Author: Marshall Schott
I’m not the most patient person in the world. When I started brewing, it was commonplace to leave beer in primary for 3-5 days then rack to secondary and store it for 2-3 more weeks before packaging. It sucked, but I did it, mainly because everywhere I looked I found cautionary tales of batches gone bad as a direct result of one’s failure to “give it more time.” Warnings continue to abound about the great evil of impatience in this hobby.
As my obsession with brewing grew, I read, listened, and asked a bunch of questions. Through this, I began to learn the reasons for such extended fermentation times were likely a function of a few factors, namely shitty yeast, lacking pitch rates, and poor control of fermentation temperature. This led to informal experimentation where I eventually learned I could turn beers around in significantly less time by pitching an adequate amount of healthy yeast and properly controlling temps during fermentation, and the beers were as good as if not better than those I was making before.
What follows are the typical fermentation schedules I use for beers fermented with ale and hybrid yeast strains (for those fermented with traditional lager strains, check out my Quick Lager Method page). They’re not unique, I know plenty of folks who do the same thing, I’m just writing about it here to relieve my fingers from typing it out so often.
A couple assumptions:
– You’re using a good calculator and making adequately sized yeast starters.
– You have some method of controlling fermentation temperatures (up and down) with relative precision.
– You keg… if not, add 2-3 more weeks for bottle conditioning.
– You’re actually interested in quicker turnaround times (if not, that’s cool, but this will bore you).
| ALE FERMENTATION SCHEDULE |
1. Chill wort to target fermentation temp (66°-68°F/19˚-20˚C)), place in temp controlled environment, attach insulated temp probe to side of fermentor, and pitch yeast starter.
2. After 2-5 days (OG dependent) of active fermentation, remove probe from side of fermentor so it measures ambient then bump regulator to 75°F/24˚C* (the Black Box makes this easy).
3. After 2-5 more days, once FG is stable and the sample is free of off-flavors, cold crash the beer to 30-32°F/0˚C.
4. 12-24 hours later, when the beer is below 50°F/10˚C, fine with gelatin.
5. 24-48 hours later, package the beer.
Lately, I’ve been letting my beers carbonate at 40 psi for a day before dropping the pressure to ~12 psi for serving, they’re usually ready to drink at this point. I’ve found higher OG beers may take a tad longer to fully ferment, and in my opinion, maltier big beers benefit from a bit more conditioning (cold in keg), so those are some exceptions. Otherwise, APA, Brown Ale, ESB, IPA, Dry Stout, I’ve had great luck going grain to glass with all of these styles in 2 weeks or less!
| HYBRID FERMENTATION SCHEDULE |
When using hybrid strains to make styles such as California Common, Kölsch, and Cream Ale, I prefer to ferment on the cooler end of the range in hopes of limiting the development of yeast character caused by warmer fermentations. Because of this, not only do I propagate a touch more yeast than I do for ales, but I use a slightly different fermentation schedule as well.
1. Chill wort to target fermentation temp (58°F/14˚C), place in temp controlled environment, attach insulated temp probe to side of fermentor, and pitch yeast starter.
2. After 3-7 days (OG dependent) of active fermentation, or once attenuation is over 50%, remove probe from side of fermentor so it measures ambient then bump regulator to 70°F/21˚C*.
3. After 3-5 more days, once FG is stable and the sample is free of off-flavors, cold crash the beer to 30-32°F/0˚C.
4. 12-24 hours later, when the beer is below 50°F/10˚C, fine with gelatin.
5. 24-48 hours later, package the beer.
As you can see, this schedule is the same as my ale fermentation schedule except for that it allows for a few more days of active fermentation.
And that’s how I do it. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. Cheers!
*People often ask why I remove the probe from the side of the carboy when changing the chamber temperature– it’s because I want the temp to rise/fall slowly and I don’t like hearing the compressor on my freezer running for hours on end. I’m not sure what other good reason there is for this, but it works for me, so I do it. I’ve left the probe attached many times on accident, it works just fine as well.
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44 thoughts on “Pitch – Ramp – Crash | How I Ferment”
With your hybrid schedule l, you say you’re looking for 50% attenuation before you ramp. With your ale schedule, what are you looking for? Same thing or just slowed fermentation?
Also, I know that with beers that you dry hop, you tend to do so shortly after you ramp. Is this a consistent process for you that should be included in your fermentation schedule?
Ehh, the same. To be honest, I only put that because people who underpitch or use less than healthy yeast may experience a long lag in which the SG hasn’t dropped enough by 2-3 days in. 99% of the time, I start ramping 3 days after pitching with both ale and hybrid strains; for lager, it’s usually 5 days post-pitch.
When do you dry hop? At the ramp up phase?
