Help Newbie here just started first brew and the temp is dropping fast

[Benny The Jet]

Newbie here just started first brew and the temp is dropping fast. it was 28degC for the first 48 hours now the outside temp here is dropping to 12degC and raining overnight and the brew has gone from 22deg in this morning to 18deg at 6pm I turned the heat mat on and wrapped some blankets around it, will the blankets and heat mat together make it too hot?, I'm in Tweed Heads NSW, any help is appreciated and I have no idea what I doing just what I've read online

[Lab Cat]

About 20C is where you want it. Try and keep it there. 28c would be too hot and wouldn't make a nice beer, too many off flavours from an overactive yeast.

Remember, the ambient room temp is not going to change 23l beer very quickly. It takes quite a while to shift the temp of that amount of dense liquid.

[Beerlust]

Hi Benny The Jet, & welcome to the forum.

As Lab Cat has already stated, 20°C is good general temp to ferment most ale yeast brews at. What yeast don't like is large temperature swings. It can cause fermentation issues.

Given the situation you describe & where you reside, after the sun goes down, wrap your fermenter in a towel or old quilt/blanket to insulate it from the outside cold ambient temperatures overnight. Given your days are pretty nice up there, in the morning, take that insulating blanky off. Repeat this process for at least the first 6-7 days of your primary ferment.

When active, yeast are exothermic (generate their own heat) so up there it's likely not needed to insulate the fermenter during the day.

Best of luck with your first brew,

Lusty.