Slowly Stepping up Ale Fermentation Temps

[TreetopVT]

I was speaking with the owner of my LHBS the other day and he states that they always pitch their "normal" ales at 58-60F. He then lets them start fermenting for about 48 hours before slowly stepping up the temp a degree or two a day until he reaches the low 70's. He says that he's never had a problem with fermentation or off-flavors using this technique. What are people's thoughts on a stepped temperature fermentation? I have the setup to do it, but before I dive in I wanted to poll the greater brewing mind.

 

[Yooper]

I was speaking with the owner of my LHBS the other day and he states that they always pitch their "normal" ales at 58-60F. He then lets them start fermenting for about 48 hours before slowly stepping up the temp a degree or two a day until he reaches the low 70's. He says that he's never had a problem with fermentation or off-flavors using this technique. What are people's thoughts on a stepped temperature fermentation? I have the setup to do it, but before I dive in I wanted to poll the greater brewing mind.

Yep, that would be perfect. Start low, and then ferment for a while and then allow the beer to finish up at a higher temperature, but still in the optimum temperature range for the yeast strain used. That would be ideal.

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

That's exactly what I do. I pitch at the very low end of the temp range (usually 60-62 for my yeasts). The yeast itself will warm up the beer as fermentation goes on for the first couple days and then I help it out by bumping the temp 1 or 2 degrees every day for a week till I get to 70.

Works great for me.

 

[motorneuron]

This is a classic pattern to follow because: (1) most of the flavor, including off flavor, is produced in the early stages of fermentation (first 72 hours); (2) lower initial temperatures will discourage off flavors and generally lead to a cleaner taste; (3) bumping up the temperature later (or allowing it to rise) permits the yeast to finish fermentation and fully attenuate more easily.

58F or even 60F is a bit low for some ale yeasts, so you have to read up about your particular strain before using such a low initial temperature. But the basic pattern is right on. So if know your yeast conks out below 63F, just start it at 63F and otherwise follow that same pattern.

 

[TreetopVT]

Thanks for the great feedback! So I should start my fermentation roughly at the low end of the yeast strain I am pitching and not a carte blanche 59-61?

 

[motorneuron]

Yes, you certainly can do that in many beers (many American ales, for example), but it depends a bit on the style of beer and the effect you're going for. Some more estery styles (e.g. many English and Belgian beers) depend on the yeast-produced flavors for the style to work. In other words, you're not always going for the cleanest fermentation profile; sometimes you want some fruity or spicy flavors, which are produced more by yeast at higher temperatures. So in those beers, you wouldn't necessarily start at the bottom of the temperature range. It's worth experimenting, though.

Some yeasts change a lot over their temperature range, and some change less. I'd say Belgians tend to change a lot. This is a good example, though it's hard to get it just from a chart: http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/BelgianYeastStrains.pdf