As an aside to the dry hop question, do you perceive any differences (no matter how slight) in hop aroma when fining with gelatin? If you listen to the internet brain trust, they will tell you that yeast pulled out of suspension by the gelatin will bond with hop oils/resins? and take some of that great aroma with it. What say you?
I don’t perceive a difference, and yeah, I’ve heard many anecdotal reports of people who do. I’ve only done a single gelatin xBmt so far, people were generally incapable of distinguishing a difference, and I’ve more planned!
Well, truth be told, I maybe make 5-10 batches per year that get dry hopped, hence I didn’t focus on that. I almost always dry hop the day before I begin the cold crash, so the hops are only in contact with the beer for 2-3 days before packaging.
Awesome. Thanks for your input! I too am all about turning beer around as quickly as possible, and now that I have a temp controlled ferm chamber (maiden voyage tomorrow), I will hopefully be able to shave a few days off my normal routine.
I would love to see a chart of your specific black box settings for each schedule you use 😉
They’re right here!
Perfect. for some reason I didn’t think this was complete… *slaps forehead*
SLAP IT HARDER!!!
I’ve been having some diacetyl issues using this schedule. If you find that in your sample, do you just leave it at ramped temp until that dissipates?
I think diacetyl is hugely yeast dependent, though I often use this schedule with WLP002, known for diacetyl production, and have yet to have a problem. What’s your process? Are you pitching healthy starters? In those cases where it is present, I’d be inclined to let it stay warm until it dissipates.
I pitched a 1L starter (1.5L batch for harvesting) of WLP090 that had 83% viability at the time for a 1.056 OG APA. I’m perceiving carmel/butterscotch and several BCJP Judges (including me) knocked that as diactyl. Only 6.9% of the grain bill had Caramel 40L so I really shouldn’t perceive caramel at all, just color.
I plan to make another starter and use .5L to “krausen” this batch and hope it cleans up that off flavor.
I typically don’t take samples other than OG and FG. I strictly follow the time schedule from your Black Box post. That is something I’ll change going forward as it’s becoming clear that the beer decides when its ready, not the clock.
Diacetyl with 090 using this schedule? I mean, it sure sounds like diacetyl, but I’ve never (ever) gotten that from 090, and I use it a lot, which leads me to wonder if maybe you didn’t pickup a contaminating bug somewhere along the line. I’ve entered beers fermented with 090 with up to 15% C-malt only 3 weeks after brewed into comps and haven’t received any comments about diacetyl being an issue. That said, I agree, beer is ready when the brewer believes it’s ready, not necessarily when the clock says so. Cheers!
It ended up being a dirty draft line. Gave it a good clean with BLC and no more caramel! Thanks for the feedback earlier.
thanks, really appreciate the dual temperature F/C makes your write ups even better
I’m hoping at some point I can memorize the popular temps, as it takes a little while for me to use Google for the conversion. Glad it’s helping!
Why the switch from taking the temperature of the fermentation vessel to the ambient temperature? Are you trying to minimize forcing the beer up to temperature and allow for a slow heat up?
Haha, you must have missed the last paragraph of the article:
*People often ask why I remove the probe from the side of the carboy when changing the chamber temperature– it’s because I want the temp to rise/fall slowly and I don’t like hearing the compressor on my freezer running for hours on end. I’m not sure what other good reason there is for this, but it works for me, so I do it. I’ve left the probe attached many times on accident, it works just fine as well.
Do you find cold crashing in primary causes air to be pulled into the fermenter? Do you think this will cause oxidation?
Yes, that happens, though it’s more often an ounce or 2 of StarSan from the airlock. I haven’t noticed any oxidation character in my beers and would imagine it’s far less than you’d get from racking to a secondary.
This is the top advice I give folks. Lots of folks seem to get hung up on a particular method, but if it’s working and you like the result, keep on doing it 🙂
Nice article. I too am an impatient brewer. I’ve been following your schedule for months now, pitching big healthy starters, and letting the ol black box work its magic. My turnaround time has been super fast. Oh and the beer tastes great too! Even won a couple awards at my local home brew competition. PROST!
That’s fantastic, Ben, cheers!
Great article. The more I read your findings, the more I realize I really need to pull the trigger and get a fermentation chamber. Thanks for all you do and share with us who enjoy brewing!
Do you have a heat source in your fermentation chamber, or do you just let it free rise?
I have a brew belt, and would be concerned that the wort would get higher than the target temp. Right now I have the probe inside the carboy.
It’s pretty warm where I live, so about 9 months out of the year I let it free rise; for the other few months, I use a cheap paint can heater.
Question: if you cold crash in your fermentor, how do you avoid oxidation? I’ve ruined batches that way but really wish I knew a way to do so without ruining my beer.
