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Cold House Fermentation

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  • 07-11-2011 5:52pm
    #1
    leggit
    Registered Users Posts: 936 ✭✭✭


    Going to start a brew in the next week or so (IPA) and was wondering if it will be too cold in my house to do it?

    I got up this morning and it was about 13-14 celsius in the room where I've set up my equipment so god knows it probably dipped below 10 during the night. Would this completely halt fermentation or would it just slow it down a lot?

    I don't mind if it takes an extra week or two just whether it will ferment at all at those temperatures?


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    #2
    Cork Boy
    Registered Users Posts: 626 ✭✭✭Cork Boy


    You could get a larger kit and a larger yeast for those temperatures perhaps. I'm open to correction on that though.


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    #3
    kevco5
    Registered Users Posts: 4 ✭kevco5


    I have pretty much the same temperature in my kitchen/brewery!
    I use a brew belt to keep the wort at the right temp. Reduce the contact area of the belt by looping around a bottle filled with water to lower the temperature to the preferred as the full belt can be too high for my liking.


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    #4
    guildofevil
    Registered Users Posts: 552 ✭✭✭guildofevil


    I have fermented using Danstar Nottingham yeast at 14C and it takes longer, but works quite well. Something to note is that the yeast will generate some heat itself, so the fermenting beer will be a couple of degrees higher than the surrounding air (the 14C mentioned above was measured in the beer, not the air). Low temperatures are very good for making clean, lager like beers. Kölsch, Altbier, Blonde, etc.

    Make sure you put an insulator between the floor and the fermentor (carpet, cardboard, styrofoam) and consider wrapping it in old blankets for added cosiness.


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    #5
    leggit
    Registered Users Posts: 936 ✭✭✭leggit


    Have some insulation board in the house so I'll cut a bit of that and stick it under it alright!

    I'll just wrap it up as best I can and hope for the best I guess!


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    #6
    Lugh Ildanach
    Registered Users Posts: 522 ✭✭✭Lugh Ildanach


    Lager yeasts certainly won't mind that temperature. Especially if you wrap a blanket round them to insulate from the colder temperatures at night. I had my Coopers Pilsner in similar temperature (without blanket) and it fermented fine.

    I've a room that is a few degrees colder than the rest of the house and the pilsner was in there. The rest of the house was sitting around 15 degrees (before I put the heating on for the winter) and my other non-lager beers fermented fine at this temperature with blankets wrapped around them.


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