Mangrove Jacks & temperature?

[Lochlannach]

Are mangrove jacks yeasts very sensitive to low temperatures or maybe I'm guessing wrong here?

I moved from kits to biab recently and have brewed two of the HBC mash kits both of which came with M15.

On both occasions I pitched directly one the cooled wort @20c. Both took off within about 8 hours and all seemed fine.

However both stopped at 1020. Put both into secondary at this stage to try and get something going again and got another few points but still not quite to the expected level.

I do not have proper fermentation temperature control - it's on my list of things for the spring. The fermenter were wrapped in a duvet and kept in the corner of the kitchen.

The conditions for fermentation were pretty much identical for both and also for numerous kits previously but I never experienced this stopping before.

This was also the first time I used mangrove jacks yeast.

My thoughts are that once initial fermentation died down the cooler night time temperatures caused the stop.

Both beers seemed fine otherwise - well the samples at kegging did - and I'm expecting them to be fine when I get to drinking them.


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[Leann ull]

I do not have proper fermentation temperature control

It's great when homebrewers can answer their own questions.

Did you take the duvet off when the heat was on as otherwise you also insulated it from the heat as well and as it's colder 3 times more than it's warmer it's like a cold storage heater and getting colder and colder
Be careful putting any in bottles it may decide to drop to 1012 and then you have a bottle bomb

[Lochlannach]

Theres none in bottles and I've never had any such issues in the past when using some bottles.

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[Lochlannach]

Unfortunately solving the temperature control is not so easy as I don't have room for another fridge - otherwise I suppose I wouldn't be posting this.

That being said I have an alternative plan which has a smaller footprint and can be stored away when not being used.

[molc]

Also watch the Mj yeast cell count. It's about 60% of something like us05, so you could he underpitching without realising it. It's the reason I don't use them anymore, as I always had to pitch 2 packs.

[Lochlannach]

Ok, there's something I hadn't realised - not saying it's contributing in this case but it's worth knowing.

[Damofto]

Also are you aerating your wort before pitching, I used to get a lot of stalls at 1.020 until I realised i was missing this step?

[Leann ull]

What about a heater band cheap solution just nervous about folks covering them with blanket or duvet

[Lochlannach]

Also are you aerating your wort before pitching, I used to get a lot of stalls at 1.020 until I realised i was missing this step?

Now there's something that could have a bearing now that you mention it. When doing kits I filled from a small not house coming from a filter which resulted in a lot of air and foam. Since moving to biab I've been running it from the boiler tap through a strainer bag and it has not been incorporating as much air.

[Lochlannach]

What about a heater band cheap solution just nervous about folks covering them with blanket or duvet

I would be a little nervous covering these as well and as a result I've been reluctant to go this route.

I will be looking at a heating & cooling setup as I couldn't brew at all during the summer - the temperatures in the house were too high.

[Qs]

What did your temps fall to? If you have no temp control I'd be inclined not to pitch above the temperature you are expecting the beer to settle at. And I'd start looking at yeast strains and see what suits your ambient temp instead of relying on what comes in the kit.

[Lochlannach]

What did your temps fall to? If you have no temp control I'd be inclined not to pitch above the temperature you are expecting the beer to settle at. And I'd start looking at yeast strains and see what suits your ambient temp instead of relying on what comes in the kit.

To be honest I'm not sure...I've not got up in the middle of the night to check.

The problem is the usual inconsistency one too...house/room temperatures are up and down based on occupancy. Heating is never on during the night. The heating never goes above 19 but I'm sure cooking the other end of the room probably adds a bit too.

[Qs]

Need to find a better spot where the temp changes less. I used to use the under stairs storage before I got a dedicated fridge. If you have spare room where you can turn off the heating or a press where its a bit more protected. I'd say tempreture stability is more important that what temp actually is (within reason). Then you can get a yeast that suits where you are. I used to use a swamp cooler too and always ferment at or lower than ambient temps. All you need is a wide bucket/basin/storage box and fill it with water. The more liquid the more thermal mass and that means it takes more for the tempreture to change and when it does it happens slower. You can even adjust it with ice or a kettle of hot water if you are paying attention. After primary fermentation is done you can stop paying so much attention. I found checking it twice a day was plenty for primary. Its not a fridge but it does a job.

[eoghanr]

Had problems with this yeast myself:
http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.ie/forum/all-grain-brewing/really-weird-fermentation/
Think one pack is definitely under pitching.