Nevermind, I see someone else beat me to this question!
Already replied! Haha.
How can you be certain that’s what ruined your batches? I’ve been doing it this way for years, hundreds of batches, and I’ve never had an issue with oxidation.
Only because I used to have an oxidation issue that disappeared once I stopped crashing in the fermenter.
I like your method and have practiced iy for some time…not on purpose…I just can’t wait to drink my beer.
But I also think there is something to finishing it out fast and packaging it. Especially with these new IPA’s that are hazy with yeast or protein or both and whirlpool hopped. The younger the better I find. They seem to be smoother and better balanced. The longer I let them sit they seem to change…not so much in a bad way but I prefer them “greener” so to speak. I know hazy isn’t as much your style as you like to gelatin your beers but the concept of turning them around faster is.
Excellent post! I’m curious how your practices differ for larger beers (OG 1.080 or so). I don’t typically brew larger ales because they take a while to finish out of the keg, but I’m planning a Belgian Pale that has a fairly high starting gravity.
I do much the same thing and have likewise found that it has helped me turn my beer around faster with no side effects. However, here comes the Cautionary Tale….dum dum dum!!
I believe you have an experiment on here with Conan Yeast. Anyway that shit is awesome! The best IPA, and perhaps best beer period, I ever made was the first time I used that yeast (fermented in the low 60s for 2+weeks). I made another batch and kept everything the same except I used US-05. Partly out of laziness and partly out of experimentation. It was a great IPA but nothing like the first batch. Third batch, I used Conan again and used this method. Bubblegum! Mountains and mountains of bubblegum! Hops were completely obscured and while not offensive and certainly drinkable it was probably the biggest disappointment of my brewing career. Here’s the thing. Conan, at least in my experience, ferments low and slow. Not of ton of krausen (maybe the soft ferment blows out less aromatics?) and I’ve seen it bubble for 2+ weeks! Not to be deterred, I scooped out some of the cake and put a session IPA on top. I kept it in the low 60’s for probably 10 days and then took it out for a week or so to clean up. It was awesome and so was the next conan beer I did like this.
This effect maybe completely isolated to Conan or it may effect other yeasts that also ferment slow. I don’t know if that’s an experiment or not, but I thought I would let people know.
Interesting. I’ve used TYB Vermont many times and have heard it can be fickle, at least for the first fermentation or 2. I’ve got a few more xBmts up my sleeve with that strain 🙂
Sounds pretty much like my schedules, although I cold crash for longer than 2 days. I leave the probe attached to the fermenter though. I’ve found with my temp controller that the fridge basically just runs as if it wasn’t plugged into a controller at all – all the controller does is flick the power on and off to maintain whatever temperature it’s set to. In other words, the compressor doesn’t constantly run while ramping down to 0*C, it cuts in and out like it would if the fridge was just plugged straight into the wall. This may not be the case while bringing temps down with all fridges/freezers though. It’s about 60 years old this thing.
What is your process schedule or temperature ramp for bottling day? I’ve had problems with my batches when prior to bottling there was no off flavors, and after carbonating I just couldn’t drink it.
I don’t usually bottle, but when I do, it’s cold beer and I use the BrewUnited Priming Sugar Calculator.
How long after bottling are we talking? I recently bottled lots of small samples so that I could monitor how the beer changed as it bottle conditioned. This is best done with highly flocculant english strains as less flocculant US style yeast provides too much “noise” and its much harder to taste everything else in there. Anyway, I found a completely clean and good to go beer when bottled developed a biscuit butterscotch flavour (what could that be … dum dum duuum) at around day 2 in the bottle. This faded and had completely gone by day 7-10.
Interested in your keg carbing method. Do you keg it, put it in the fridge the set the PSI at 40 for 24 hours, bleed set at 12psi? Is the beer already cold when you keg or room temp when kegged then put on c02? Thanks for all your useful info!
No problem, I’ll go bullet-point style starting at fermentation’s end:
– Cold crash in primary to 30-32°F for 24-48 hours
– Add gelatin solution and let sit for another 12+ hours
– Keg very cold beer
– Place keg in 45°F keezer on 40/50 psi for 24/18 hours
– Purge keg and reduce to 12-14 psi serving pressure
– Drink
Hope that clears things up. Cheers!
Hi Marshall, I have your Ale schedule plugged into my black box. I just noticed that in this post, you have your D-rest temp at 75*. In your Black Box post, it’s listed as 70*. Wondering what was the reason for the change? I came back here (again) today because I had an ESB not get anywhere FG, when having pitched a large starter at high krausen (http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=582727) and am trying to turn over every rock to figure out what happened…