[mswilliams1975]

So with the advise of a lot of great people here I built a cooler for fermentation for my current batch of pale ale. It works great. So great that even with one ice pack I stay at 63 deg but mostly 60 to 62 deg F. Is this to cold? At these temps how long will fermentation take?
I am seeing activity in the air lock and good foam on top so I assume all is well but thought I would verify.

[tygo]

Nope, that's not too cold.  If the ambient temp in the fermentation chamber is 60F the beer will be fermenting a few degrees warmer anyway.  The time it takes to complete fermentation depends on amount of yeast pitched and OG of the beer as well as the temperature.  But if you're pitching a proper amount of yeast into a mid-gravity (1.050-1.060) ale you'll probably be done in say 5-7 days.  Then you'll want to let it sit in there a little longer to finish up and clear.

[bluesman]

Most American Ale yeasts will ferment as cold as the mid 50's. I routinely ferment my American Ales in the upper 50's to low 60's during the winter months in my cellar with no problem. Makes for very clean tasting ales. 

[mswilliams1975]

So I had a OG of 1.050 and used 2 packs of US 05 yeast pitched dry for 5 gal. It is currently at 59 deg F and all seems well. Thanks again for all the info.

[mxstar21]

Fermentation will produce some heat.  The best way to check what your fermentation are, is to put one of those stick on thermometer strips on your fermenter.

[weazletoe]

Two packs for  5 gal of 1050 seems like a lot of yeast. I'm hoping you  don't get a bunch of lazy, good for nothing yeasties in there, and make a funk out of your beer. Next batch, you might want to try the Mr. Malty yeast calculator. It's saved my beers life a time or two. 

[bluesman]

Two packs for  5 gal of 1050 seems like a lot of yeast. I'm hoping you  don't get a bunch of lazy, good for nothing yeasties in there, and make a funk out of your beer. Next batch, you might want to try the Mr. Malty yeast calculator. It's saved my beers life a time or two.  

+1

Overpitching can negatively affect beer flavor as much so as underpitching. I also recommend targeting the appropriate quantity of yeast using a calculator of some sort, aerating the wort and pitching accordingly in an effort to get the best flavor profile from the yeast.

[mswilliams1975]

So I plugged in my info at MrMalty and came up with needing 1.9 packs of dry so I hope all turns out well. It was good to see they have an App for that so I can use it on my next batch as well and be more accurate with the amount of yeast needed.

[weazletoe]

Oh, you're using a 5 gram pack.....ok. I stand corrected. I'm used to those big packs of US-05. 

[mswilliams1975]

ah crap Weaze there are 2 sizes? Damnit I have got to start paying attention to what the hell I am using.

You know I love to cook. It brings me great pleasure and relaxes me. I hate baking. It is a very precise procedure that I have never been that good at. Brewing is starting to seem a lot like baking. The difference is I am motivated to enjoy and learn brewing to if precise is what I need to be then so be it.

Now I have to go dig out my yeast packages out of the trash to see what damn size they were.

[weazletoe]

 No worries. It happens to the best of us. I actually tend to forget myself that there are two sizes. US-05 is my house, go-to yeast, and it comes in one of the big 11.5 gram packs. On the off chance that I use something different, it's US-04, which comes in 11.5 also. The last batch I did, I had to use a different yeast, as the place I have to buy from now does not carry Safeale. (they do now  ) I did a 12 gallon batch with one 5 gram pack. Man was I scared!! It was SAturday, and they were not open again till Monday. I did what I had to, and pitched what I had. I got fortunate, and all went well. Had a very vigorous fermentation, and no funk in the beer. Just got fortunate, I guess.I'll not make that mistake again. 

[morticaixavier]

mswilliams, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER WHILE BREWING IS....

relax. 

Worst case scenerio you have to dump a batch. much more likely you get some esters you weren't expecting which might just turn out to be yummy. 99 percent of the time you will make beer. Maybe not great, world class, award winning beer. but beer that will likely make your friends and family say something along the lines of 'wow, you should brew profesionally' I am a fairly lazy brewer. I have made a few starters but ussually under pitch. I do notice some esters that probably shouldn't be there but it's still good beer and fresher and more fun to drink than anything I buy in the store. If I am making a really big beer I will try to have a batch of smaller beer finish up near when I am going to brew so I can use the yeast cake but other than that I don't worry to much. particularly when you are starting out. Focus on cleanliness and patience. Pitching rates, water chemistry all the 'baking' type stuff can wait until you are good and hooked by the hobby. Think of it as 'cooking' instead of 'baking' and you will have a good time while you learn.

[tubercle]

ah crap Weaze there are 2 sizes? Damnit I have got to start paying attention to what the hell I am using.

You know I love to cook. It brings me great pleasure and relaxes me. I hate baking. It is a very precise procedure that I have never been that good at. Brewing is starting to seem a lot like baking. The difference is I am motivated to enjoy and learn brewing to if precise is what I need to be then so be it.

Now I have to go dig out my yeast packages out of the trash to see what damn size they were.

 You don't have to be as precise as you think. You don't need a thermometer or digital scale that reads to six decimal places.

 Everyone on here measures grain by weight, the Tubercle uses a tin can.