Seeking Advice on Mead Fermentation Temperature Control

[marcosandrew]

Hello Everyone,

I am literally new to making mead and have been experimenting with different recipes. One challenge I have encountered is controlling the fermentation temperature, mainly as the weather gets warmer. I have noticed that variations in temperature can affect the taste and quality of the final product.

Do anyone has any tips or tricks for maintaining a consistent fermentation temperature? I have heard about using temperature-controlled fermentation chambers or even just placing the fermenter in a cooler environment, but I am not sure which approach is best.

Also, how do you manage temperature fluctuations during the fermentation process ? Do certain yeast strains handle temperature changes better than others ?

Any suggestion or insights will be helpul for me.

Thank you in advance.

(Marcos)

 

[darigoni]

Hello Everyone,

I am literally new to making mead and have been experimenting with different recipes. One challenge I have encountered is controlling the fermentation temperature, mainly as the weather gets warmer. I have noticed that variations in temperature can affect the taste and quality of the final product.

Do anyone has any tips or tricks for maintaining a consistent fermentation temperature? I have heard about using temperature-controlled fermentation chambers or even just placing the fermenter in a cooler environment, but I am not sure which approach is best.

Also, how do you manage temperature fluctuations during the fermentation process ? Do certain yeast strains handle temperature changes better than others ?

Any suggestion or insights will be helpful for me.

Thank you in advance.

(Marcos)

It depends on how much you ferment and what resources you have.

1. Basements are usually cooler, but a lot of houses in the USA do not have them. I would put my bucket on my basement stairs and depending on where I located it (on the stairs) I could raise and lower the temp.

2. You could also try a "swamp cooler". It's where you put your bucket in a shallow pail of water, then drape a towel around it. The towel will wick the water up and evaporation will keep it cooler.

3. Buy a used/new chest freezer. Then look into buying a temperature controller (Inkbird is one brand). I did this for a couple of years and it worked very nicely.

 

[marcosandrew]

It depends on how much you ferment and what resources you have.

1. Basements are usually cooler, but a lot of houses in the USA do not have them. I would put my bucket on my basement stairs and depending on where I located it (on the stairs) I could raise and lower the temp.

2. You could also try a "swamp cooler". It's where you put your bucket in a shallow pail of water, then drape a towel around it. The towel will wick the water up and evaporation will keep it cooler.

3. Buy a used/new chest freezer. Then look into buying a temperature controller (Inkbird is one brand). I did this for a couple of years and it worked very nicely.

Hey @darigoni,

These are excellent suggestions for fermenting, especially the swamp cooler method for easy temperature control. Using basement stairs for natural temperature variation is clever, and the chest freezer with a temperature controller offers precise regulation.

Thanks for sharing these practical tips.

Marcos

 

[Amber cyser]

I just use different yeasts at different times of year.
or different positions in the house.

 

[meekersmead]

Different yeast strains handle temperature differently. Companies like Lalvin and Kveik strains have their laboratory recommended temperatures. For example I just had to adjust my brew room from 62F to 70F to accommodate Kveik Lutra which likes 68-85F. So there are strains that can handle some pretty high heat(depending on where you live).

There is some cool research out there about yeast that ferment at higher temperatures giving off more esters to the finished project. This can be risky because the yeast will work faster at higher heat and can get easily stressed leading to a nasty tasting final product.

If you can put your fermentation vessels in your home where the climate is controlled and it stays anywhere from 68-75F then you are pretty good to go for most strains. Strains like Lalvin D47 can go down to 58F according to their label, but keep in mind the yeast don't read those labels and can likely work at lower and higher temps than printed.

In general it is best to keep temperature fluctuations at a minimum. Fermentation as a biological process generates heat, but unless you are using an insulated vessel, that heat will radiate out of materials like glass or plastic.

As someone who lives in a place with no basements(low water table) the best thing you can do is keep them inside, build one of those deep freezer temp controlled spaces, or use that cool towel-wick trick.

Edit: attached is a little presentation from Dr. Douglas Gladue