[James K]

I am going to be making a blonde ale with LondonEsb yeast this weekend. I am wondering wondering about temperature. My house reads 70* and the temp probe on my inkbird says 65.7* in the area where I ferment. If anything my house is around it’s warmest during this temp reading of the day.

My question is, what temp would you ferment at? Do I need much control? I plan on doing a diacetal rest after 4-5 days and increasing temp.

Thoughts?

[ynotbrusum]

Try a swamp cooler for the first 72 hours, maybe?

[dmtaylor]

No control required.  If you think it might get too warm, then put a wet t-shirt on the fermenter.

[stpug]

Letting it ferment up to about 72F is fine, so whatever it takes to ensure it doesn't get beyond that should be sufficient.  Likely a simple bucket-with-water where you can put your fermenter in is good enough, maybe some frozen ice packs/water bottles swapped out daily if needed.

More importantly, make sure you produce your wort specifically for that yeast.  It does not ferment maltotriose at all, therefore it finishes much higher than expected.  If you're looking for decent attenuation then utilizing some simple sugars as parts of your sugar source is highly recommended.  Attenuation may only achieve ~67%, so brew accordingly.

[James K]

What about on the low end of the temp scale. My house probably gets down to 60 in the early morning, should I just make sure the temp doesn’t go below 65? Or it may not go below 65 because fermentation creates heat?

[stpug]

What about on the low end of the temp scale. My house probably gets down to 60 in the early morning, should I just make sure the temp doesn’t go below 65? Or it may not go below 65 because fermentation creates heat?

The bucket-of-water-bath is nice insurance from temp spikes both up and down, but it's not perfect.  Luckily, it's easy to adjust with frozen water bottles or warm tap water.  Generally speaking, once active ale fermentation is underway, you're battling with keeping things cool as opposed to warming them up.  It a definite variable though and one you'll likely need to determine on your own.  The water bath is super low tech and quite flexible.  The first time will help you determine the learning curve needed to be successful, and will probably require a little more of your attention, but once you've figured how things work around your place then subsequent batches should be a bit more hands-off.