Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:48 am
Temp swings of 3+ degrees are so often thought of as 'bad' round these parts from all the talk of temp control over the years without being specific about when it's important & the impact it'll have at the various stages of fermentation.
The most critical time for temp stability is the period from when you pitch until you have an active fermentation. During this time they're busy uptaking nutrients & producing more cells. If the temp goes up a few degrees, they have no way of knowing if that temperature trend is going to continue, so the response is to adapt which is going to create a lot of off-flavors, mutations & generally unhealthy cells (for our purposes). The next most critical time is the period from the beginning of active fermentation until it begins to slow - about 2 or 3 days. They're no longer reproducing (in a way that we really care about), but they'll still respond unfavorably to temp swings & produce off-flavors. As fermentation is winding down, the temp swings won't affect them as much while they work into a dormant phase. There won't be as many cells still working, the ones that are still working aren't very active & are going to be much slower to respond to their environment. It still can potentially pose an issue, but not even close to the effect that temp swings have on the larger, more active population in the previous life cycle. A swing of 6 degrees at this point is likely to have less of an effect at this point than a 3 degree swing would a few days earlier. After they've flocculated & fallen out of solution, there's next to no activity at all, so their response is going to be in a similar state.
Just like stated before regarding a hot car, it really takes some abuse at this point to get a response at all, such as the hot environment, 20+ degree swings & being disturbed by either the vibration of the vehicle or general handling. Even the tiny bit of priming sugar isn't enough to rouse them into another sensitive cycle. It's more like giving Spider a cookie after a Paxton dinner. He'll loosen his belt (which won't make much sense since he's not wearing pants), take a look at the cookie & get around to it when he feels like it. Other than the Kenny G record playing in the background, his environment won't be effecting him like when he's active & hungry. Instead he'll just be a lazy fat load sitting on the couch waiting for Pax's prime rib to digest not giving two shits what the thermostat is set to.
Lee
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"Every zoo is a petting zoo if you man the fuck up."
BN Army // 13th Mountain Division
