Hi folks,
A first time brewer here, looking for a bit of advice with temperature control.
I'm making the Craft Range Blonde Lager, with the instructions saying I should be looking for a constant temperature between 20 and 24 degrees.
Started it on Thursday, and for the first couple of days it chugging away nicely at around 20 degrees. On Sunday night though I checked in and it had fallen down to between 16 and 18 degrees. I've since wrapped it up with blankets, and found a better room for it, getting it up to around 18 or 19 degrees. I've also bought a heating belt, which I should have delivered in a couple of days. Once I get that, I should be able to get the right constant temperature.
Just wondering if anybody has advice from experience how long extra I should give it to ferment, given the drop in temperature for a couple of days.
Not too bad. The active yeast generates heat by its aggressive action and your seeing that slowing down.
I wouldn't worry, it's probably fine at those temps.
Do you have a hydrometer? If not you should buy one. You can measure the Original Gravity of the wort and after a few weeks on yeast you can measure the Final Gravity. You're using an ale yeast so it should finish around 1.010-1.015 i'd say. This is the only way to really tell if your yeast have been actively munching away on the sugars, thereby reducing the gravity.
If the temps were at 19-20 for 3-4 days well then the bulk of the fermentation has been completed. You can push it up higher now, maybe 21 just to help the yeast finish off the last bit.
Overall i'd say your good though!