Pitching temp vs Fermentation temp

[NervousDad]

For my pale ales my fermentation schedule is:

Pitch my yeast around 65 (I believe this is too low) and then I bring the temp down to ~62 using a temp probe on the outside of my fermenter covered with styrofoam (I'd assume it's a bit higher in the carboy). I let it sit at that temp until high krausen and then I start taking the temp up to around 68 @ 1f per day where I leave it for around two weeks.

Long Story Short:
Should I pitch @ 70 and let is sit for 12 hrs like the instructions state and then bring the temp down? will that create esters?


The reason I ask is I have somewhat of a lag from when I pitch to when I see bubbles come out of my blow off tube (24 hrs) There is definitely fermentation in the first few hours(light krausen on top of the wort) it's just not vigorous until 24hrs. I always have a blow out..

For my last beer 1068 I pitched a 1400ml starter and oxygenated with 1 lpm O2 for 4 minutes (inline as I drain the wort from the chiller)

[Ozwald]

I pitch at fermentation temp & leave it there. I'll raise it towards the end of fermentation, but I don't mess with it in the beginning. If anything I'll overchill & let it come up to fermentation temps.

[TheDarkSide]

I also pitch at fermentation temp for ales. For lagers, I pitch about 5 degrees lower and let it free rise and hold at fermentation temps.

Just make sure your wort and starter are in the same temp range (less than 10 degrees difference) so you don't shock the yeast.

[NervousDad]

Thanks guys!

[hoodie]

I was shocked recently when I set my temp controller to 65 and I came out later and the thermowell was measuring 71.
The ambient temp was in the low 60's, but I guess the fermentation raised it 6 degrees.

[NervousDad]

I was shocked recently when I set my temp controller to 65 and I came out later and the thermowell was measuring 71.
The ambient temp was in the low 60's, but I guess the fermentation raised it 6 degrees.

Do you cover the temp probe? I'm just curios, because I've been hearing mixed comments about this. I cover my probe with a piece of styrofoam and hold it tightly to the side of the carboy (better bottle) with a bungie cord. I'm not sure how well plastic conducts temp though. I would think that the temp difference would only be a degree or two, I'm surprised by 6 degree. Jamil said that it was identical, which I can't imagine it would be...

[cdburg]

I was shocked recently when I set my temp controller to 65 and I came out later and the thermowell was measuring 71.
The ambient temp was in the low 60's, but I guess the fermentation raised it 6 degrees.

Do you cover the temp probe? I'm just curios, because I've been hearing mixed comments about this. I cover my probe with a piece of styrofoam and hold it tightly to the side of the carboy (better bottle) with a bungie cord. I'm not sure how well plastic conducts temp though. I would think that the temp difference would only be a degree or two, I'm surprised by 6 degree. Jamil said that it was identical, which I can't imagine it would be...

I've noticed the same approximate difference in my own set up. I think part of the difference is that Jamil used a refrigerator, and I use a chest freezer. I would think that the chest freezer drops the temp of the glass carboy more quickly than a fridge would. I've seen the outside probe (covered in foam rubber) measure 5 or more degrees lower than the thermowell.

When I use a Better Bottle, the difference doesn't seem as severe. The outside probe and the thermowell are usually pretty close.

[hoodie]

My probe is in a thermowell that measures the temperature inside the carboy. But I also measured the temp on the outside and they were pretty close. My guess as to why the temperature went up so much was because the temperature outside was so close to my set point that there was nothing to offset the heat from fermentation. If it was colder outside, it would have kept it down. I am using a fermwrap in heat mode btw.