First Time Brewer

[Boxys Brew]

Happy days, Finally received my brew kit after a very long three weeks thanks to COVID-19 .

My First Brew - BootMakers Pale Ale

I’ve sterilised absolutely everything, put my ingredients in , OG @ 36, temp @ 24/25 degrees initial temp and now in the Lag Phase.

Only concern I had was a consistent temperature as I’ve got my kit stored in my garage, I’ve bought a heat belt and have my brew sitting after a very cold night still at 22 degrees

just checked out my old fridge and have enough room to crash after fermentation to force Flocculation, hopefully that’s the right process before bottling.

Now Time to patiently wait...

 

[Lab Cat]

Would be a good idea to get it into the fridge with a temp controller to run the fridge and keep the ferment temp consistent. Would make more of a diff to getting a good beer than cold crash afterwards.

[Boxys Brew]

Thanks Lab Cat, I will check it out

[Journeyman]

On 5/10/2020 at 3:33 PM, Boxys Brew said:

Thanks Lab Cat, I will check it out

I'd put it in the fridge now, even without the controller. You could try running the fridge at absolute minimum and see what temp it drops to but even with the fridge off it will help the temp stay more even.

[Boxys Brew]

Thanks JourneyMan

If I drop in to my fridge during fermentation will the temp change impact it much? currently where I have it was 22/23 degrees but when I checked tonight after work it had increased to 24/25 Degrees. What temp should I be looking at once in the fridge? 
So just to clarify after pitching the yeast, it would be best to place the wort in fridge to create a constant temp and away from light during fermentation.

 

[kmar92]

18° would be good.

[Journeyman]

18 hours ago, Boxys Brew said:

Thanks JourneyMan

If I drop in to my fridge during fermentation will the temp change impact it much? currently where I have it was 22/23 degrees but when I checked tonight after work it had increased to 24/25 Degrees. What temp should I be looking at once in the fridge? 
So just to clarify after pitching the yeast, it would be best to place the wort in fridge to create a constant temp and away from light during fermentation.

The last part, yes, that is best. 

Ideally you want the fridge, a temp controller and a heat source. Then you can set the controller to keep it at your choice of temp - inkbirds do as close as +/- 0.3° - around (say) 19° for an ale and maybe 11° for a lager. The controller then turns the heat and cold on and off to maintain the temp. We normally strap the probe from the controller to the outside of the FV with some foam on the outside of it under tape to ensure the probe is reading mostly the brew temp and not just the air in the fridge.

Before you get a controller, the fridge will be somewhere near ambient but the insulation means it will lag changes considerably. So, e.g. the garage temp might go to 25° by 1PM but inside the fridge might be 18°. At 4PM the ambient could be 20° and the fridge at 22° so you could open the door.

You could also check and see what temp the fridge goes to if it is on minimum. Before I got my temp control I had a plug-in timer and I had my fridge on 15 mins on and 45 off and it kept the temps reasonable within a degree or so. At night when ambient cooled I had the settings for 15 on and 1.5 hours off.

General rule is, it is more important to have a stable temp than which temp you pick. (provided of course the temp is in 'normal' range for your yeast)

Edited May 12, 2020 by Journeyman

[Boxys Brew]

Thanks heaps Journeyman for the detail, that provides a lot more clarity for my next brew.