My most recent extract kit mentions to “ferment at 68 for the bulk of fermentation, then ramping up to 72 to help achieve a high level of attenuation”.
Can anyone explain when this ramp up should happen?
(The Yeast Bay, Vermont Ale Yeast)
It’s a bit of a try and see what works. With a new to me yeast I would start warming up after the krausen begins to subside. Day 4 or so. A degree or two a day if possible.
From what I have read about that strain, first gen tends to finish a bit high, and the second or third gen is a beast.
I must confess… I’m a bubble watcher… After the fermentation has been going strong, when the airlock bubbling slows to 3-6 bubbles per minute, then warm it up.
I made a starter with this, and fermentation started very quickly. Pitched around noon Saturday and it was chugging away by 6 AM Sunday AM (possibly well before that).
In fact, I can see that the krausen has already fallen. Will that matter as to when I change the temp?
For average strength beers I like to give it 72 hours, then ramp up slowly. On bigger beers I do pretty much what Dave does - wait until visible fermentation signs start to dwindle and ramp slowly. A couple degrees F/day
up to 70 -75F works pretty well for me. I leave big beers at that temp for several days. As always, the yeast is boss - verify FG.
Normally my krausen will stick around for a 3-5 days. That yeast must be hungry. I’ve been meaning to order some, maybe now is the time as most the country is frozen.
I check gravity daily and ramp up once I see more or less linear attenuation/time. For ales, that’s usually 2-3°P/day. The reasoning being that linear attenuation signals that the entire culture has exiting the aerobic phase, and that temperature in the anaerobic phase has much less of an impact on flavor.
Planning on letting the temps raise a bit today. My question is do I lower the temp again in a few days after this? I think the beer will be in the fermenter for another 2 weeks because of the secondary hop addition schedule.
In my opinion don’t drop temps ever until all fermentation is complete. One exception being sour beers where lacto is pitched warm for a period of time, then temp is dropped to pitch sacrosanct or brett
You mean don’t drop after raising? I was just going to keep it at the higher temp for a couple of weeks until cold crashing.
Just keep the temperature high, otherwise you risk a stall, and potential gushers.
And you don’t need to dry hop any more than 4-5 days. There is no benefit to going any longer than that.
Just double checking the instructions with the yeast from the manufacturer…
In order to achieve high attenuation, we recommend fermenting at 66-68 ºF for 3-4 days, and then raising the temperature to 72 ºF until a stable gravity is reached.
This leads me to believe you raise the temps whether or not fermentation is done. True?
Yep.
Well no not true, the point is to raise the temps BEFORE fermentation is done, and allow it to finish at 72. If you waited until it was done the benefit of the temp rise is no longer valid, too soon and you risk fusels and other off flavors.
Got it. Thanks! Again, this yeast is a beast…Gravity moved from 1.062-1.020 in 72 hours. Still a little ways to go.
Keep in mind that their recommendations are often geard more to yeast performance than beer quality. Personally, I prefer to stay below the low end of the recommedations.
Ok. Probably raise up to 70-71
And by raise I mean add warmer water to my jury rigged chamber.
I was talking more about the temps you started with. But it’s a personal preference kinda thing. I’d advise you to try various starting temps with various yeasts to see what you like best.
Actually, raising the temperature after the fermentation is done can still help with speeding up the post fermentation clean up done by the yeast, prior to cold crashing - or at least that has been my experience. I think most people raise at the end of high krausen in order to speed up the end of fermentation a bit, to prevent a stall on certain yeasts that are prone to stall as the exothermic activity subsides, and to perform a d-rest when appropriate. I have found that the d-rest is less necessary if you keep the primary for a longer period of time - this is merely anecdotal, however, from times where I don’t have a keg ready for a couple weeks after fermentation has completed.