I place the carboy inside a clean 30 gal. plastic trash can and fill with 65-70 degree water up the the level of the wort. I then hang an electric fish aquarium heater in the water and adjust it to the proper temperature. Put on the lid and the temperature will remain constant. It works great.

Response:

To paraphrase Abe Lincoln, "It should ferment long enough to be finished." This is a few days after active fermentation finishes, or some people keep track of when the SG stops dropping (I don’t). Ale probably will take longer at cooler temperatures, but it also may taste better! Too far below 60F mignt be risky, but as long as fermentation happens, I wouldn’t worry.

Response:

Yup, below 60 degrees starts to get tough. We don’t use heat in the house until the temp gets into the 50’s. Fermentation slows to a crawl. Last year I had a pale ale on dry hops and the temp dropped and I thought things were going nowhere. I brought in a space heater to bring the temp above 60 and the fermentation took off, shoving hops into the ferm lock and puking up out of it. The beer turned out pretty good though. There’s a good tip in zymurgy about a year ago describing how you can use a fish tank heater w/thermostat to keep your beer warm enough to really ferment. Use a water bath with the tank heater and styrofoam pellets on top to reduce heat loss. I haven’t tried it. This winter I’m just going to go with the flow and when it’s too chilly for ale fermentation, go to a lager yeast. Hey, any port in a storm.

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