Open fermentation tempature control

youngson616

Is this a thing? Seems like most people use a style that likes the tempature of a basement perhaps and ferment openly down there. Just curious what others do for this as far as open ferment temp control.
I open ferment in a bucket in a closed chest freezer with my tempature probe in an open cup half filled with sanitizer solution. The temp swings are moderate, about 3 degrees right now, would like closer to 1 +/- . This time around I rigged up a plastic siphon clamp and shoved it through my carboy probe, and slid the probe in there.
What are yall doing??

youngson616

Here's what the new tryout setup looks like...

youngson616

Im afraid that everthing gonna get caked up with krausen lol

Jack-Arandir

Great question. I guess the question is what kind of beer are you brewing, and why use open fermentation?
I did an open fermentation for a weissbier and weizenbock, but ambient basement temperature was fine (65-68F). Eric Toft at Schönram Brewery uses open fermentation and makes some of the best beer in Germany.
I considered open fermentation for some lagers, and I thought I could leave the chilling coil in the fermenter (I use a stainless conical), similar to what you are doing. Another option would be to put the bucket in an ice bath and control the temperature of the bath.
I agree that the chest freezer method will have some temperature swings because of the air gap and lag between cooling and the probe. Maybe a PID controller could drop your swings to 1 degree? Whatever you use, good luck and good beer!

youngson616

This beer here is a dunkleweizen, and I am doing open fermentation because I ran my last hefe open fermented and it was the best one I've ever had. Lots of local micro brews around here use this method with weissbiers and swear by it. Im trying to duplicate the result with the dunkle. Im on hour 24 right now smells like toffee clove biscuit banana

youngson616

Oh the earlier photo was hour 14, yeast just starting to get going

Jack-Arandir

I agree with open fermentation on weissbier, dunkelweiss, weizenbock. Mine turned out so well it surprised me. In my ferments, whenever I put the lid on the bucket, I would get a volcano of foam within a few hours. So I definitely concur with your plan.
Out of curiosity, what was your recipe? I may want to brew one myself. I used a recipe modeled off this: Recipe: Kelheim Weizendoppelbock, in the Style of Schneider Aventinus

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youngson616

Does anyone go right from primary open fermentation to bottling/kegging no secondary?
I would like to try to rack this into a bottling bucket and bottle as soon as its attenuated (probably 4 days total). I been doing secondary after for a few days always and its like it develops an odor when it gets racked and sits there and I don't like that haha

youngson616

This was one of my own thought up recipes. That's pretty much most of what I do now as I have a brew store nearby. I could share it anyhow-
5.5/lbs dark wheat
3/lbs pils
2/lbs dark munich 20L
.25/lb caramunich III
.25/lb chocolate
.5/lb caramel
I used a Hefeweizen yeast, white labs 300 and hallertauer hops. I know it seems heavy on special malts, but my last dunkle I did wasn't toasty enough with a small amount. This one seems to be right on point so far!

youngson616

Well here we are at 42 hours, and this dunkle smells sooooo good. Pungent banana aroma with roasted caramel notes and subtle clove. This might be a winner!

McMullan

Yes, temperature control is just as important with open fermentations. I use a thermowell to monitor temperature.

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McMullan

Commercial brewers (and some home brewers) use attemperators to manage temperature in open fermentations.

youngson616

Im at about 3 days (68 hrs) and this beer is practically done. Krausen went down and 1.012 gravity this morning. Can I bottle this already after racking?

McMullan

Depends on the yeast strain. Some top-cropping English strains are so flocculant the wort is almost bright during fermentation and the beer can be packaged soon after fermentation finishes. You can put a small glass of the beer in the fridge for a few hours then see how much sediment drops out. Ideally, very little. Best to package bright beer generally.

youngson616

Ok gotcha. Im asking because I always secondary, then it almost darkens more there, and then developes an undesirable odor as well. Its white labs 300 hefeweizen yeast if that matters. Im wanting it to taste semi yeasty, its a dunkleweizen

McMullan

Hefeweizen is a completely different kettle of fish. One of the few exceptions to bright beer. Not really my thing, tbh. I'd say bottle it when it starts to taste good enough to package?

Jack-Arandir

I would recommend not to rush it. Even though the yeast have hit FG, they're not done yet. They have lots of fermentation chemicals and crap to clean up. It's like doing the dishes after you finish cooking -- just let it happen. You won't lose yeasty flavor, but you will lose awkward flavors and suspended protein clumps. Give it a week, then bottle. Or maybe bottle some now and see if you find a difference between 3-day bottled beer and 7-day bottled beer.
For comparison, I brewed a weissbier and weizenbock last year:
Weissbier: 7 days primary, cold crash 3 days, keg. Tasted amazing. Moderate haze, but after a month in the keg it dropped clear and looked spectacular.
Weizenbock: 14 day primary (1.066 OG, it kept fermenting forever!), cold crash 2 days, kegged. Moderate haze, but harder to see due to the darker color. Tasted just incredible.
Good luck!

Franktalk

If you think it's done fermenting, and it is at terminal gravity (FG) you should probably bottle it or close off your fermenter. If it is done and you leave it open, then it may take on oxygen, which you don't want. Open fermentation is a balancing act, like most brewing processes. If it is done, then package it for consumption. Dunkleweizen is meant to be consumed fresh and aging won't make it better, but could make it worse.

tracer-bullet

I was thinking - open fermentation may benefit from some motion as well. Looks like you are continuously pumping?
I also notice the lid on... and the interesting stacked arrangement. Mind explaining your setup? I'm definitely curious.