What temperature to ferment US-05 at
US-05 fermentation temperature: where to find your range, and how to hold the beer there rather than the room.
Ferment US-05 inside the range printed on the sachet you're holding, and sit in the lower part of that range rather than the top of it. I'm deliberately not quoting you a figure here, because our listing and the maker's own published figure don't line up, and Fermentis themselves note that older sachets can carry different numbers again. The one printed on your packet is the one to go by. Then hold it there, because a steady temperature will do more for a clean beer than any particular degree ever will.
Where do I find the range on the packet?
It's on the back of the 11.5g sachet with the best before date, and if the print has rubbed off in the bottom of your brewing box, the current data sheet is on the Fermentis site under the product. Have a look at both before you pitch, because that takes about 30 seconds and it settles the question for good.
How do I measure the beer and not the room?
Stick an adhesive strip thermometer on the side of the fermenter, about a third of the way up, or run a probe in a thermowell if you've got one. Fermentation makes its own heat, so a healthy ferment can sit a few degrees above the air around it for the first couple of days. If you set the room right at the top of the range, the beer itself quietly goes over the top of it, and that's where you start picking up hot, fruity, solventy flavours that weren't in the plan.
On pitching, the Fermentis data sheet gives two ways to do it: straight onto the wort, or rehydrated first. Follow whichever method is printed on your sachet.
What if my shed won't hold the range?
The cheap fix is a tub of water with a wet towel over the fermenter and a fan on it, which will pull you a few degrees under ambient and, more importantly, stop the big daily swings. A second hand fridge with a temperature controller is the proper fix if you brew a lot. In winter, a brew belt on a controller does the same job in reverse.
If you're forever fighting the spot you've got, a different strain with a different printed range might just suit that spot better. S-04 is another Fermentis ale yeast we carry, and it has its own range printed on its own sachet, so check that against the temperature your corner actually holds.
S-04 Safale Ale Yeast 11.5g
| Yeast | Packet | What the maker says it suits |
|---|---|---|
| US-05 Safale Ale Yeast | 11.5g | American beer types and highly hopped beers |
| S-04 Safale Ale Yeast | 11.5g | English and American ales |
Temperature isn't in that table on purpose. Read it off the sachet in front of you.
If the temperature isn't the problem
Two other things turn up when a ferment goes odd and people blame the heat. One is a sachet that's been sitting in a hot cupboard or a hot car, because storage temperature matters as much as fermentation temperature does, and Fermentis publish their storage conditions on the pack. The other is a swing rather than a level, where the beer runs warm for two days and then drops away cold when the ferment slows down, which can leave you with sweet beer and a gravity reading that won't budge.
If you're not sure which yeast suits the spot your fermenter lives in, the S-04 is on the site, and you're welcome to ring me on (08) 8536 4333 or send a message with the beer you're making and roughly how warm that corner gets. I'd rather have the yak with you first than have you tip a batch.
Cheers,
Candeece
