CliffH1 Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Thought I'd mention this to help others just starting this homebrewing thing. I've been somewhat surprised to find out that the wort generates considerable heat while fermenting. As an example, a stout that is now on day 2 of fermenting in a room with an air temp of 21c or 70f, has a wort temperature of 24c or 75f. The reason I mention this is that if you want your brew at say 21c, you need a fermenting area LESS than 21c for a few days. So make sure you are taking temperature of the wort, not the surrounding area. Just something to think about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
***** Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 .....I've been somewhat surprised to find out that the wort generates considerable heat while fermenting.... +1 Cliff, I have a temperature guage next to my FV and at the peak of fermentation the wort is 2'C warmer than ambient. ..... you need a fermenting area LESS than 21c for a few days. So make sure you are taking temperature of the wort, not the surrounding area. Just something to think about. You could just run the fridge temp at 2'C cooler for the first three days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 You could just run the fridge temp at 2'C cooler for the first three days. Not if you are reading the wort temperature instead of ambient temps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Thought I'd mention this to help others just starting this homebrewing thing. I've been somewhat surprised to find out that the wort generates considerable heat while fermenting. As an example, a stout that is now on day 2 of fermenting in a room with an air temp of 21c or 70f, has a wort temperature of 24c or 75f. The reason I mention this is that if you want your brew at say 21c, you need a fermenting area LESS than 21c for a few days. So make sure you are taking temperature of the wort, not the surrounding area. Just something to think about. Yes, yeast generate a little heat of their own when working. Nevertheless, everyone's circumstances are different so they need to work out what is best for them. I aim to get most ale temps down to 18C. My sticker thermometer on the FV is fairly accurate as it projects the same temps as my controller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordEoin Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 i turned my brew belt off 13 hours ago 'cos i was told 24C was too high. the room has been pretty stable at 15-17 C (for the past few hours 17), so i'd expect water to be at about 17C. My brew seems to be gererating more heat than others in this thread at aprox 22C (5 degrees as opposed to the reported 2 or 3) or am i reading the temp strip wrong? TEMP INSIDE : 17.4C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamB8 Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 seems really odd mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Not odd at all once the beer is fermenting the heat generated is enough to maintain wort temperature as long as the surrounding temp doesnt drop lower than 6 to 7 degrees lower than the wort temperature. I have read this and know from my own experience my brew room this time of year is a steady 12 to 14 overnight and can always maintain it 20 to 22 degrees throughout the night wont ever go lower than 18 until gets much colder. and looking at that photo id almost guess the wort is at 22 as the middle sticker says Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamH1525226084 Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Yep the middle number is the temp. It's when you get odd temps that it's harder to read, as only 2 colours light up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Yep, I read that as 22C as well.... how long had your beer been in when you took that photo? Why I ask is because the brew is such a large mass it will take a while before it will actually get down to around the 17-20C mark. (ambient temps) I'd just leave the belt off as it is certainly not required and you will also save on power. Wet towel around it and if it still persists to stay high then blow a fan on it or drop a few ice bricks in the wet towel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordEoin Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 the temp stuck about the same overnight, but during the day it dropped. So it seems that the first burst of fermentation in the sugar rich liquid causes a lot of extra heat, but once the sugar levels have dropped a bit so does the temperature. it's not caused by the ambient temp of the room. current SG 1.014 Yep' date=' I read that as 22C as well.... how long had your beer been in when you took that photo?[/quote'] It was about 14-15 hours I think. 13 hours since I turned off the brew belt when you said in another thread thatit was too high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Your right you have to adjust your heating or cooling requirements as fermentaition slows and produces less heat farly basic thing that most home brewers a few months or more into brewing would know through trial and error. The ambient room temp still plays a big part but as fermentation dies down you might find something as simple as wrapping an old jacket around fermenter when out of house to keep its heat in seems to work well for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffH1 Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 Yes, yeast generate a little heat of their own when working. Nevertheless, everyone's circumstances are different so they need to work out what is best for them. I aim to get most ale temps down to 18C. My sticker thermometer on the FV is fairly accurate as it projects the same temps as my controller. Yep, the "sticker thermometer" is what I am using now. It is showing what the temperature of the actual wort is at the time without regard to the ambient temperature. My post was to help new brewers from having to learn from experience and get a better brew from the start. Someone starting a brew at the very upper end of the recommended scale may not realize that the brew itself will be even warmer. Controlling the temperature by whatever method you chose or have available will work well only if you actually use a method, such as the sticker thermometer, to check the actual wort. I have started using an infrared thermometer lately also, the point and read type. Very convienent and quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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