Fermenting Ale's At Lower Temps.

[kocken42]

Hey lads,

Ive got an ale in primary at the moment which I put down on Saturday and is fermenting at about 17 degrees C.

I was just wondering if there are any side effects of fermenting ales at lower temps apart from issues in regards to yeast become stuck.

Is it beneficial to ferment at lower temps (16 degs)? or as long as you are under 20 degrees (for ales) it doesn't REALLY matter, you are just extending primary fermentation?

I know in wine they ferment whites at about 14 degs because a slower, longer and steadier fermentation producers cleaner characters and retains varietal characters. Perhaps it's the same for beer?

Cheers in advance.

 

[Bribie G]

I depends on the yeast. Some ale yeasts such as Wyeast Ringwood and Wyeast Irish Ale can be used in the low 20s and can produce interesting esters, whilst other yeasts prefer under 20, and Nottingham dried yeast can ferment right down to almost lager temperatures and produce a 'fake lager' beer. Each yeast seems to have its own 'sweet spot' where you get a balance between 'clean' and 'ester'. For example I use Ringwood in English Best Bitters because some fruitiness is to-style and would never consider running Ringwood at - say - 16 degrees.
What yeasts were you considering using?

 

[big78sam]

I use Ringwood in English Best Bitters because some fruitiness is to-style and would never consider running Ringwood at - say - 16 degrees.
What yeasts were you considering using?

Bribie, what temp do you ferment Ringwood at for a bitter?

 

[Bribie G]

Bribie, what temp do you ferment Ringwood at for a bitter?

Around 21 degrees, I wouldn't go much higher than that because I like a bit of fruit, but not nail polish remover or fusel oils I once did a stout on Ringwood during a winter and it sat on the garage floor at 16 degrees and the bloody thing took about 2 weeks to attenuate, blooped at me every 30 seconds. <_<

 

[geoffd]

you might want to have a higher piching rate if youre going to brew at 16 deg, also a diacetyl rest at 20 degrees might be warranted, pending on the strain.
Scottich ale yeast ferments down to 14 deg no problem, I'm making an export stout with it right now at room temp. (melbourne)
Kolsh ale yeast is also another low temp ale yeast & steam ale in America is brewed low temp i think.

 

[simon.sillitoe]

To this day I STILL don't have proper temp control (living in a small apartment limits the number of fridges I can have.. ), but found one of the rooms is pretty good (ie limited) in the temperature variation department. Over winter I've brewed a few ales with the room usually around 16 degs, down to as low as 14 with seemingly no issues [fermenter obviously a little warmer]. Just let it sit for ~2 weeks.

Yeasts were 1056/WLP001 and coopers bottle.

 

[bconnery]

I depends on the yeast. Some ale yeasts such as Wyeast Ringwood and Wyeast Irish Ale can be used in the low 20s and can produce interesting esters, whilst other yeasts prefer under 20, and Nottingham dried yeast can ferment right down to almost lager temperatures and produce a 'fake lager' beer. Each yeast seems to have its own 'sweet spot' where you get a balance between 'clean' and 'ester'. For example I use Ringwood in English Best Bitters because some fruitiness is to-style and would never consider running Ringwood at - say - 16 degrees.
What yeasts were you considering using?

What he said.

It's all down to the yeast, and even then the beer you are using the yeast in potentially. You may want the same yeast to give you more esters one time and not so much another..

Some yeasts will start to have issues with running at lower temps and can grind to a halt, some will keep running.
Some will handle the higher temps better than others.
And so on, and so on.

Each yeast has an ideal range, and within that range can have different behaviours, and outside of that range different yeasts will behave differently.

As so often in brewing the answer is.... It depends...

To answer your question in a qualified way: between 16-20 will probably be fine, depending on yeast.
But it really does depend...

 

[ekul]

I didn't have temp control on my fridge for a little while and the coopers clone i was fermenting was very vigorous at 12C!! That was cpa yeast.