Yeast Tempurature Ranges

[Tapout]

Yeast has a range in which it performs. Too hot and it dies off. Too cold and it goes to sleep. I understand about trying to stay away from the high limit, unless you're going for some special taste or aroma.

Would there be a reason to try to keep the temp at the lower limit?

It would seem, to me, with fewer than 40 brews under my belt, that the mid point in the temp range would be the sweet spot. You would get the most activity there. But, I see comments, not necessarily on Homebrewtalk, from experienced brewers, keeping the fermentation temp at the low end.

Thoughts?

Thanks for your input to my brewing knowledge.

And I tried to do a search here first, but "fermentation temp" came back with zero hits? Odd.

 

[Begin2Brew]

It really depends on what you want the flavor profile to be. Let's look at a Hefeweizen.

Warm fermentation will favor the development of esters and give more of the banana and bubblegum flavors. Cooler fermentation will favor the phenolics so more clove will come out.

I always ferment lagers in the lower range as I want them clean, no esters. Now some ales like a blond ale I'll ferment a bit higher since I want some fruitness in the flavor profile.