Juggling fermenter space

[Cain]

I am trying to fill up my pipeline for fall.

I brewed a hefeweizen 3 days ago and it is actively fermenting now, at 66 degrees.
I would like to brew a pale ale today.

My problem is that if I brew again today, I would have to cool down the pale ale in the fermenter to get it down pitching temperatures.

To do this, I would need to remove the temperature probe from the hefeweizen carboy, and attach it to the pale ale carboy. (Otherwise the fermenter would not turn on because the probe correctly reads the temperature at 66 degrees on the hefeweizen)

Once the fermenter turned on, it would chill for a few hours to bring down the temp of the warm pale ale, thus over-chilling the hefeweizen.

Should I wait a few days for the hefe to finish fermenting, or would it not make much of a difference to super-cool the hefeweizen?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[eric19312]

Pull the hefe out of the chamber during the few hours it takes to bring the next beer to pitching temp. I have good luck with US-05 at 68F. The hefe would prob also be fine at that temp. Pull the hefe, put the pale into the chamber and drop it to 68. Pitch the pale and return the hefe to the chamber. Control the chamber from reading on the pale.

 

[mongoose33]

Here's a thread you'll find of interest:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=631776

I had exactly the same problem. If you have a second inkbird or other temperature controller, and a heating mat/pad/something you can use to warm the first fermenter, you can do both.

You move the temp probe from the first fermenter to the new one, and let that temp control the chilling. You put the second probe on the first batch, and use a different controller to manage the heating of that fermenter.

So, as the chilling of the new batch overchills the old batch, the heating mat/belt on the old batch gooses it with heat to keep it where you want.

If you don't have a second controller or a heating source, you may need to wait. One option might be to pull the first batch out when the krausen has fallen and use a swamp cooler to keep it cool enough until the new batch slows and then put them together.

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Here's a pic showing it. I used the towel to help insulate the fermwrap so it would direct more of its heat into the fermenter, and the thin piece of foam board to keep the heat away from the new batch.

It's kind of hard to see, but I have a Fermwrap on the original (Batch One) batch, and a reptile cage heat mat on the new batch (Batch Two). I always put one or the other on the batch because I typically will run the temp up from about 63- or 64-degrees to about 71 after krausen falls to let the yeast clean up after itself, and the heating makes it easy.

 

[MrAverageGuy]

Sounds like you don't have a coil chiller - but do you have any other way of getting the ale wort down to pitching temp (like an ice bath outside the carboy)? Seems like that would be easier than pulling the hef out of your fermenting chamber...

 

[Murphys_Law]

In my opinion, your hefe is probably close to done with 3 days at 66. Raising a few degrees now won't hurt it.

I usually raise mine to around 68 the last few days, and find they finish quickly.

 

[mongoose33]

I had to do the two-batch thing again today....I have a California Common I want to keep at 64 degrees for another week, and brewed an Amber today that the recipe states should be at 67 degrees.

I hooked up one Inkbird and heating mat on the older CalCommon batch, set the temp at 64. The cooling plug isn't used. When this one gets too cold from the refrigerator responding to the other batch, it'll warm it up.

The new batch also has an inkbird and temp probe, set at 67, but both the refrigerator and the heating pad are controlled by it. As exothermic effects of the yeast raise the temp of this batch, the Inkbird will call for the refrigerator to cool it down, as it should. But the other Inkbird will keep the first batch from cooling.

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BTW: my LHBC is having a throwdown in October where everybody brews an Amber from the same recipe. That's why the 67. Left to my own devices I'd probably ferment it at 64 or 63.

BTW II: The first batch, the California Common, is being brewed and fermented the same way as my last one because I used Brewtan-B in this batch and I want to compare the old and new. Only way to do that is follow my notes from the last batch. That one sat in the ferm chamber for a couple weeks, the last week at...you guessed it....64 degrees.